Oblicza wojny w kontekście teorii mediów Marshalla McLuhana
Faces of war in the context of Marshall McLuhan's media theory

Summary/Abstract: The article shows how Marshall McLuhan’s media theory is used to analyze photographs taken with an iPhone. The reflections were inspired by the blog of the Canadian photographer Rita Leistner, who participated in the media project aimed at familiarizing American soldiers’ families and friends with everyday life of the military contingent in Afghanistan. Leistner, for the first time in her career, used a smartphone instead of professional photographic equipment. Her decision was motivated by the need to edit photographs easily and publish them quickly on the Internet. The result of her work was a blog, titled Looking for Marshall McLuhan in Afghanistan. To describe her photographs, Leistner uses selected concepts defined by McLuhan in the second half of the 20th century: probe, extension of man or figure-background dichotomy. In consequence, the technological face of war can be better understood by the viewers of the materials she prepared.

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