In her essay “In Defense of the Poor Image,” Hito Steyerl praises low-quality images, discussing their political and aesthetic potential as well as their wide reach. Although the text is now over a decade old, it remains highly relevant: visual phenomena such as memes, TikTok videos, and cellphone footage have only increased the circulation and visibility of such “poor” imagery.

Film student Febe Van Dyck finds a creative formal concept that allows her to provide a summary of the phenomenon and appeal of “poor images” as defined by Steyerl. She presents it in the form of a social media conversation, making it very accessible for viewers who are not familiar with the topic. This format allows Van Dyck not only to quickly summarize passages from the original essay but also to add her own reflections on Steyerl’s ideas.

The playful design is in line with the spirit of the text: it effectively conveys the vitality of fannish reworkings and montages. The incorporation of emojis into Steyerl’s writing shows a refreshing lack of reverence that also characterizes many “poor image” remixes. (Moreover, it also makes the typographic and language errors less noticeable, since those are quite common when writing messages on a smartphone…)