visual culture — Bunk History

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The Drunkard’s Progress

Two hundred years ago, it was hard for Americans to miss the message that they had a serious drinking problem.

by Benjamin Breen on January 17, 2019

A Wretched Situation Made Plain on Paper

How an engraving of a slave ship helped the abolition movement.

by Cheryl Finley via Lapham’s Quarterly on July 25, 2018

The Premiere of 'Four Women Artists'

In this 1977 documentary, the spirit of Southern culture is captured through four Mississippi artists who tell their stories.

by Nicole Rudick via The Paris Review on May 29, 2018

Are Our Genes Really Our Fate?

DNA’s visual culture and the construction of genetic truth.

by Kathleen Pierce via Nursing Clio on April 24, 2018

Civil War era envelope with a political cartoon with Confederate leaders hung as traitors.

When the Government Refused to Use Slavery to Recruit Soldiers, the Media Had No Qualms

With questionable motives, America finally saw black Union soldiers living and dying alongside their white countrymen.

by Brendan Seibel via Timeline on April 17, 2018

The Heart of the Matter: A History of Valentine Cards

A digital exhibit from the collections of the Strong National Museum of Play.

by Strong National Museum Of Play via Google Arts and Culture on April 11, 2018

Open books.

James Baldwin: ‘I Did Not Want to Weep for Martin, Tears Seemed Futile’

In memory of Martin Luther King Jr, a look back on his funeral.

by Jason Sokol via Literary Hub on April 4, 2018

How Portraiture Gave Rise to the Glamour of Guns

American portraiture with its visual allure and pictorial storytelling made gun ownership desirable.

by Kim Sajet via Smithsonian on March 23, 2018

Uncola: Seven-Up, Counterculture and the Making of an American Brand

Advertisements for the soft drink presented it as a soda revolution.

by Claire Payton via The Devil's Tale on December 4, 2017

The 1960s Photographer Who Documented the Peace Sign as a Political Symbol

Jim Marshall photographed the spread of the peace sign between 1961 and 1968, with his images now published for the first time by Reel Art Press.

by Allison C. Meier via Hyperallergic on October 20, 2017

Stereograph titled 'The Toucans' depicting three toucans and a snake amid plants and rocks

Stereographs Were the Original Virtual Reality

The shocking power of immersing oneself in another world was all the buzz once before—about 150 years ago.

by Clive Thompson via Smithsonian on September 21, 2017

Woodcuts and Witches

On the witch craze of early modern Europe, and how the concurrent rise of the mass-produced woodcut helped forge the archetype of the broom-riding crone.

by Jon Crabb via The Public Domain Review on May 4, 2017

The Rise of the Image: Every NY Times Front Page Since 1852 in Under a Minute

Every single New York Times front page since 1852 in under a minute. Hint: Pay attention to the images!

by Christopher Jobson via Colossal on February 22, 2017

Touching Sentiment: The Tactility of Nineteenth-Century Valentines

Sentimental or “fancy” valentines, as they were called, were harbingers of hope, fondness, and desire.

by Christina Michelon via Commonplace on December 1, 2016

"Nature’s Nation": The Hudson River School and American Landscape Painting, 1825–1876

How American landscape painters, seen as old-fashioned and provincial, gained cultural power by glorifying expansionism.

by Linda Ferber via Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History on May 1, 2016

Looping sky writing from an airplane above a city.

Notes Toward a History of Skywriting

A language of the air.

by D. Graham Burnett via Cabinet on December 15, 2015

How the Military Waged a Graphic-Design War on Venereal Disease

"Fool the Axis—use Prophylaxis!"In many ways, such a coordinated public effort to alter sexual behavior was unprecedented.

by Hunter Oatman-Stanford via Collectors Weekly on February 11, 2015

Graphic of NRA Blue Eagle, circa. 1933.

The Other NRA (Or How the Philadelphia Eagles Got Their Name)

Before it ubiquitously meant the National Rifle Association, the NRA had a very different meaning.

by Rebecca Onion via Slate on May 22, 2013

Paul Philippoteaux's cyclorama of the Battle of Gettysburg depicting the Union and Confederate armies fighting.

The Great Illusion of Gettysburg

How a re-creation of its most famous battle helped erase the meaning of the Civil War.

by Yoni Appelbaum via The Atlantic on February 6, 2012

How Poverty Was, and Was Not, Pictured Before the Civil War

Images were important in defining the Republic between the Revolution and the Civil War and they distinctively both did and did not show Americans in need.

by Jonathan Prude via Commonplace on April 12, 2010

Sports Illustrated cover featuring a model in a swimsuit.

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

An intellectual history.

by Bryan Curtis via Slate on February 9, 2010

Diagram of a movement experiment studying abnormalities in walking

The Making of the American Culture of Work

Building the assumption of work’s meaningfulness happened across many different institutions and types of media.

by Max L. Chapnick via Commonplace on April 22, 2025

Illustration from the “Projected Trends” section of Hugh Ferriss’ The Metropolis of Tomorrow (1929).

Modern Babylon: Ziggurat Skyscrapers and Hugh Ferriss’ Retrofuturism

In the early twentieth century, architects turned to a newly discovered past to craft novel visions of the future: the ancient history of Mesopotamia.

by Eva Miller via The Public Domain Review on April 9, 2025

Shots from various conspiracy films of the 20th century.

The Life and Death of Conspiracy Cinema

Why did Hollywood lose interest in making paranoid thrillers? Was it a change in the culture? Or a change in the marketplace?

by T. M. Brown via The Nation on March 31, 2025

A gloved hand reaches for a magnifying glass to view photos on slides.

Photos Are Disappearing, One Archive at a Time

We risk losing not just the images but also our ability to bear witness to history itself.

by Kira Pollack via Washington Post on March 10, 2025

The title card of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead.

George Romero’s Pittsburgh

City of the living dead.

by Victoria Timpanaro via The Metropole on February 20, 2025

The word "no" engraved in the Gorton font on different materials.

The Hardest Working Font in Manhattan

A story of a 150-year-old font you have never heard of – and one you probably saw earlier today.

by Marcin Wichary via Aresluna on February 14, 2025

A drawing of a slave revolt on a ship.

Rare Portraits Reveal the Humanity of the Slaves Who Revolted on the Amistad

William H. Townsend drew the rebels as they stood trial, leaving behind an invaluable record.

by Kate McMahon via The Conversation on February 3, 2025

Painting from 1784 of Romans doing a straight-armed salute.

The Revisionist History of the Nazi Salute

Elon Musk’s defenders were quick to claim that his hand motion was actually an ancient “Roman salute” — but that gesture never existed.

by Sarah E. Bond, Stephanie Wong via Hyperallergic on January 22, 2025

Virginia Tracy.

Is Virginia Tracy the First Great American Film Critic?

The actress, screenwriter, and novelist’s reviews and essays from 1918-19 display a comprehensive grasp of movie art and a visionary sense of its future.

by Richard Brody via The New Yorker on November 25, 2024

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