Revisiting Stuart Hall and Mark Sealy’s Different in the context of AI imagery

Forkert, Kirsten and Noxolo, Pat (2026) Revisiting Stuart Hall and Mark Sealy’s Different in the context of AI imagery. Soundings. ISSN 1362-6620 (In Press)

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Abstract

Our piece focuses on images and representations of differences, inspired by the questions raised by Stuart Hall and Mark Sealy’s book Different. We revisit the ways in which artists featured in the book have worked with photographic images to raise questions about representation. We also discuss the conditions of the book’s publishing: a time when artists were working with images in ways that subverted documentary photography conventions, and in the midst of postcolonial and decolonial debates. We then consider how Hall’s thinking about images in Different could be applied to current debates about artificial intelligence (AI), and particularly its effects on images and representation. Under current conditions, AI is primarily used to fix and categorise identities, including racial identities through classification logics, facial recognition technologies etc. This is consistent with the ways that photographic technologies have also been used to fix identities in the past, as was documented in Different and in Mark Sealy’s related work, such as Decolonising the Camera. The role of AI in generating social division (such as through deepfakes and other forms of manipulation) has been well documented.

Item Type:	Article
Dates:	Date Event 20 September 2026 Accepted
Subjects:	CAH19 - language and area studies > CAH19-01 - English studies > CAH19-01-01 - English studies (non-specific)
Divisions:	Arts > English and Media > English Arts > English and Media > Media
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	06 Nov 2026 15:31
Last Modified:	06 Nov 2026 15:31
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/17301

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