Into the Image: Culture and Politics in the Field of Vision

An unorthodox exploration of the politics of visual culture,Into the Imageoffers a skeptical and more sociological account of image technologies, linking the development of these technologies to contemporary culture. Kevin Robins assesses the nature of our emotional and imaginary investment in visual media, from the "old" technologies of photography, cinema and television to the new digital developments such as virtual reality. He asks what pressures lie behind the utopian fantasies of cyberspace with its alternative realities and virtual communities. Rather than accepting the fashionable idea that the new visual technologies are replacing the real,Into the Imageexamines them sociologically, as shaped by forces and events in the real world.