Call for Panelists: “Topics in Amateur Surveillance: Histories, Technologies, Usages

The proliferation of technologies such doorbell cameras, 24/7 livestreams, and smart home devices such as Google Nest have shifted the activity of surveillance from one of top-down omnipotent observation to personalized amateur recording, often produced by the same people who are captured by the camera. Images from these techniques of observation have a reach that far extends their nominal usage for home security, as these videos are publicly distributed on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, and Facebook. The construction of the activity of surveillance as something accomplishable by any amateur asks us to consider what remains constant from the history of visual surveillance and what has changed in the early 21st century. What are the methods by which amateur surveillance functions to accomplish its goals? How does amateur surveillance footage work with other technologies to produce an ideal subject? How do the distributors of the technologies market themselves to the consumers who will produce the footage? More broadly, how has the definition of surveillance shifted in response to these new technologies and practices? In what ways do our daily interactions with cameras reflect a cultural understanding of privacy or lack thereof?

This panel at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2026 conference would consider these questions and more. Other topics include but are certainly not limited to:

·           Aesthetics of amateur surveillance footage

·           History of amateur film and video as it relates to surveillance

·          ​Distribution and reception of amateur surveillance footage

·          ​Conceptions of “real time” or “liveness” as they relate to surveillance

·          ​Streaming video of war and catastrophes

·          ​The family and the home in amateur footage

·          ​Human/nature relationships in amateur footage

·           Relationships between amateur footage and legacy media organizations 

Submitters should be members of SCMS and be planning to attend the 2026 conference on March 26-29th, 2026.  Please send abstracts of no more than 500 words and a bio of no more than 150 words to bdlazar@uwm.edu by no later than August 7th, 11:59 CST. Accepted panelists will be informed no later than August 11th. Please reach out with any questions regarding this topic or the panel application process. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions about the topic or the SCMS conference proposal. Thank you for reading!