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The dimension of visibility in surveillance stood out to me from the slides. As society has moved into the postmodern era and technology has increased exponentially, surveillance has become more and more invisible to those who are being watched. This made me think of every dystopian book I used to read, especially “The Hunger Games”. In this dystopian world, President Snow had hidden cameras everywhere in the districts, so he could keep watch over everyone without them knowing. This seems like only something that could be seen in fictional work, but with the rise of Flock cameras, national security, and decreasing internet privacy, surveillance in “The Hunger Games” is not very far off from reality.
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Physiognomy can be used advantageously to understand the people around you, even if only to a small degree. While Lavater makes the point that you cannot ever fully know another person, their external form can be used as an aid to gain more knowledge of them; “This material man must become the subject of observation.” I liked the use of the word “must” in this quote because it conveys the unconscious need people have to understand the things and people around them. If they have no other way, a person will use external characteristics to create an understanding – no matter how inaccurate – of another person.
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The image I chose is image 2 on page 58, in the section “Of the Rarity of the Spirit of Physiognomonical Observation”. This is the image of a man whose body is tilted towards the right, but whose face is angled forward so you can see its entirety. He is wearing a periwig and looks to be in his 50s or 60s because of the distinct wrinkles on his face. As compared to the man pictured next to him, who has downturned eyebrows and a more judgmental expression, the man’s eyebrows in image 2 are slightly raised, giving him a softer, more concerned look. These descriptions I just gave are the exact reason Lavater added images to his book, because immediately upon seeing them, I began to judge them based on their physical appearance.
