The Algorithmic Turn in Visual Studies

What happens when algorithms intervene in the production, circulation, interpretation, and archiving of images? What are the basic assumptions in programming algorithms of visuality, and how do such algorithms affect sociological phenomena? Can algorithms be programmed to create, understand and interpret images the way humans do? Do algorithms do it better? This session wishes to discuss the algorithmic turn in visual studies and present sociological analyses of algorithms’ roles in every relevant aspect of the visual culture, including their impact on social relations, racialization and gendering, labor, power relations, arts and aesthetics, and on the sociological study of visuals.