From Flat Image to Spatialised Visual Analysis

Forensic Architecture and the Interweaving of Big Visual Data

Abstract

Visual documents of violent events are often controversial and fragmented. Their
interpretation requires additional legitimisation. Using the Hanau reconstruction as a case
study, we analyse the work of Forensic Architecture (FA) in the context of the debate about Big
Visual Data. FA develops analytic methods and forms of presentation to meet the challenges
of Big Visual Data. We show how FA treats audiovisual data as dynamic reference sources and
how the nesting of images establishes a new perspective in the vernacular field of analysis.