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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAda Lovelace (Augusta Ada Byron) in 1843 or 1850, a rare daguerreotype by Antoine Claudet.
Picture taken in Claudet\u2019s studio near Regent\u2019s Park in London
Source: Wikipedia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The complex, diverse, and rich history of computation and cybernetics remains largely unknown and is not part of standard historical education, despite its profound impact on our lives today. While everyone learns about Lord Byron, Don Juan, and the Romantic Movement, the revolutionary work of his daughter, mathematician Ada Lovelace, and her contributions to the concept of the mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine, remain far less recognized. A similar case is that of Alan Turing. The depth of his pioneering work on machine intelligence and the foundational progress he made in the field remain far less frequently explored in their full complexity, even though the tragic story of his prosecution for homosexuality\u2014leading to his forced hormone treatment and his untimely death\u2014has become more widely known in recent years. The cruelty of the anti-LGBTQ laws of the time and his legacy, symbolized by the half-eaten apple found beside his deathbed,is said to be commemorated on every Apple product, with the company\u2019s logo even featuring a rainbow color scheme until 1999, as a queer symbol. Although the corporation denies any intentional connection, the quasi-appropriated symbol (and the legend) endure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the tech oligarchs of our woeful times are either widely worshipped by the techbros or profoundly despised by everyone else, the true historic figures of the digital and technological revolution remain unsung. Jobs, Musk, and Zuckerberg belong to a kind of unholy pantheon, but the names of Wiener, McCulloch, and Hebb, for example, ring only faint bells\u2014no matter how we judge their work, impact, and contribution to contemporary life. This list goes on and on: while a deeper understanding of our shapeshifting world and the intricacies of cybernetic capitalism remains largely confined to academics, chronically online nerds, and some niche, critical subcultures, the impact of this economic and political reality only grows more gargantuan and impactful. In fact, reality (as an abstract term for all things and facts existing and interacting in our world) has become deeply and inextricably intertwined with the networks of cyberspace.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe Ratio Club was a small, informal dining club of psychologists, physiologists, mathematicians and engineers who met to discuss issues in cybernetics. Alan Turing is the first person sitting on the left.
Source: Wikipedia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the case of contemporary everyday photography \u2013 please excuse my cybercritical rant \u2013 one of the most important things we can do is make sense of what is happening and how it is unfolding. This involves not only the aesthetic and visual aspects and their consequences but also the broader economic and political, almost hidden, repercussions of everyday imaging technologies: how data collection, surveillance, techno-feudalist platforms, and their personalised propaganda are eroding and obliterating our democracies\u2014or at least what is left of them.<\/p>\n\n\n
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