Mixing personal anecdotes with historical and political criticism, Image Control explores art, social media, photography and other visual media to understand how our culture and actions have been manipulated, creating the conditions for and reflecting a society in the throes of fascism. But if fascism emerges as aesthetics, then so too can anti-fascism.
... unmistakably, the work of an autodidact. Nathan's curiosity is evident on every page; so, too, is the breadth of his interests ... objects of study may seem scattered, but Nathan effectively weaves them into a sharp, passionate, and frequently scathing plea for artistic ethics in what he calls 'fascist times' ... Not all his jumps are easy to follow, but every one works. His intellectual roving, chaotic though it may sometimes feel, renders Image Control not only fascinating but genuinely exciting. It can be a real pleasure to watch Nathan build scaffolding between his ideas ... Image Control can be frustrating at times: polemical, hyperbolic, messy. But the book's aggravating moments stem from, and are redeemed by, its intelligence, originality, and heart. Cultural critics rarely frame their work as explicitly ethical, and Nathan's insistence on doing so is refreshing. He transforms the idea that images need linguistic context—which could be reduced to a defense of wall text in art museums—into an ethical system that defends human complexity against the ever-flattening pressures of both consumer capitalism and creeping fascism. As proof of concept, Image Control more than succeeds.
... [a] provocative, sometimes jarring book ... Each image is described in rich, defamiliarizing language, re-presenting iconic photographs and their contexts, cultural impacts, aesthetic significance, and commercial value ... In spite of the serious implications of its arguments, the book is timely, glib, and wry ... Humor mitigates the blunt impact of the book’s implications ... a whip-smart text—the kind of brain candy that never loses its sweet tanginess.