Power as a Visual System

Power doesn’t only function through laws and policies. It also operates through images, media, representation, and absence. Historically, certain groups have been centered as the default, the norm, the standard. Others have been portrayed as deviations from that standard. These visual narratives reinforce hierarchy without always announcing it openly. They live in textbooks, news coverage, films, advertisements, and even in everyday interactions. When communities are constantly misrepresented or underrepresented, it shapes collective belief. It influences opportunity. It influences access. It influences self-perception. Visual culture becomes a tool either reinforcing domination or challenging it.