Banal Surveillance - People
Asko Lehmuskallio
- Professor
- Visual Studies
- Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
- Tampere University
- +358503187013
- asko.lehmuskallio@tuni.fi
About me
Asko Lehmuskallio serves as Professor of Visual Studies and is director of the Visual Studies Lab.
Lehmuskallio focuses particularly on the intersection between visual studies and media studies, with a special interest in media anthropology and digital cultures. He is particularly interested in the interrelations between images, bodies and visual technologies, specifically between seeing and knowing.
Lehmuskallio leads the research projects Visions of the City (w. PL Markus Laine (Tampere), Academy of Finland) and Trust and Visuality (with PL Katrin Tiidenberg (Tallinn) and PI's Maria Schreiber (Salzburg) and Gillian Rose (Oxford), EU Chanse). Across these projects Lehmuskallio's focus is on the interrelations between images and knowledge.
Lehmuskallio studied cultural anthropology at Philipps-Universität Marburg, and image science (Bildwissenschaft) at the Dept. of Art History and Media Theory, Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe. He received his PhD (YTT) at the School of Communication, Media and Theatre in Tampere, and was awarded in 2016 the Title of Docent in Visual Studies. In addition, he has worked at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, and as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Siegen. After his PhD, Lehmuskallio has held several visiting fellowships abroad, including as Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley, US, and at the Sussex Humanities Lab, UK, as Rudolf Arnheim Guest Professor at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany and as Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK.
Among his publications are Visual Studies. A social scientific perspective (2025, co-authored with Paolo Favero) the co-edited works Digital Photography and Everyday Life (2016), Mobile Digital Practices (2017), Travelling by Photograph: Representing and reframing migration (2022) and the Finnish-language Entanglements between Bodies and Documents: A History of the Finnish Passport (2020), co-authored with Paula Haara. In addition, he has published in a wide range of journals and edited books, including in Visual Communication, International Journal of Communication, IEEE Pervasive Computing and Journal of Aesthetics and Culture.
Lehmuskallio has also co-curated two well-received exhibitions at the Finnish Museum of Photography, #snapshot (2014-15) and Documenting the body: A history of the Finnish Passport (2020).
ORCID ID 0000-0002-8271-9830, Twitter handle @verlook.
Books and special issues
2025 Visual Studies. A Social Scientific Approach. Paolo Favero and Asko Lehmuskallio, New York/London: Routledge, 208 pages.
2022 Travelling by Photograph: Representing and reframing migration, special issue of Imaginations: Journal of Cross-Cultural Image Studies, 13 (2), guest editors Carolina Cambre and Asko Lehmuskallio.
2020 Ruumiin ja dokumenttien kytkökset: Suomen passin historiaa, Paula Haara & Asko Lehmuskallio, Helsinki: Finnish Museum of Photography. 167 pages. ISBN 978-951-9086-97-2. (Entanglements between bodies and documents: A history of the Finnish passport).
2017 Mobile Digital Practices, special issue of Digital Culture & Society, 3 (2), guest editors Anna Lisa Ramella, Asko Lehmuskallio, Tristan Thielmann and Pablo Abend.
2016 Digital Photography and Everyday Life. Empirical Studies on material visual practices. Edgar Gómez Cruz and Asko Lehmuskallio (eds), London/New York: Routledge. 295 pages. ISBN: 978-1-138-89981-0.
2014 #Snapshot. Cameras Amongst Us / #snapshot. Kamerat keskuudessamme. Asko Lehmuskallio and Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger (eds). Helsinki: Finnish Museum of Photography. 124 pages. ISBN: 9789519086934.
2012 Pictorial Practices in a ‘Cam Era’, Asko Lehmuskallio, Tampere: Tampere University Press. 362 pages. ISBN 978-951-44-8846-7
1999 C. G. Mannerheim in Central Asia 1906–1908. Petteri Koskikallio and Asko Lehmuskallio (eds). Helsinki: National Board of Antiquities.
1999 C. G. Mannerheimin Keski-Aasian matka 1906–1908. Petteri Koskikallio and Asko Lehmuskallio (eds). Helsinki: Museovirasto.
