Quantitative analysis of two low-cost aerial photography platforms: A case study of the site of Zagora,Andros, Greece

Aerial photography provides a valuable recording method for archaeological sites and is often underutilized. In the past, aerial photographic platforms were expensive and often required highly specialized equipment. However, with new technology a variety of different platforms are now available. This paper will analyze two low cost aerial photographic platforms used at the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens/University of Sydney's project at Zagora, on the island of Andros, Greece. Over two years, both kites and drones were used with relative success. Through a review of the application of both systems on the project, along with a quantitative analysis of the cost, transportability, operation and quality of photographs, the strengths and weaknesses of both platforms will be discussed.     

What the drone saw: the cultural optics of the unmanned war

The dramatic growth of drone warfare in the last decade has meant the arrival of a new kind of war imagery in civilian life: the view through the drone camera. As such, the drone is not simply a weapon, but also an emerging medium for representing conflict. This article explores the ways this imagery has been selected, interpreted, framed and put to use in public and popular culture. In addition to exploring how these practices of looking fit within the larger history of war imagery, two prominent features of ‘drone vision’ are identified: the promotion of consumer interactivity in the drone war and the militarising of domestic space.     

Sousveilling the ‘Global War on Terror’

This article theorises what it means to challenge official regimes of surveillance in the War on Terror by further developing the notion of ‘sousveillance’. In particular, we focus on the performative dimension of surveillance by attending to its sites of struggle, particularly where alternative and counter-performances work to disrupt and dislodge official regimes of vision. These potent counter-performances have become important flashpoints for discussion in the ongoing negotiation of security state power since the onset of the War on Terror. The article begins by considering what it means to call surveillance ‘performative’ and how such official performances have had a documented chilling effect on free expression and democratic deliberation. It continues by exploring Steve Mann’s notion of ‘sousveillance’, or the view from below, as a theoretical resource for understanding counter-visual performances that otherwise challenge authoritarian surveillant practices. Finally, the article illustrates these dynamics through a number of sousveillant performances that have provoked new deliberative spaces in the context of the War on Terror.     

The Unbearable Humanness of Drone Warfare in FATA,Pakistan

Abstract: This paper provides a critical analysis of how and why US‐led drone warfare is conducted in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. First, we provide detailed statistics on the scale and funding of US drone operations, noting a rapid acceleration of its adoption by the military. This is then situated within an overarching narrative of the logic of “targeting”. Second, we study a legal document called the “Frontier Crimes Regulation” of 1901 that defines the relationship of FATA to the rest of Pakistan as an “exceptional” place. In the third section, we argue that the drone is a political actor with a fetishized existence, and this enables it to violate sovereign Pakistani territory. In this sense, the continued violence waged by robots in Pakistan's tribal areas is a result of the deadly interaction between law and technology. The paper concludes by noting the proliferation of drones in everyday life.