Age of the Image

Episode
Episode 2 - Power Games
Broadcast Info
2020 (59 mins)
Description
James Fox explores how mass communication and new technology helped twentieth century image makers transform society, as films, photographs, TV, art and advertising all became weapons in the ideological battles of the age. He tells the story of Marlene Dietrich and Leni Riefenstahl, who each used cinema to pursue very different visions of power and freedom. We discover how Jewish comic book artists in New York created superheroes as their act of resistance to the Nazi threat. And why a Muhammad Ali magazine cover is one of the most powerful political images of the last century. In the UK, he reveals how Picture Post photographers and directors such as Ken Loach empowered the lives of ordinary people through a new style of filmmaking and reportage. Travelling from the Normandy beaches where Robert Capa took his famous D-Day photographs to the NASA control room which first witnessed live images from the Moon landings, it’s an exhilarating look at how image makers discovered the power to influence and change our lives.
Genre
Arts; History; Technology; Film; Photography

How to cite this record

The Open University, "Age of the Image". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/236370 (Accessed 10 Jan 2025)