The imaginary of the space in online photojournalism

Abstract

This paper examines whether and how the imaginary of territorial marks emerges in photojournalism when communication networks expand domestic spaces for beyond their geographic boundaries. The material for analysis consists of photographic covers from the most accessed online newspapers from each continent. We adopt the notions of imaginary (Thomas), symbolic image and the imaginary schemes (Durand), as well as Bachelard’s configurations on the imaginary of the space. We conclude that photojournalism flattens the imaginary of the space under a territorial imaginary and its symbolic efficacy is not proportional to the multiplication of photographs.