Review of The Image of whiteness: contemporary photography and racialization

This is a fascinating publication that draws attention to the framing of whiteness as the hegemonic normative practice in contemporary visual culture. The publication evolved out of a symposium that took place in 2017 at the Royal College of Art, co-organised by the book editor Daniel C. Blight and Art on the Underground. The symposium examined interdisciplinary works around race and white privilege, which drew contributions from visual practice, philosophy, sociology as well as politics. The publication sees these conversations extend
into print. It includes an introductory essay from the editor that frames his thesis around the domination of whiteness and white privilege in visual culture and raises critical questions around the representation of race. This is followed by a careful selection of visual practice that draws from 19 bodies of work, which contest the politics of representation. These works are accompanied by concise explanatory texts. Alongside of this, there are five extended interviews, between the editor Blight, and leading writers and artists which locate and theoretically
contextualise the selected art works.