--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Images are mediations between the world…" description: "\"“Images are mediations between the world and human beings. Human beings 'ex-ist', i.e. the world is not immediately accessible to them and therefore im..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/474/vil-m-flusser-36518_imagination_images-are-mediations-between-the-world_1971571.jpg" --- # Images are mediations between the world and human beings… ![“Images are mediations between the world and human beings. Human beings 'ex-ist', i.e. the world is not immediately accessible to them and therefore images are needed to make it comprehensible. However, as soon as this happens, images come between the world and human beings. They are supposed to be…” quote by Vilém Flusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/474/vil-m-flusser-36518_imagination_images-are-mediations-between-the-world_1971571.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/474/vil-m-flusser-36518_imagination_images-are-mediations-between-the-world_1971571.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/474/vil-m-flusser-36518_imagination_images-are-mediations-between-the-world_1971571.jpg) > ““Images are mediations between the world and human beings. Human beings 'ex-ist', i.e. the world is not immediately accessible to them and therefore images are needed to make it comprehensible. However, as soon as this happens, images come between the world and human beings. They are supposed to be maps but they turn into screens: Instead of representing the world, they obscure it until human beings' lives finally become a function of the images they create. Human beings cease to decode the images and instead project them, still encoded, into the world 'out there', which meanwhile itself becomes like an image - a context of scenes, of states of things. This reversal of the function of the image can be called 'idolatry'; we can observe the process at work in the present day: The technical images currently all around us are in the process of magically restructuring our 'reality' and turning it into a 'global image scenario'. Essentially this is a question of 'amnesia'. Human beings forget they created the images in order to orientate themselves in the world. Since they are no longer able to decode them, their lives become a function of their own images: Imagination has turned into hallucination.”” [Vilém Flusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vil-m-flusser/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Images mediate reality but can become screens that distort perception, turning representation into self‑generated illusion and causing societal amnesia. **In simple terms:** Images can both reveal and hide truth, leading us to live by our own pictures. Key Takeaway Recognize and question the images that shape your worldview. Themes media perception reality technology identity Mood critical reflective Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - advertising - social media - news consumption - urban planning - virtual reality Key Concepts semiotics simulation idolatry amnesia Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate between representation and distortion? - What role do you play in creating your own images? A Different Perspective Images may oversimplify complex realities, leading to misinterpretation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Present day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-day/) ## Related quotes > [We need to work together to redefine the global image of beauty and continue to push for a more inclusive world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-graham/we-need-to-work-together-to-redefine-the-global-image-of-beauty-and/) [Ashley Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-graham/) > [Pyramids, cathedrals, and rockets exist not because of geometry, theories of structures, or thermodynamics, but because they were first a picture- literally a vision-in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-s-ferguson/pyramids-cathedrals-and-rockets-exist-not-because-of-geometry/) Eugene S. Ferguson > [Boys, particularly, like stories where they can have images in their imagination, where they can go to scary places and experiment with what can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morris-gleitzman/boys-particularly-like-stories-where-they-can-have-images-in-their/) [Morris Gleitzman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morris-gleitzman/) > [I have always said that archival images are images without imagination. They petrify thought and kill any power of evocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-lanzmann/i-have-always-said-that-archival-images-are-images-without/) Claude Lanzmann > [First you must have the images, then come the words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-james-waller/first-you-must-have-the-images-then-come-the-words/) [Robert James Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-james-waller/) > [“Sounds are three-dimensional, just like images. They come at you from every direction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-kacvinsky/sounds-are-three-dimensional-just-like-images-they-come-at-you-from/) [Katie Kacvinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-kacvinsky/) > [I've come to realize that I'm a image maker, not an object maker. Images come to me as photographs because I don't have any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerardo-suter/i-ve-come-to-realize-that-i-m-a-image-maker-not-an-object-maker/) Gerardo Suter > [When we have our consciousness on needs, images come to us, naturally, of how to meet those needs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-b-rosenberg/when-we-have-our-consciousness-on-needs-images-come-to-us-naturally/) [Marshall B. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-b-rosenberg/) > [No one's quite figured out how to make the images come to the viewer. I guess if they put it on a conveyor belt,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/no-one-s-quite-figured-out-how-to-make-the-images-come-to-the-viewer/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I don't come taking millions of pictures. I spend time with them and simply observe. If you wait long enough those amazing images will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ami-vitale/i-don-t-come-taking-millions-of-pictures-i-spend-time-with-them-and/) [Ami Vitale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ami-vitale/) > [I'm attracted to images that come from a personal exploration of a subject matter. When they have a personal stamp to them, then I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-nimoy/i-m-attracted-to-images-that-come-from-a-personal-exploration-of-a/) [Leonard Nimoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-nimoy/) > [When I look back to my infancy many images come to mind, beautiful and ugly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-zanetti/when-i-look-back-to-my-infancy-many-images-come-to-mind-beautiful-and/) [Javier Zanetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-zanetti/) > [When I fish, there are a lot of images that come to my mind of when I was a child. I did not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edinson-cavani/when-i-fish-there-are-a-lot-of-images-that-come-to-my-mind-of-when-i/) [Edinson Cavani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edinson-cavani/) > [“We have a long distance to travel,' said the Angel of Death to our friend Gil, as soon as they had left the Villa.