Journal articles and book chapters
accepted Visual Communication. Asko Lehmuskallio. In: Bruhn Jensen (ed). International Encyclopedia of Communication Theory and Philosophy, 2e. John Wiley & Sons.
accepted Charting Courses: AIS and Navigational Images in the High North Atlantic. Lehmuskallio, Asko. In: Jørgen Alnæs, Synne Tollerud Bull, Liv Hausken and Susanne Østby Sæther (Eds.). Media Seas and the Blue Humanities. Routledge, 99–117.
accepted Same, same, but different: Making sense of changes in social media visuality. Katrin
Tiidenberg & Asko Lehmuskallio, Maria Schreiber. In: Susan Hansen, Kate Korroch and Julie Patarin-Jossec (Eds.): The Visual Studies Companion. London/New York: Routledge.
Tracing histories of the ‘smart’ passport by focusing on infrastructural media, Asko Lehmuskallio and Paula Haara, Cultural Studies, Online First, https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2026.2664521
2025 Kuvanavigointia elementaalisessa mediassa: Purjehtimisen mediateoreettinen liike. Asko Lehmuskallio, Media ja Viestintä, 48(3), 73–95.
2025 Learning From the Mess: What Happens in Social Media Elicitation Interviews. Josie Hamper, Jenni Niemelä-Nyrhinen, Jaana Davidjants, Gillian Rose, Katrin Tiidenberg and Asko Lehmuskallio, Qualitative Inquiry, Online First, DOI: 10.1177/10778004251346741
2025 The speculative camera. Ariel Caine, Asko Lehmuskallio and Yanai Toister, Philosophy of Photography, 16(1), p. 25-41.
2024 Kuvallinen viestintä osana sosiaalista vuorovaikutusta. Asko Lehmuskallio and Jenni Niemelä-Nyrhinen, Duodecim, 140(24), p. 2068-73.
2023 The passport as a medium of movement, Asko Lehmuskallio & Paula Haara. In: Eisenmann, Clemens; Englert, Kathrin; Schubert, Cornelius; Voss, Ehler (Eds): Varieties of Cooperation. Mutually Making the Conditions of Mutual Making. Wiesbaden: Springer, p. 137-165.
2022 Representing and reframing migration, Cambre, C and Lehmuskallio, A. Imaginations: Journal of Cross-Cultural Image Studies, 13 (2), p. 5-22.
2022 Experimental indices: Situational assemblages of facial recognition, Lehmuskallio, A and Meyer, R. The Journal of Media Art Study and Theory, Special Issue on Automating Visuality: the Image Beyond Representation. https://mast-nemla.org/archive/vol3-no1-2022/Experimental_Indices_Situational_Assemblages_of_Facial_Recognition.pdf
2021 Keeping Distance. Notes on Video-Mediated Communication During the Covid-19 Pandemic. 21: Inquiries into Art, History and the Visual, 3(2021), https://doi.org/10.11588/xxi.2021.3.83382
2021 Dreams of Ubiquitous Camera Use: Attachment Suggestions in Early Kodak Advertisements, Lehmuskallio A. In: Kruse, Christiane and Mersmann, Birgit. Bildagenten. München: Fink, p. 257-276.
2020 The Camera as a Meeting Place for Decision Making, Lehmuskallio, A. In: Hall, Amy (ed). The Camera as Actor. London/New York: Routledge, p. 17-28.
2019 Material Mediations Complicate Communication Privacy Management: The Case of Wilma in Finnish High Schools, Lehmuskallio A and Lampinen A. International Journal of Communication 13(2019), 5752–5770. (republished 2020 in the Collaborative Research Center 1187 Media of Cooperation Working Paper Series, 16(2020), 1–15, urn:nbn:de:hbz:467-16248).
2019 Photo use while dating: From forecasted photos in Tinder to creating co-presence using other media, Jänkälä A, Lehmuskallio, A and Takala T. Human Technology, 15 (2), 202-225, https://doi.org/10.17011/ht/urn.201906123156
2019 The look as a medium: a conceptual framework and an exercise for teaching visual studies, Lehmuskallio, A. Journal of Visual Literacy, 38 (1-2), 8-21, https://doi.org/10.1080/1051144X.2018.1564607
2018 Photorealistic computer-generated images are difficult to distinguish from digital photographs: A case study with professional photographers and photo-editors, Lehmuskallio A, Häkkinen J and Seppänen J. Visual Communication, Online First, March 4 2018, https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357218759809
2017 Mobile Digital Practices. Situating People, Things, and Data, Ramella, AL, Lehmuskallio, A, Thielmann, T and Abend, P. Digital Culture & Society, 3(2): 5–18, https://doi.org/10.14361/dcs-2017-0202
