Trevor Paglen, a photographer, cinematographer, geographer and writer who delves into the secret and invisible worlds of government infrastructure and state surveillance—from football field-sized satellite antennas in space to fighter-jet contrails—will present a free public lecture and book signing on Thursday, January 21, 6 p.m. in the Art Building Auditorium at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He practices “experimental geography” as a means to learn how to see the historical moment we live in and to imagine alternative futures.
In his talk, titled “How to See the Surveillance State,” Paglen will share more than a decade’s worth of images, research and stories. He will also discuss his current project of photographing deep-sea fiber optic telecommunications cables running across the Pacific.
Paglen’s lecture is part of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences’ Dai Ho Chun Endowment for Distinguished Lecturers series. The UH Bookstore will have books available for purchase.
More about Paglen
Paglen is the author of five books, including Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon’s Secret World, Invisible: Covert Operations and Classified Landscapes and The Last Pictures. He was also a cinematographer for Laura Poitras’ documentary on Edward Snowden, Citizenfour, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2015.
The New York Times, The New Yorker and Art Forum have written about Paglen. In 2014, he received the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Pioneer Award for his work as a “groundbreaking investigative artist.” Most recently, he was the Smithsonian’s Clarice Smith Distinguished Lecturer in American Art.
He holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and a PhD in geography from UC Berkeley.
—A College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature news release
