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Lila Lee-Morrison

Lila Lee-Morrison

Postdoctoral fellow

Lila Lee-Morrison

A portrait of facial recognition : Tracing a history of a statistical way of seeing

Author

  • Lila Lee-Morrison

Summary, in English

Automated facial recognition methods have become widely used as a way to ascertain the identity of individuals. Yet the methods by which facial recognition technologies (FRT) operate – the machinic performance of the perception of the human face – are often invisible to those under their gaze. This article investigates the machinic perception of the face through an FRT method known as eigenface, in order to both reveal and problematize the ways of seeing that underlie it. As part of its algorithmic processes, eigenface produces an image. This image can be understood as a portrait of machine recognition, making visible the processes through which the algorithm performs recognition and ‘sees’ the human face. The eigenface portrait reveals a way of seeing that is based on statistical processes of pattern recognition. An analogue antecedent of this application of statistics to the recognition of facial images can be found in the composite portrait. Through a dialectical discussion of composite portraiture in multiple disciplinary fields ranging from sociology to philosophy and the visual arts, this article experiments with providing a cultural and social translation of machine processes of visual perception. The discussion shifts the focus of enquiry towards the aesthetics of the algorithmic process in order to provide an entry point for critique and a possible reimagination on algorithmic knowledge production.

Department/s

  • Division of Art History and Visual Studies

Publishing year

2018-10-01

Language

English

Pages

107-130

Publication/Series

Philosophy of Photography

Volume

9

Issue

2

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Intellect Ltd.

Topic

  • Visual Arts
  • History of Technology

Keywords

  • automated facial recognition
  • Visual Culture
  • biometrics
  • portraiture
  • machine vision
  • identification portraiture
  • eigenface
  • Thomas Ruff
  • Ludwig Wittgenstein
  • composite portraits

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2040-3690