How might moving images reshape the ways in which cities are studied, represented and understood? This question sits at the centre of an upcoming USL ThinkSpace event, which brings together scholars working across the arts, architecture, urban studies and film studies to reflect on the methodological and conceptual possibilities opened up by visual practices.
Across these fields, visual media are increasingly mobilised in two interconnected ways. On the one hand, film and other visual forms are approached as objects of analysis, offering insight into how urban life is framed, narrated and mediated. On the other, they are taken up as research practices in their own right, enabling forms of engagement with the built environment that are attentive to movement, temporality and embodied experience. This dual positioning of visual media invites a reconsideration of how spatial knowledge is produced, and of what counts as evidence, method and representation within urban research.
The event opens with a series of presentations that engage with these questions from distinct yet overlapping perspectives. Amanda Ravetz, whose work in visual anthropology and observational cinema has been foundational to the development of film as a mode of inquiry, reflects on the qualities of intimacy, presence and attentiveness that underpin visual research. Drawing on a wide range of projects, her work foregrounds the relational dimensions of filming, where narrative emerges gradually through sustained engagement and careful observation.
Jennifer Coates approaches film from the perspective of Japanese studies, with a focus on how cinematic representations of urban life are shaped through architecture and habitation. Building on existing work on mise-en-scène and spatial expression, her research considers how built environments do more than reflect interior states, instead participating actively in the formation of narrative and character. Through analyses of recent films set in Tokyo, she explores how the relationship between inhabitant and environment becomes central to storytelling.
Ziqiu Ren’s work shifts attention to the methodological potential of filmmaking within architectural and urban research. Drawing on fieldwork in Chinese marketplaces, she reflects on what she terms ‘intimate cinematic observation’, a mode of engagement that foregrounds slowness, proximity and the productive ‘messiness’ of the field. In this context, what might conventionally be seen as limitations becomes integral to capturing the subtle, infra-ordinary spatialities of everyday life.
Christoph Lueder brings a complementary perspective, considering film and time-based drawing as tools for both immersion and analysis. His work interrogates how visual media can collapse distinctions between data collection, interpretation and dissemination, while also making visible the positionalities of researcher, participant and viewer. In doing so, it raises important questions about authorship, narration and the ethics of representation in spatial research.
Together, these contributions highlight the extent to which visual and moving image practices are reshaping the terrain of urban studies. They point towards forms of research that are iterative, relational and attuned to the fleeting and often overlooked dimensions of everyday life.
The afternoon session extends this conversation through a collaborative workshop, inviting participants to share short reflections on their own projects that engage with visual methods or moving image practices. Rather than formal presentations, these contributions are conceived as starting points for discussion, creating an opportunity to exchange methodological reflections, surface emerging questions and explore potential directions for future work.
We hope this event will foster a shared space of experimentation and dialogue, situating visual practices as integral to ongoing efforts to understand and engage with the complexities of contemporary urban life.
