Iconic Images. Production, Performance, Power

How does a news image become iconic – catalyzing media attention, circulating widely, stimulating social and political reactions, crystallizing in the public memory, and being evoked over the years as a symbolic resource to meaningfully frame new events? The chapter aims to answer this question by focusing on three dimensions. First, it offers a review of the theoretical literature on iconic power, by suggesting connections between different research strands and across disciplinary boundaries, in visual culture studies, cultural sociology, communication, and journalism studies. Second, it reconstructs a few major case studies of images which became iconic since the mid-20th century: originally taken in different countries – Japan, Vietnam, the United States, Iraq, and Turkey – these photographs acquired wide, enduring international visibility. Finally, the chapter offers insights into the increasingly transient status and memory work of digital images, thus commenting on the challenges and opportunities for researching visual journalism and iconic power in the digital society.