Historical footages of the first photographic experiments and familiar-looking, viral clips flashing before our eyes, telling the story of how the invention and technological development of the camera fundamentally influenced human behaviour. The documentary titled 'And the King Said: What a Fantastic Machine' tackles the problems rooted in our often-lacking understanding of how images work. The work of directors Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck was the topic of the first Eidolon Club event, discussed by professionals working in the field of visual culture. Director and assistant director Xénia Fekete, film journalist Dávid Klág, joined by artist and lecturer János Sugár shared their thoughts and opinions regarding the film’s unique approach and the problems it emphasises. Their discussion was moderated by the director of Eidolon Centre for Everyday Photography, Róza Tekla Szilágyi.
Same lesson, different context
Right at the beginning, one of the most important questions arose: by using popular YouTube materials, how can the film authentically and critically analyse their functioning? As Fekete explained, the use of found footage showcasing the banality of everyday life can enhance a film’s sincerity. However, Klág pointed out the contradiction in the documentary’s approach: while heavily leaning on the effect of viral videos – certain parts of the film showcase not only bits, but the whole of them – it also attempts to overcome its own underlying sensationalism to form a comprehensive analysis on the way social media footages work. One of the main issues highlighted by the film is the decaying trust we can put in photos and moving images we see online. Although the manipulation of photographs is as old as the camera itself and the mechanisms of social media have been in the forefront of research for some time now, Sugár suggested that the film can serve as an ideal beginner’s guide to why we still tend to steadfastly cling to the idea that the camera is able to capture and show the objective truth.
From left to right: Róza Tekla Szilágy, János Sugár, Dávid Klág & Xénia Fekete
The countless ways of manipulation
Our persistence is largely fuelled by fear rooted in distrust; we can feel our faith in photos crumbling, but we are not yet well-equipped enough to effectively handle this change. The mechanisms of social media prove to be a serious challenge, as our scrolling through its innumerable content doesn’t leave us enough time to take all the information in. This leads us to facing countless misunderstandings, having been enhanced by the recent spread of images generated by artificial intelligence. All of us have a story like this; Klág shared how he initially didn’t recognise that the promotional pictures for the movie titled Civil War (2024) were created by AI. Manipulation may embarrass us in situations when we expect nothing less than the truth; Klág highlighted an example of a documentary in which the narration was created by AI, raising questions about the genre’s potential future transformation. However, we don’t manipulate only pictures, videos or films and we certainly don’t use only artificial intelligence to do so; the guests pondered over how we sometimes create a false sense of truth through words, sounds or in a way, art.
The role of visual education
The instances mentioned above only prove that with the rise of generated images the ability to consciously look at and evaluate pictures is becoming more and more important. What is the intention behind them? What makes them work in our favour? In his educational practice, Sugár invites his students to create a narrative picture to learn about how a singular image can inspire entire stories. The mastering of ‘reading’ pictures skill isn’t specifically about the restoration of our faith or of the notion of truth; but it can allow us to recognize their means of creation and understand the impact they pose on us.
This article is a summary from our event titled Eidolon Club vol. 1 – And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine – screening and discussion that was held on April 18, 2024 at Cinema Toldi in Budapest.
All photos were taken by Bence B. Boros.
