Abstract
Over a century ago, moving pictures opened new ways of seeing and experiencing the world for audiences. In 1900 watching lifelike images from near and far in a darkened space was a new experience, and one that quickly attracted audiences everywhere. For those not living in crowded cities, movies offered a taste of city life. And for those far from centers of innovation, they brought modernity and new styles of life. They also created a new kind of encyclopedia, displaying wonders of nature and science for the masses. And they created new kinds of glamour in the images of stars on-screen and in the picture palaces where these were seen. Today digital access is giving us more ways of accessing this culture of the moving image, with new tools and sources that take us closer to what enabled movies to make the modern world.
Recommended Citation
Christie, Ian
(2024)
"New Windows on the World,"
The Journal of e-Media Studies: Vol. 7:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1349/PS1.1938-6060.A.490
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/joems/vol7/iss1/2
Figure 1. Poster for the Pathé company, proclaiming its goal of “conquering the world” with a network of branches in many countries that anticipated later business strategies in cinema.