2017 Notes on the thin line between the smile and the grimace, Lehmuskallio A. Membrana, 2, 64–67.
2017 Kuva-aktivismin visuaalista antropologiaa, Lehmuskallio A. In: Kupiainen, Jari & Häkkinen, Liisa (eds). Kuvatut kulttuurit. Johdatus visuaaliseen antropologiaan. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. (“A visual anthropology of image activism”, In: Depicted Cultures. An Introduction to Visual Anthropology)
2016 The camera as a sensor among many: The visualization of everyday digital photography as simulative, heuristic and layered pictures, Lehmuskallio A. In: Gómez Cruz, Edgar and Lehmuskallio, Asko (eds). Digital Photography and Everyday Life. Empirical Studies on material visual practices. New York/London: Routledge, p. 243–266.
2016 Why Material Visual Practices?, Lehmuskallio A and Gómez Cruz E In: Ibid. (eds). Digital Photography and Everyday Life. Empirical Studies on material visual practices. New York/London: Routledge, p. 1–16.
2016 Miten katsoa silmät kiinni?, Seppänen J, Häkkinen J and Lehmuskallio A. 2016. In: Ylikangas, Mikko (ed.). Mielen salat. Helsinki: Helsinki Gaudeamus University Press & Academy of Finland, p. 172–185. (“How to look with one’s eyes closed”, In: Secrets of the mind).
2015 Seeing with special requirements: visual frictions during the everyday, Lehmuskallio, A. Journal of Aesthetics & Culture, 7 (1), https://doi.org/10.3402/jac.v7.28228
2014 The Clash Between Privacy and Automation in Social Media, Vihavainen S, Lampinen A, Oulasvirta A, Silfverberg S and Lehmuskallio A. IEEE Pervasive Computing, January-March 2014, p. 56-63, https://doi.org/10.1109/MPRV.2013.25
2014 Cameras amongst Us: Why Do People Take Photos? Lehmuskallio A. In: Lehmuskallio, Asko and Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger (eds.). 2014. #snapshot. Cameras Amongst Us. Helsinki: The Finnish Museum of Photography, p. 7–10.
2014 Photographs That Feel Good! On Digital Photography and Modeling Techniques, Lehmuskallio A. In: Lehmuskallio, Asko and Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger (eds.). 2014. #snapshot. Cameras Amongst Us. Helsinki: The Finnish Museum of Photography, p. 41–44.
2013 Banning Public Nudity: Images of Bodies as Sites of Contested Moral Values, Lehmuskallio, A. JOMEC Journal. Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies 4(2013): 1-20. http://doi.org/10.18573/j.2013.10255
2013 Näkökulmia valokuviin taiteilijoilta, kuraattoreilta ja tutkijoilta, Kulttuurintutkimus 29(2012): 4.
2011 Immersive settings as specific agent/patient relationships, Lehmuskallio A. In: Menrath, Kiwi and Schwinghammer, Alexander (eds). What Does a Chameleon Look Like? Topographies of Immersion. Köln: Herbert von Halem Verlag, p. 305-322.
2011 Yksityisyyden haasteet sosiaalisessa mediassa, Tamminen S, Lehmuskallio A and Johnson M. In: Silmät auki! Sosiaaliseen mediaan. Toimittanut Terhi Aaltonen-Ogbeide. Helsinki: Parliament of Finland, Committee for the Future. Publication 4/2011. 232-250. (Challenges for Privacy on Social Media/ Parliament of Finland, Committee for the Future)
2011 Katson sinua verkottuneen kameran välityksellä, Lehmuskallio, A. Tiede & edistys, 2 (mediateoria), p. 97-108.
2011 We’re in It Together: Interpersonal Management of Disclosure in Social Network Services, Lampinen A, Lehtinen V, Lehmuskallio A and Tamminen S. CHI ’11 Proceedings of the 2011 annual conference on Human factors in computing systems, Vancouver, BC, ACM Press, p. 3217-3226.
2010 Information technologies and transitions in the lives of 55-65 year olds: the case of colliding life interests, Salovaara A, Lehmuskallio A, Hedman L, Löppönen P and Näsänen J. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 68 (11), 803-821.
2010 PRIMA - Privacy Research through the Perspective of a Multidisciplinary Mash up, Bylund M, Johnson M, Lehmuskallio A, Seipel P and Tamminen S. In: Vem reglerar informationssamhället? Nordisk årsbok i rättsinformatik 2006-2008 (Who regulates the information society? The Nordic Yearbook of Law and Informatics 2006-2008). Nordisk årsbok i rättsinformatik (2006). Jure, Stockholm p. 139-160.