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pedro-antonio-de-alarc-n/we-have-a-long-distance-to-travel-said-the-angel-of-death-to-our/) [Pedro Antonio de Alarcón](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pedro-antonio-de-alarc-n/) > [“The market was king, that much was clear. Share worth had replaced human worth. And it wasn’t so much a question of what that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arne-dahl/the-market-was-king-that-much-was-clear-share-worth-had-replaced/) [Arne Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arne-dahl/) ## More by Vilém Flusser > [Both those taking snaps and documentary photographers... have not understood information. What they produce are camera memories, not information, and the better they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vil-m-flusser/both-those-taking-snaps-and-documentary-photographers-have-not/) [Vilém Flusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vil-m-flusser/) > [“Custom is a shroud that conceals everything. Not without first encountering the uncustomary will we be able to recognize what is customary and, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vil-m-flusser/custom-is-a-shroud-that-conceals-everything-not-without-first/) [Vilém Flusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vil-m-flusser/) > [...there is no everyday activity which does not aspire to be photographed, filmed or videotaped. For there is a general desire to be endlessly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vil-m-flusser/there-is-no-everyday-activity-which-does-not-aspire-to-be/) [Vilem Flusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vil-m-flusser/) > [“Changing the question 'free from what?' into 'free for what?'; this change that occurs when freedom has been achieved has accompanied me on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vil-m-flusser/changing-the-question-free-from-what-into-free-for-what-this-change/) [Vilém Flusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vil-m-flusser/) > [“All incoming bits of information have, simultaneously, a tentacular, optic, and sexual dimension. Its world is not doubtful, but surprising; vampyroteuthic thinking is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vil-m-flusser/all-incoming-bits-of-information-have-simultaneously-a-tentacular/) [Vilém Flusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vil-m-flusser/) > [Photographers, it is true, do not work but they do do something: They create, process, and store symbols.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vil-m-flusser/photographers-it-is-true-do-not-work-but-they-do-do-something-they/) [Vilem Flusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vil-m-flusser/) > [The act of photography is like going on a hunt in which photographer and camera merge into one indivisible function. This is a hunt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vil-m-flusser/the-act-of-photography-is-like-going-on-a-hunt-in-which-photographer/) [Vilem Flusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vil-m-flusser/) > [He who writes must master the rules of grammar. He who shoots photographs needs only to follow the instructions as given by the camera……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vil-m-flusser/he-who-writes-must-master-the-rules-of-grammar-he-who-shoots/) [Vilem Flusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vil-m-flusser/) > [Photographers encode their concepts as photographic images so as to give others information, so as to produce models for them and thereby to become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vil-m-flusser/photographers-encode-their-concepts-as-photographic-images-so-as-to/) [Vilem Flusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vil-m-flusser/) > [With every (informative) photograph, the photographic program becomes poorer by one possibility while the photographic universe becomes richer by one realization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vil-m-flusser/with-every-informative-photograph-the-photographic-program-becomes/) [Vilem Flusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vil-m-flusser/) > [“The task of a philosophy of photography is to reflect upon this possibility of freedom - and thus its significance - in a world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vil-m-flusser/the-task-of-a-philosophy-of-photography-is-to-reflect-upon-this/) [Vilém Flusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vil-m-flusser/) > [“Our thoughts, feelings, desires and actions are being robotized; 'life' is coming to mean feeding apparatuses and being fed by them. In short: Everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vil-m-flusser/our-thoughts-feelings-desires-and-actions-are-being-robotized-life-is/) [Vilém Flusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vil-m-flusser/) [Explore all 13 Vilém Flusser quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vil-m-flusser/) ## More Imagination quotes > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Imagination is the greatest nation in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/imagination-is-the-greatest-nation-in-the-world/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Merkel has realized that the euro is not working, but she cannot change the narrative she has created because that narrative has caught the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/merkel-has-realized-that-the-euro-is-not-working-but-she-cannot/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/a-beard-is-something-that-is-almost-like-a-mirror-to-the-viewer-when/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I like fantasy, but I don't live and breathe fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/i-like-fantasy-but-i-don-t-live-and-breathe-fantasy/) [Lauren Schmidt Hissrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/) > [While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/while-the-world-of-reality-has-its-limits-the-world-of-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Edgy is fine - I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination - but what's wrong with a good ol' belly laugh?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/edgy-is-fine-i-m-not-a-prude-by-any-stretch-of-the-imagination-but/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [With VR, we have this same vision, which is create this ultimate platform for sharing your imagination. Our huge community of 300,000 developers creates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baszucki/with-vr-we-have-this-same-vision-which-is-create-this-ultimate/) [David Baszucki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baszucki/) > [I like the idea of letting the music do its own work and the stories being more expressionful - if that's a word -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-flynn/i-like-the-idea-of-letting-the-music-do-its-own-work-and-the-stories/) [Johnny Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-flynn/) [Browse all 9,060 Imagination quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Images are mediations between the world and human beings. Human beings 'ex-ist', i.e. the world is not immediately accessible to them and therefore images are needed to make it comprehensible. However, as soon as this happens, images come between the world and human beings. 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