Memes, Politics and Social Identity
Memes are a way of hiding from the ‘real world’, and of negotiating our place within it. In recent years, they have spread beyond the formulaic humour of set images and captions and begun to take on the roles of political commentary and autobiography. They develop and mutate so rapidly, a
The Minus of Plus-Size Activism
The fact that the fashion industry holds women to a precise set of standards and excludes those who fail to meet them has become a commonplace complaint. We’ve all seen campaign shoots, or catwalk photos, and we’ve all heard at least one person ask, “why are they all so skinny?” The question
Wonder, Full of Grace. Holly Andres (2009)
With their rich colour palettes and Hitchcock-esque, frankly histrionic lighting, Holly Andres’ carefully arranged images linger somewhere between tangible reality and make-believe motion picture. Citing her photography as “a journey into the nature of memory and female introspection&#
What We’re Into: Staff Picks TT17
A warm welcome, ISIS readers, to Trinity Term 2017. In a confusing world of snap elections, terrorist attacks and right-wing populism, we hope that the various cultural faculties of The ISIS will bring some sense and provocation of thought to your respective terms. Munch right into an article on t
Requiem for the Simulation Generation
‘Watched from the wings as the scenes were replaying’ The fatalistic lyrics from Joy Division’s Decades couldn’t have been more appropriate. The clementine hegemon was stood atop the rostra in Washington, regurgitating sound bites on a bleak mid-winter day. I was reduced to a slumped spectat
Creating Narratives to Change the Mood
On the first page of our story The future seemed so bright Then this thing turned out so evil I don’t know why I’m still surprised. Even angels have their wicked schemes And you take that to new extremes But you’ll always be my hero Even though you’ve lost your mind.
An interview with a travelling street musician
Having left his native Canada three years ago, Matthew Lennox lives nomadically: couch surfing, busking, and travelling around Europe, India, Australia, the Americas, and even parts of the Middle East. Watching him play, surrounded by crowds of people smiling and holding up their cameras, you begin
A structure of stones, a structure of stories
In the shadow of Camlough Mountain, there stands a hill. It rises out of the deep-set vale—a crease amid the furrows of rolling fields and verdant meadows sprawled out like a patchwork quilt. Proudly yet gently it brushes the sky and looms over the village below. Atop this hill, which goes by the
Francis Bacon, Primrose Hill. Bill Brandt (1963)
To a pedantic and dogmatic doctrinaire of photography, almost everything about Bill Brandt’s fêted snapshot is wrong. Categorically, indubitably wrong. Consider, for a moment, the warped composition of the picture. The central, yet uncomfortably off-kilter lamppost awkwardly brushes the very