Shifting shadows: A visual analysis of the representation of older individuals in German media amidst the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic raised profound questions about the place of older individuals within political contexts. The visual landscape of the pandemic shapes our collective understanding of the crisis and reproduces societal norms regarding age and mortality. Yet, discourses of political and visual communication, where the interplay of power, representation and governance intertwines, rarely focus on the visualization of elderhood and the aestheticization of ageing. This article addresses this gap by asking how older individuals are visually represented amidst the pandemic and what discourses, ideologies and power dynamics are reflected and constructed through these representations. To capture the significance of pandemic images, this study critically examines visual representations as a lens to explore the intersection of health security and biopolitical debates. It does so through an empirical analysis of content from two German magazines, Der Spiegel and Die Apothekenumschau . Using a visual content analysis, the study interrogates the nuanced transitions in the visual grammar governing the representation of older individuals throughout the pandemic. The modes of depiction recognizable in the findings, this article argues, echo biopolitical forms of visualization. From the collected data, a shift in depicting older individuals becomes evident with the development of vaccinations. By capturing the visual ageism communicated through the pandemic images, it calls for a multifaceted portrayal of elderhood to counteract its negative effects in contemporary society.