In Vivo Multimodal Imaging of Drusenoid Lesions in Rhesus Macaques.

Nonhuman primates are the only mammals to possess a true macula similar to humans, and spontaneously develop drusenoid lesions which are hallmarks of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Prior studies demonstrated similarities between human and nonhuman primate drusen based on clinical appearance and histopathology. Here, we employed fundus photography, spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), fundus autofluorescence (FAF), and infrared reflectance (IR) to characterize drusenoid lesions in aged rhesus macaques. Of 65 animals evaluated, we identified lesions in 20 animals (30.7%). Using the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) grading system and multimodal imaging, we identified two distinct drusen phenotypes - 1) soft drusen that are larger and appear as hyperreflective deposits between the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and Bruchs membrane on SD-OCT, and 2) hard, punctate lesions that are smaller and undetectable on SD-OCT. Both exhibit variable FAF intensities and are poorly visualized on IR. Eyes with drusen exhibited a slightly thicker RPE compared with control eyes (+3.4 μm, P=0.012). Genetic polymorphisms associated with drusenoid lesions in rhesus monkeys in ARMS2 and HTRA1 were similar in frequency between the two phenotypes. These results refine our understanding of drusen development, and provide insight into the absence of advanced AMD in nonhuman primates

Photography in the Mix: Flora-Fauna-Photo

The article examines the SF Camerawork exhibition Agitate: Negotiating the Photographic Process, which was co-curated by the author

Uncertainties in the Algorithmic Image

The incorporation of algorithmic procedures into the automation of image production has been gradual, but has reached critical mass over the past century, especially with the advent of photography, the introduction of digital computers and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Due to the increasingly significant influence algorithmic processes have on visual media, there has been an expansion of the possibilities as to how images may behave, and a consequent struggle to define them. This algorithmic turnhighlights inner tensions within existing notions of the image, namely raising questions regarding the autonomy of machines, author- and viewer- ship, and the veracity of representations. In this sense, algorithmic images hover uncertainly between human and machine as producers and interpreters of visual information, between representational and non-representational, and between visible surface and the processes behind it. This paper gives an introduction to fundamental internal discrepancies which arise within algorithmically produced images, examined through a selection of relevant artistic examples. Focusing on the theme of uncertainty, this investigation considers how algorithmic images contain aspects which conflict with the certitude of computation, and how this contributes to a difficulty in defining images

Shooting Stars: A study on the (non)human nature of astronomical photography in relation to Joanna Zylinska's The Creative Power of Nonhuman Photography

An ontological examination of astrophotography and its philosophical imprints through the chapter, The Creative Power of Nonhuman Photography from Joanna Zylinska's book, Nonhuman Photography

Art for Animals: Visual Culture and Animal Advocacy, 1870-1914 by J. Keri Cronin

Teview of J. Keri Cronin\u27s Art for Animals: Visual Culture and Animal Advocacy, 1870-191

Ecomedia: Key Issues

Ecomedia: Key Issues is a comprehensive textbook introducing the burgeoning field of ecomedia studies to provide an overview of the interface between environmental issues and the media globally. Linking the world of media production, distribution, and consumption to environmental understandings, the book addresses ecological meanings encoded in media texts, the environmental impacts of media production, and the relationships between media and cultural perceptions of the environment. [From the publisher]https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/books/1084/thumbnail.jp

From Postmodernism to Posthumanism - The Photographed Animal

This essay was inspired by the growing critical and artistic attention currently afforded to the subject of the nonhuman animal within Posthumanism and a curiosity to explore photographic practices that could potentially contribute to this endeavour. An exploration of Postmodernist art practice has revealed a dramatic shift in approach to the nonhuman animal subject; essentially characterised as a move from a sceptical, emotionally-distanced, theoretically-grounded range of practices to those that are emotionally-engaged, affective and ethically responsive. This is not to suggest that this characterises all Posthumanist photographic practices; a number of critical writers ably theorise about global networks, nonhuman photography, abstraction of vision. Instead, I examine photographic practices which are embedded within compassion, generosity, responsibility. This is not a return to the modernist notion of the artist and his or hers creation, but a plea for productive interrelations based on equality and experimentation which will potentially lead to novel ways of living. Keywords: posthumanism, photography of animals, art photography, nonhuman, animalit

Roadkill Encounters and Affective Solidarity: Exploring Multispecies Fellowship through Disgust, Pain, and Mourning

This article examines visual images of roadkill and the bodily affects they invoke. Exploring specifically the affects of grief, disgust, and pain, I suggest they are important modalities in the act of mourning the unmourned, changing the perception of roadkill as merely collateral damage. I explore encounters with roadkill through an analysis of photographs by Steve Baker (2011) which capture animals’ corpses on country lanes in the UK. Drawing on a multidisciplinary apparatus, I utilise various tools from affect theory and photography in social and cultural studies. I demonstrate how affective encounters offer an intervention into the prevalent unconcern and indifference to nonhuman suffering and ecological damage – a dynamic of address and rejection that enables possibilities of solidarity and creaturely fellowship.This article examines visual images of roadkill and the bodily affects they invoke. Exploring specifically the affects of grief, disgust, and pain, I suggest they are important modalities in the act of mourning the unmourned, changing the perception of roadkill as merely collateral damage. I explore encounters with roadkill through an analysis of photographs by Steve Baker (2011) which capture animals’ corpses on country lanes in the UK. Drawing on a multidisciplinary apparatus, I utilise various tools from affect theory and photography in social and cultural studies. I demonstrate how affective encounters offer an intervention into the prevalent unconcern and indifference to nonhuman suffering and ecological damage – a dynamic of address and rejection that enables possibilities of solidarity and creaturely fellowship

Visualising human-animal-technology relations : fieldnotes, still photography and digital video on the robotic dairy farm

This paper explores the potential for developing less anthropocentric approaches to researching human-nonhuman relations through visual ethnography, critically examining the potential for conceptualising nonhuman animals as participants. Arguing that method in “more-than-human geography” and animal studies has developed at a slower pace than theory, it proposes visual approaches as a means through which to foreground the behaviour and actions of nonhuman animals in social research. This challenges underlying anthropocentric assumptions of visual ethnography, questioning the meaning of “participation” in visual research. The paper presents a comparison of approaches used in studying practices of robotic milking on dairy farms in the UK. Specifically, it compares the qualities of field notes, still photography and digital video in focusing on particular sites, moments and movements of robotic milking. While visual approaches are not a panacea for more-than-human research, we suggest that they do offer a means through which nonhumans might “speak for themselves” in social research. Rather than presenting definitive accounts, the inclusion of video in such work not only illustrates arguments but also leaves the actions of nonhumans open to further interpretation; the centrality of the researcher is destabilised