The role of everyday visuals in ‘knowing humans’ during Covid-19

The human condition during COVID- 19 has been communicated through a barrage of news stories about the pandemic, and much of that news has been visual. Line charts, bar charts and data visualizations have become key to public communication about the pandemic. Likewise, photographs are also used to represent the virus and illustrate the pandemic’s impact on aspects of everyday life, like working, going to school or socializing at the pub. In this chapter, we discuss three visuals which have become iconic of the pandemic: images of the virus itself, the fl atten- the- curve- line graph, and the face mask. Then, unlike other writers who prioritize iconic images like these, we propose that it is also important to attend to the more generic everyday visuals of COVID- 19 that circulate in the media.