Ninth International Conference on The Image

Abstract

At the end of the years 1960, the Apollo missions offered unforgettable images of the Earth and contributed to the development of ecological sensitivity. But the main revolution comes from the alliance of the computer and the satellite. Placed in Earth orbit, optical and radar observation instruments offer a global view of the Earth, regularly renewed; from now on, any place is accessible in an instant, any spatial and temporal distance seems indeed erased. But what terrestrial reality do these images allow to access, for example when they are associated with information to form geographic information systems (GIS)? Is the risk of deserting the Earth greater when the screens of our computers ignore the distance that previously invited to use symbols? What becomes the responsibility of humans, with regard to their alter ego and environments, when, to quote Paul Virilio, “Here is no longer, everything is now?” Modern image of Earth invites to new ethics.