Reading on Visual Culture and Domestic Violence

by: Camille Waring , February 6, 2024

I recently had the opportunity to read the book Legal Spectatorship: Slavery and the Visual Culture of Domestic Violence (2022), a text about the visual culture of domestic violence (particularly in the United States of America) by Kelli Moore, Assistant Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University (NYU). Moore has published extensively on the much-ignored realms of visual culture, the oppression of women and the photograph’s function in those systems of subjugation. Moore’s work is compelling and a critical intervention into the study of the weaponisation of photography against (what the law considers) aberrant bodies (Moore, 2010; Moore 2013). Moore has written extensively about the role of media and technology in producing legal and political knowledge in the photograph’s context, locating her work within ongoing debates about trauma and helplessness-facilitated communication, feminist jurisprudence, visual literacy, post-racial embodiment, visual culture and the digital (Moore, 2022a; Moore, 2022b; Moore, 2023).

Moore’s prior work created a solid foundation and pivotal precursor for her first book, Legal Spectatorship: Slavery and the Visual Culture of Domestic Violence (2022) tells the story of the domestic violence photograph. Interrogating, investigating, and critiquing its evidentiary function in the Courtroom, historical links to slavery and its relationship to social media and anti-domestic violence activist practices (Moore, 2022). Legal Spectatorship offers a thought-provoking and nuanced analysis of the intersection between law, visual culture, a dark period of American history, the slave trade and the treatment of black women’s slaves’ bodies as victims of violence and slaves as witnesses to domestic violence experienced by white women.

Meticulously researched, Legal Spectatorship offers a lone dialogue in feminist legal and media studies that considers the function and history of the photograph in domestic violence. One of the critical strengths of Legal Spectatorship is the ways in which Moore explores how visual culture significantly shaped the legal and social landscape of slavery. The book provides a nuanced understanding of how images of slavery were used to justify and challenge the institution, highlighting the complex and often contradictory nature of the visual culture of the time and how that relates to contemporary issues.

From the outset, it becomes clear that Moore’s specific focus on domestic violence, within the context of slavery and constitutional law, challenges traditional notions of spectatorship and the role of photograph in the contemporary and historical architecture of law. While drawing of modern movements such as #MeToo (Moore, 2022: 169) and Black Lives Matter (Moore 2022: 85) that prop up the scaffolding of the architecture of racism in legal contexts, Moore demonstrates that photographs of domestic violence are haunted by the oppression of slavery. One of the book’s main strengths lies in its thorough analysis of the legal framework surrounding slavery. The author deftly examines court cases, slave narratives, and legal documents to reveal how legal spectatorship served as a mechanism for maintaining the racist status quo.

By concentrating on the domestic settings and relationships, traditionally seen as private spaces, Legal Spectatorship exposes the complex dynamics of power and control that existed in the lives of enslaved women. Professor Moore’s work demands we challenge our typical understanding of domestic violence as just between intimate partners (Moore 2022: 28-31). Placing it in the context of various visual sources ranging from paintings to abolitionist pamphlets, Moore effectively demonstrates how these visual representations reinforced societal norms and attitudes towards black women (Moore 2022: 42-44).

The Introduction provides an overview of the historical context of slavery in the United States. Moore introduces several concepts central to the book’s analysis of the visual culture of domestic violence. What stood out for me was the care weaved into the Introduction. The special notation ‘DV’ identifies domestic violence cases in United States criminal courts, highlighting that domestic violence cases are the bread and butter of the legal system (Moore 2022: 1). Moore delicately yet powerfully reconstructs domestic violence in two acts: as a legislative and judicial late 20^th response to the scourge of domestic violence cases in which the photograph of domestic violence becomes new territory. Moore coined the term ‘new legal photographies,’ arguing that it has given rise to two corresponding photography bodies (or perhaps genres). The brilliance of Legal Spectatorship is the reading of courtroom photographs of domestic violence, linking it to the histories of slaves as witnesses and situations with the terms domestic and violence in the history of slavery.

