Reading Assignment

The reading “In Defense of the Poor Image” by Hito Steyerl defines the “poor image” and identifies ways this type of image has been used in art to reveal a deeper meaning and story. Poor images are the low quality, low resolution, pixelated images of the internet, which often cause frustration among their viewers or are just plain ignored. They are considered the debris of high quality, depth and detail filled images and seen as merely a preview of an image of value. Can a poor image even be considered an image at all? The reading “In Defense of the Poor image” highlights instances and ways in which the poor image has been given far more potential and meaning than usual. First, Steyerl brings up one of Woody Allen’s films in which the main character is out of focus. As the character’s image is constantly blurred, he is unable to find work. In this case, the quality of image serves as a reference to class and privilege. And besides Woody Allen’s film, in general, there is a class that exists among images. This hierarchy is based on resolution and quality, leaving the poor image in the lower class. In this hierarchy of images, Hito Steyerl says, a flagship store would represent the society that consumes and rates them. And even besides quality of image, images are still sensored and rated by a sort of society. Experimental films in particular are seen as a subset of poor image as they are somewhat invisible in the land of cinema. They are seen as too marginal to be shown in the public sphere of images, and are saved for rare screenings to select groups of people who will give them value before dying in the endless archive of forgotten files. While filmmakers continue to create experimental and somewhat low quality films, what will be seen as poor images, they are creating art. And though images that fit the description of perfect cinema will continue to grow, they are the equivalent of a flagship store, and what is special about that? However, the contemporary images and films circulating through the archive graveyard may be of more value in the sense that they are unique, they are obviously often overlooked but also easily appropriated and pirated by their determined viewers, ultimately resurrecting as poor images. Thus, the poor image represents an afterlife for cinematic masterpieces that had been rejected by the public sphere of digital imagery.