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Ronnie Close

  • Position: Associate Professor
  • Department: Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
  • Email: [email protected]
Brief Biography

Ronnie Close is an associate professor at The American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt. Through visual research projects, workshops, and written publications, close looks at the role of image aesthetics and politics in the contemporary world. He has shown film works in exhibitions, including The Photographers Gallery London, The National Football Museum, Manchester, and Brighton Photo Biennial, UK. He has published articles on visual media and critical theory in magazines, journals, and newspapers, such as Visual Studies, Philosophy of Photography, Mada Masr, Membrana, and Africa is a Country, amongst others.

Close has written two monographs, Cairo’s Ultras: Resistance and Revolution in Egypt’s Football Culture, (AUC Press, 2019), which looks at the cultural practices of local football fans and the politics of representation. His second book, Decolonizing the Image, A New History of Photographic Cultures in Egypt (Manchester University Press, 2024), addresses the visual heritage of Egypt. Other book chapters have been featured in edited publications: Disassembled Images: Contemporary Art After Allan Sekula (University of Leuven, 2019), Architecture and Filmmaking (Intellect Books, 2019), Photography Reframed (I.B. Tauris, 2018) and Magazine Press in the 20th Century: A Global History (2023).

Follow Ronnie Close on Twitter.

Research Interest
  • Photography, Film and Media
  • Visual Culture Theory
  • Image Politics
  • New Visual Communication Technologies

 

Monographs

  • Cairo’s Ultras: Resistance and Revolution in Egypt’s Football Culture, (AUC Press, 2019)
  • Decolonizing the Image, A New History of Photographic Cultures in Egypt (Manchester University Press, 2024)

Book Chapters

  • Disassembled Images: Contemporary Art After Allan Sekula (University of Leuven, 2019)
  • Architecture and Filmmaking (Intellect Books, 2019)
  • Photography Reframed (I.B. Tauris, 2018)
  • Magazine Press in the 20th Century: A Global History (2023).

Journal Article

  • Gendered Visions of Emancipation in Egypt’s Representational Space, Philosophy of Photography Journal, Vol. 3, Winter 12, Intellect Books, United Kingdom

Film Screening

  • More Out of Curiosity, Invention of the News Media Exhibition, The Photographers Gallery, London, London, United Kingdom

Exhibition

  • More Out of Curiosity, QUAD Arts Gallery, The Pride and the Passion Exhibition, Derby, United Kingdom

Research

Filmwork

  • Practice-based PhD in Photographic Research, 2010, The University of Wales, Newport, United Kingdom
  • Masters in Computer Science Multi-Media Systems, 2002, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
  • BA Hons Visual Communication, 2001, University of Ulster, Belfast, United Kingdom
  • National Diploma in Photography, 1994, Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dun Laoghaire, Ireland