Commercial photographer Joseph Mulhearn spent a career at the Philadelphia-based firm W.H. Hoedt Studios, working there from the 1960s through the 1990s. Hoedt, which opened at the turn of the twentieth century, was a commercial art studio, providing photographic and design services for corporate clients. Comprising several thousand images, Mulhearn’s personal and professional archive sheds light on commercial photography’s history and opens a discussion about its status in the late twentieth century, revealing reasons why this genre of photography is generally absent from broader histories of the medium. The archive also depicts Mulhearn’s family life, and its thorough interweaving of the professional and personal raises challenges for its contextualization and preservation. Ultimately, the archive documents the life and career of a man who made business photography his business.

AI image generation differs fundamentally from traditional photography, where manual labor, with the hand as the primary medium, is central. In contrast, AI-driven image creation relies on cognitive processes, grounded in the operational logic of techno-linguistic machines and algorithms. Building on this distinction, this essay explores how AI develops its own aesthetic agency, focusing on the work of Hai Jie 海杰, a notable Chinese art critic, curator, and AI image artist. Through an analysis of his artworks and writings, the essay sheds light on the cognitive labor intrinsic to AI image generation and offers insights into how AI transforms human sensibility and subsequently gains its own aesthetic power. Drawing on the theories of Berardi, Stiegler, and Szendy, it argues that AI image generation unveils a reversed organology of the sensible, where the human body becomes a “technical” organ for AI. This epiphylogenetic body enables AI, as a cognitive and algorithmic entity, to develop its own aesthetic sensibilities and engage with the world akin to an aesthetic experience. In this dynamic, humans become, in part, corporeal extensions of AI’s intelligence and neural activities.

This article examines twelve photographs of the Xiyang Lou ruins in Yuanmingyuan, taken by Charles Frederick Moore between 1879 and 1885, arguing that they uniquely intertwine the aesthetics of pastness, the perception of the uncanny, and colonial narratives. By blending these elements, Moore’s photographs move beyond visual documentation, becoming instruments of imperialist ideology and meditations on memory and loss. The study situates these photographs within the context of Moore’s biography, highlighting his dual role as a colonial participant and an admirer of Chinese culture, which shaped a melancholic yet romanticized portrayal of the ruins. It further analyzes how Moore’s aesthetic strategies intersect with the labyrinthine design of Xiyang Lou, British-French imperialism, and his personal experiences during the late Qing. Through this lens, the article explores the uncanny tension in Moore’s images, where Western architectural elements within a Chinese imperial context evoke estrangement and familiarity. Lastly, the study reflects on how pastness in ruin photography influences the aesthetics and perception of architectural decay, framing these images as both historical artifacts and cultural commentaries.

Frederick Douglass was a strong advocate for photographic self-representation. He eloquently used photography, not long after its invention, to shape how African Americans see ourselves and likewise how we are seen by others. This intentional use of photography afforded him the title of the most photographed person of the nineteenth century. What does it take to be the most photographed person of the twenty first century, and how can portraiture continue to shift understandings of Black identity within established, often monolithic, historical narratives? These questions motivate Black Alchemy, a series through which I consider Black identity, history, and representation. I turn to light, alongside geometric abstraction, to construct photographs that investigate and recontextualize Douglass’s historical legacy with contemporary concerns around Black identity.

This article examines Manchukuo’s photography registration system (1940) that the bureaucrat Mutō Tomio introduced. Conceived to utilize photography for propaganda purposes, the registration system significantly changed the production of photographs in Manchuria, ushering in a bureaucrat-led artistic climate that embraced reform bureaucrats’ vision of state planning. I begin by examining how Mutō’s perspectives on bureaucracy, state-building, and corporatism embodied the core principles of reform bureaucrats. Then, I investigate how the ideals of these civil servants were articulated by the photography registration system, organizing the discussion into three sections that focus on ideology, organization, and technology; these focuses correspond to content, institutional structures, and form in art, respectively. In sum, imperial Japan’s war with China necessitated a justification for mobilization, which was expressed in the war ideology hakkō ichiu (“the eight corners of the world under one roof”). This ideology was conveyed by photographs of loyal-spirit towers (chūreitō). To solidify the state’s control over cultural production, the government organized and established a leader-based system for the photography world. The importance of technology for the war effort ended the existing photographic propaganda model guided by Fuchikami Hakuyō. His “dark” aesthetic was considered undesirable; instead, a modernist aesthetic was favored for registered pictures.

The conversation is the result of multiple exchanges around different projects and contexts of practice undertaken by Anthony Luvera over the course of his career. Driven by a desire to explore Socially Engaged Photography (SEP) within an expanded critical framework, Gary Bratchford and Anthony Luvera discuss the logics of neoliberalism; representational responsibility; the use of data as a mode of address in the context of SEP; the politics of the ‘invitation’; and the triangulated partnership between subject, photographer, and audience as productive space for political engagement.

Delving into the nuanced exploration of cultural identity amidst visibility and invisibility, this interview, conducted on January 29, 2024, at the residence of Dr. Marcelo Schellini in Malaysia, provides a compelling insight. Marcelo Schellini, a distinguished professional in photography and a professor specializing in visual arts and visual anthropology, offers profound reflections on the presence of African Muslims in Brazil through his project titled “Tarikh al-Brasil”. Through this visual journey, Schellini captures the architectural diversity and societal contributions of this marginalized community, blending documentation with artistic interpretation to reveal narratives often concealed from view. Moreover, the interview illuminates the challenges confronted by the African Muslim community, grappling with social neglect and inadequate representation. Drawing from his extensive teaching and global travels, Schellini enriches the discourse on cultural visibility, providing deep insights into the dynamics of identity in contemporary society. This dialogue prompts viewers to ponder the interplay between visibility and invisibility, thus reshaping perceptions of cultural identity within the shadows of society.