The Lure of the Image explores the seductive powers of contemporary digital forms of
photography: How do images bait or beguile us capture and control us as they circulate online?
The artistic positions and essays assembled in this book engage with visual phenomena that
serve as vehicles for online communication criticism and humor highlighting the crucial role
images play in shaping our digital social cultural and political landscapes. From Tinder
profiles to beauty filters from ASMR to memes and emoji and from "cute" to "cursed" images
the book navigates the complex mechanisms of the lure exerted by networked visual culture. It
sheds light on how images and their underlying structures-from algorithms to datasets-direct
our attention provoke emotions and influence opinion significantly impacting how we perceive
interpret and move through both our online and our offline worlds. james taylor-foster is a
writer and curator of design and digital culture with a training in architecture. Idil Galip
is the founder of the Meme Studies Research Network. Maya B. Kronic is the co-author with Amy
Ireland of Cute Accelerationism (2023). Stan Portus is a writer and editor based in London.
Katrina Sluis is Associate Professor and Head of Photography and Media Arts at the Australian
National University.