Moore’s research methodology is a heady mix of archival, ethnographic, and semiotic expedition. Comprised of four groundbreaking chapters, it would be impossible to pick which one is the book’s highlight. When we think of domestic violence scholarship, we tend to think about publications and research that explore social justice in contemporary contexts; however, Moore’s book heralds a new era of visual cultural studies and our understanding of photographs of intimate partner violence.

Chapter 1: Authenticating Domestic Violence. Image and Feeling in Abolitionist Media considers the visual literacy and technologies between slave narratives and photographic evidence and is done so through reading constitutional law into abolitionist media, slaves’ experiences of brutality and the conventions of authenticating evidence of domestic violence. Moore astutely demonstrates how legal spectatorship, or observing and interpreting the law, played a significant role in shaping the visual culture of slavery and its relationship to domestic violence. She challenges readers to think critically about the relationship between law, power, and visual culture.

Chapter 2: Battered Women in a Cybernetic Miliue explores the history of cybernetics and infrastructure. Moore argues that according to cybernetic theories (theories of control applied to complex systems), the struggles of black people led to experiments that helped define domestic violence as violence between romantic partners. Moore argues that powerlessness and control were central to scientific studies demonstrating the significance of black lives to the development of theories of violence and was first a problem of black freedom.

Chapter 3: Authenticating Testimony in the Domestic Violence Court Room focuses on photographic evidence of domestic violence; how visual culture played a role in the commodification and consumption of enslaved people and the evolution of photography. Explicitly focusing on the dynamics of testimony when witnesses corroborate photographs of injuries sustained in domestic violence cases. In addition, the chapter offers ethnographic insights into the limitations of domestic violence injury photographs as evidence in legal proceedings.

Chapter 4: Incorporating Camp in Criminal Justice investigates media portrayals of domestic violence in which victims’ wounds are portrayed as purely cosmetic. The media portrayals of the aesthetics of legal camps are contrasted with those that focus on the experiences of queer women of colour fleeing domestic violence. Moore analyses various forms of visual representation, including advertisements, photographs, and paintings, to show how they were used to objectify and dehumanise enslaved people.

In the final chapter, Moore summarises the book’s main arguments and themes and provides insights into the ongoing debates about the legacy of slavery in the United States. Moore emphasises the importance of understanding the role of visual culture in shaping legal and social landscapes and the ongoing impact of this legacy in contemporary society.

Overall, I found Legal Spectatorship to be an engaging and thought-provoking book that offers a fresh perspective on the history of slavery in the United States. Moore’s expertise in media and communication studies provides a unique lens through which to view this complex topic, and the book is a significant contribution to the field. Moreover, Legal Spectatorship provides a nuanced understanding of the agency and resilience of black women. Offering a compelling analysis that encourages readers to reevaluate their views on the function of the image in domestic violence. By shedding light on this often-overlooked dimension of American history, the author compels readers to confront uncomfortable truths and recognise the continued impact of slavery on society today. This book is a must-read for scholars, students, and anyone interested in expanding their understanding of the complex dynamics of power and visual culture in the United States. Legal Spectatorship: Slavery and the Visual Culture of Domestic Violence raises essential questions that deepen our understanding of the intricate relationship between photography, the Courtroom, public consciousness and perspective on slavery, making this book a must-read for anyone interested.

In conclusion, Legal Spectatorship: Slavery and the Visual Culture of Domestic Violence is a thought-provoking and meticulously researched book that challenges conventional understandings of the relationship between law, visual culture, the photograph, and the subversion of slavery and domestic in the United States. While the book is undoubtedly a valuable contribution to the field, some readers might find the density of the text and the theoretical underpinnings challenging. Moore assumes a certain level of prior knowledge and familiarity with critical theories, which could be a barrier for readers less acquainted with the subject matter. Nonetheless, this book was exhilarating and inspiring, offering an essential and necessary intervention in Visual Criminology.