Distant Viewing

A new theory and methodology for the application of computer vision methods to the computational analysis of collected, digitized visual materials, called “distant viewing.”

Distant Viewing: Computational Exploration of Digital Images presents a new theory and methodology for the computational analysis of digital images, offering a lively, constructive critique of computer vision that you can actually use. What does it mean to say that computer vision “understands” visual inputs? Annotations never capture a whole image. The way digital images convey information requires what researchers Taylor Arnold and Lauren Tilton call “distant viewing”—a play on the well-known term “distant reading” from computational literary analysis.

Recognizing computer vision’s limitations, Arnold and Tilton’s spirited examination makes the technical exciting by applying distant viewing to the sitcoms Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie, movie posters and other popular forms of advertising, and Dorothea Lange’s photography. In the tradition of visual culture studies and computer vision, Distant Viewing’s interdisciplinary perspective encompasses film and media studies, visual semiotics, and the sciences to create a playful, accessible guide for an international audience working in digital humanities, data science, media studies, and visual culture studies.Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1 Distant Viewing: Theory 9
2 Distant Viewing: Method 33
3 Advertising in Color: Movie Posters and Genre 57
4 Seeing is Believing: Themes in Great Depression and World War II Photography 97
5 Feast for the Eyes: Locating Visual Style in Network-Era American Situation Comedies 145
6 Opening the Archive: Visual Search and Discovery of the Met's Open Access Program 177
Conclusion 221
Glossary 225
Notes 227
Bibliography 249
Datasets 265
Index 269“Arnold and Tilton take us on an exhilarating visual journey from the Dust Bowl to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, offering keen theoretical insight and methodological inspiration every step of the way.”
—Lauren Klein, Winship Distinguished Research Professor, Emory University; coauthor of Data Feminism and coeditor of Debates in the Digital Humanities
 
“Distant Viewing offers a smart, timely, and accessible analysis that takes both computer vision technologies and human visual culture truly seriously. It’s essential reading for those interested in the newest trends in digital humanities research.”
—Elizabeth Losh, Duane A. and Virginia S. Dittman Professor of English and American Studies, William & Mary; author of Selfie Democracy (MIT Press), Hashtag, and The War on Learning (MIT Press)

“Distant Viewing provides invaluable examples for future research in both computing technology and the humanities through its new methodology which harnesses computer vision, while still accounting for its biases and limitations.”
—Holly Rushmeier, John C. Malone Professor of Computer Science, Yale UniversityTaylor Arnold is Associate Professor at the University of Richmond in the interdisciplinary programs in Data Science and Linguistics. A recipient of grants from the NEH and ACLS, Arnold’s research focuses on the interdisciplinary study of how messages are communicated through texts and visual media. He has published three books, most recently Layered Lives. 

Lauren Tilton is Associate Professor of Digital Humanities in the Department of Rhetoric and Communication Studies at the University of Richmond. Her research combines American Studies and digital humanities to the study of modern visual culture. She is the author of four books, including Layered Lives.
Together, Arnold and Tilton run the Distant Viewing lab at the University of Richmond.