Ethos of the Engine
As with images, when using a search engine we forget about who's behind the screen, invisibly constructing image-word correlations that pass as reality
We trust search engines to give us "truths" but when there are images involved, we know that there are no "right" answers.
​
So it remains up to the cataloger or the programmer to label things as best they can...
​
"terrifying"
"dangerous"
"adorable"
A “label assigned to an image, whether it is a photograph, existing image or a video clip, does not refer to an essential meaning of what constitutes research but instead reflects the ways in which people have found visual images to be useful." 5
​
These correlations = social constructions
​
The following inputs and resulting outputs illustrate how these correlations can create and sustain (harmful) social constructions...
"happiness"
"normal"
"anger"
"success"
"silly"
"sexy"
These photos aim to be generic, neutral, and all-encompassing of the terms they illustrate - they are meant to make sense to the majority of users.
What's wrong with this? The majority view passes as an absolute truth.
​
Stock photos are supposedly neutral, yet these photos show incredibly specific instances (whitewashed, gendered, stereotypical instances) of experiences that are infinitely diverse.
.
Through images and how we define them, norms are recycled and validated no matter their accuracy.
searching, finding, using, spreading harmful associations