2009 Traveling through ‘Damascus’. How do Images tell Us what to do?, Lehmuskallio A. In: Mersmann, Birgit and Schneider, Alexandra (eds). Transmission Image: Visual Translation and Cultural Agency. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, p. 200-223.
2009 Social Media und fotografische Praktiken. Eine Analyse der Auswirkung neuer Kommunikationstechnologien auf Schnappschussgewohnheiten, Lehmuskallio A. In: Müller, Daniel; Ligensa, Annemone and Gendolla, Peter (eds). Leitmedien. Konzepte – Relevanz – Geschichte. Bielefeld: Transcript, p. 267-283.
2009 “A photo is not an extension of me, it’s plain surface.” – Views of users of a Web 2.0 photo-sharing site on photos and privacy, Lehmuskallio A. SPIEL: Siegener Periodicum zur Internationalen Empirischen Literaturwissenschaft, Phenomena of Web 2.0 as agents of cultural change, 26 (2007), 2, 271-289.
2009 Mobile media in the social fabric of a kindergarten, Näsänen J, Oulasvirta A, and Lehmuskallio A. CHI ‘09. Proceedings of the 2009 annual conference on Human factors in computing systems. Boston, MA, ACM Press, p. 2167-2176.
2008 Städtische Räume als Bildflächen. Anmerkungen zu visuellen Strategien der Überzeugung und des Widerstandes, Lehmuskallio A. In: Hinterwaldner, Inge; Juwig, Carsten; Klemm, Tanja and Meyer, Roland (eds). Topologien der Bilder. München: Fink, p. 131-146.
2008 Culture jamming: mainonnan kieli ja konfliktin mahdollisuus, Lehmuskallio A. In: Ojajärvi, Jussi and Steinby, Liisa (eds). Minä ja markkinavoimat. Yksilö, kulttuuri ja yhteiskunta uusliberalismin valtakaudella. Helsinki: Avain, p. 259-295.
2008 Culture and Mass-Mediated Pictures: A Processual View, Lehmuskallio A. Kunst und Politik. 10: (Schwerpunkt: Bildwissenschaft und Visual Culture Studies in der Diskussion), p. 73-86.
2008 Snapshot Video. Everyday Photographers Taking Short Video-Clips, Lehmuskallio Asko and Sarvas Risto. NordiCHI ’08: Proceedings of the 5th Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction: using bridges. New York: ACM Press, p. 257-265.
2007 Constructing Perceptual Shifts: Notes on Culture Jamming as a Political Tool, Lehmuskallio A. In: Sumiala-Seppänen, Johanna and Stocchetti, Matteo (eds). Images and Communities. The Visual Construction of the Social. Helsinki: Gaudeamus - Helsinki University Press, p. 199-228.
2007 Whose “FEST”: Symbols of Statehood, Rituals of Resistance?, Czyżewska A, Fichtner S, Kreczmar N, Lehmuskallio A and Sokołowski Ł. In: Patzer, Helena; Thiemann, André; Kosmatopoulos, Nico and Kresti, Georgia (eds). Symbols and Rituals of Statehood and Resistance. Warsaw: Warsaw University Printing House, p. 79-88.
2007 Ermächtigender Exhibitionismus und die bildliche Dokumentation des Arbeitsalltags, Lehmuskallio A. In: Reader zur internationalen Forschungskonferenz FAME I HOCH 4 - Interaktivität / Information / Interface / Immersion. Johann Wolfgang Goethe- Universität Frankfurt am Main, p. 77-81.
2007 Visuelle Brüche? Anmerkungen zu kulturellem Widerstand mit werbeähnlichen Methoden, Lehmuskallio A. Kunst und Politik. 9: (Schwerpunkt: Politische Kunst heute), p. 139-158.
2007 Zum Aushorchen der Simulationen, Lehmuskallio A. Munitionsfabrik 17, p. 41-43.
Paula Haara
- Grant Holder, Doctoral Research
- Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
- Tampere University
- paula.haara@tuni.fi
About me
I am writing a doctoral dissertation on the securitization of mobility (media studies). The study investigates how the prioritization of security modifies and complicates the governance of mobility. My empirical case is the Finnish passport, which functions not only as a means of identification but also as both an enabler and a barrier to movement. The study analyses security discourses and the passport document itself, through a medium-theoretical approach. The dissertation combines perspectives from critical security studies, practice-oriented media studies, and visual culture studies.
