What Do Pictures Want?: The Lives And Loves Of ... May 2026

: Mitchell uses the figure of the dinosaur as a "totem animal of modernity," representing both the fascination with and the fear of species extinction in a post-human world.

W.J.T. Mitchell’s (2005) is a foundational text in visual culture that shifts the focus from what images mean to what they desire . Mitchell argues that we should treat images not as passive, inert objects, but as animated entities with their own agency, needs, and "lives". Core Argument: The "Pictorial Turn" What Do Pictures Want?: The Lives and Loves of ...

What Do Pictures Want?: The Lives and Loves of Images, Mitchell : Mitchell uses the figure of the dinosaur