Image Laundering

This essay examines the layered structure of digital images in the context of the war in Ukraine, with a focus on how foregrounds and backgrounds are visually and conceptually manipulated to shape perception. It explores how digital media technologies enable the censorship, fabrication, and weaponization of images, blurring the line between reality and fiction. Drawing on historical visual strategies from Soviet Russia and contemporary practices in Russian state media, the essay traces how power operates through what is shown, hidden, or erased. It highlights the role of computer graphics and social media in the hyper-aestheticization of conflict.