I have worked as a researcher in several projects linked to media and journalism, focusing in particular on the dynamics of public debate in a democratic society and on the use of media in a fragmenting media landscape.
Selected previous research projects:
- Haffect (Research Council of Finland) examined the production, experience, and governance of hate speech in the digital age.
- Image/Knowlege (Åkerlund Media Foundation) developed new forms of photojournalism, taking into account advances in digital technology, needs of the professional field and latest research related to the field.
- The impact of hate speech on public decision-making project (Viha vallassa, VN TEAS) examined the scale, quality and impacts of hate speech on societal decision-making.
- In the Information Chaos and Trust in Traditional Media project, the Information Disorder Survival Guide web site was produced, presenting common forms of influence, manipulation, mis/disinformation, as well as offering tips for recognizing them.
- The Conciliatory Journalism project (Kone Foundation) sought through action research new tools for journalism to address conflict-sensitive topics. I paid particular attention on the moderation of online discussions.
I am a member of the Visual Studies Lab (VSL), which brings together researchers who work on vision and visuality from a social science and humanities perspective.
Responsibilities
Teen mediatutkimuksen väitöskirjaa, jossa tarkastelen liikkuvuuden turvallistamista. Tutkin, miten turvallisuuden painottaminen muovaa ja monimutkaistaa liikkuvuuden hallintaa. Empiirinen esimerkkini on Suomen passi, joka on paitsi tunnistamisen väline myös liikkumisen mahdollistaja ja este. Tarkastelen turvallisuusdiskursseja ja itse passidokumenttia mediumteoreettisen lähestymistavan kautta. Yhdistän kriittisen turvallisuustutkimuksen, käytäntöteoreettisen mediatutkimuksen sekä visuaalisen kulttuurin tutkimuksen näkökulmia. Tutkimus avaa liikkumisen historiaa ja tarjoaa näkökulmia ajankohtaisiin kysymyksiin liikkuvuuden hallinnan monimutkaistumisesta sekä turvallistamisen vaikutuksista.
Olen työskennellyt useissa median ja journalismin tutkimukseen linkittyvissä hankkeissa keskittyen erityisesti julkisen keskustelun dynamiikkaan demokraattisessa yhteiskunnassa sekä mediankäyttötapoihin pirstaloituvassa mediamaisemassa. Oman väitöskirjatutkimuksen myötä olen kiinnostunut mediatutkimuksen ja teknologian tutkimuksen näkökulmien yhdistämisestä sekä turvallisuuden kysymyksistä.
Poimintoja aiemmista tutkimushankkeista:
- Haffect -hankkeessa (Suomen Akatemia) tutkitttiin vihapuheen tuottamista, kokemusta ja hallintaa digitaalisella aikakaudella.
- KuvaTieto -projektissa (Åkerlundin mediasäätiö) kehitettiin uusia kuvajournalismin muotoja huomioiden digitaalisen teknologian kehitys, media-alan ammatilliset osaamistarpeet sekä uusin alaan liittyvä tutkimus.
- Viha vallassa -hankkeessa (VN TEAS) selvitettiin yhteiskunnalliseen päätöksentekoon vaikuttavan vihapuheen laajuutta, luonnetta ja vaikutuksia.
- Informaatiokaaos ja luottamus perinteiseen mediaan -hankkeessa (Viestintäalan Keskussäätiö) koostettiin Sisältösekaannuksen selviytymisopas, jossa esitellään yleisiä vaikuttamisen, manipuloinnin, harhaanjohtamisen ja väärän informaation välittämisen tapoja sekä annetaan vinkkejä niiden tunnistamiseksi.
- Sovittelujournalismi -hankkeessa (Koneen Säätiö) etsittiin toimintatutkimuksen kautta keinoja, joilla journalismissa voisi käsitellä konfliktiherkkiä aiheita. Tarkastelin hankkeessa erityisesti verkkokeskustelujen moderointia.
Kuulun visuaalisuuden tutkimukseen keskittyvään Visual Studies Labiin (VSL).
Lisätietoja julkaisuistani
Heikki Heikkilä
- Associate Professor
- journalistiikka
- Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
- Tampere University
- +358503185926
- heikki.heikkila@tuni.fi