The image factory

This essay analyses the visual politics and photographic strategies of Kim Kardashian's social media account. Observed modes of storytelling and techniques of staging and image manipulation are confronted with theories on post-photography and algorithimic image circulation. Furthermore, the essay explores the concept of “hyper” in relation to current visual phenomena: the excessive, heightened, multidimensional nature of how images are often produced, consumed or displayed today. The essay and publication is the result of the seminar “Hyperimages” led by Björn Franke and Annamaria Vasvari in the MA graduate course in Visual Communication at Zurich University of the Arts. The publication contributions were further developed in the two-part workshop “Hyper Hyper: Deconstructing Kim Kardashian” led by Isabel Seiffert and Christoph Miler (Offshore Studio) in 2020.