Hito Steyerl - In Defense of the Poor Image - Fluff Free Review

The poor image as Hito Steyerl explains is "a copy in motion". An image that is passed around, converted, changed and duplicated among many others. The poor image is not the original but instead, the product of its mass production and consumption. Steyerl takes a stand to defend the poor image making a case that there is a lot to be appreciated from it. Her first point takes a look at the Low Resolutions of the poor image using one of Woody Allen's films as an example. In this film, Allen's character is deliberately out of focus and therefore makes it difficult for him to interact within his world. Inherently, focus and sharpness become a commentary on his characters class standing. While being sharp and focused his highly sought after, being blurry and unfocused become unwanted and lower's one's value. Steyerl uses this to describe the value of the poor image stating that "Obviously, a high-resolution image looks more brilliant and impressive, more mimetic and magic, more scary and seductive than a poor one." but given the advances in technology, Steyerl believes that there are more and more ways to "creatively degrade" the original image. In her second point, she evaluates a "Resurrection (as Poor Images) and how it relates to the current state of the internet and available resources. She describes how many images and video's of even the highest standard have become poor images due to the abundant availability of editing software. Her third point takes a look at the privatization and piracy of the original image. She claims that the situation in which we find these poor images copied from the original makes a statement that looks deeper into the social environment in which these images emerge. "It reveals the conditions of their marginalization, the constellation of social forces leading to their online circulation as poor images." She says, further diving into this unfortunate world in which it seems we no longer value ownership of intellectual property. Further into her work, she also describes the complex of imperfect cinema and the importance of a visual bond. Overall, her work aims to define and further understand the idea of the poor image and give light to its purpose. She concludes by describing that the poor image is more than just a copied and duplicated piece of media, "Instead, it is about its own real conditions of existence: about swarm circulation, digital dispersion, fractured and flexible temporalities. It is about defiance and appropriation just as it is about conformism and exploration."