Published: The Image by Proxy by Dr. Marc Boumeester

The Ecologies of Architecture Book Series announces the publication of The Image by Proxy, the third volume in its ongoing exploration of the complex entanglements between architecture, media, and ecology. Authored by Dr. Marc Boumeester (ELIA Biennial 2026 Steering group member from Academy of Art & Design Zwolle, ArtEZ University of the Arts, The Netherlands), the book offers a rigorous and timely investigation into the ontology and agency of images in contemporary culture.

Open access download available here>  

In The Image by Proxy, Boumeester examines the exponential growth and pervasive influence of image production on perception, memory, temporality, and authenticity. The book introduces the concept of mass-microimaging to describe how images now function as infrastructural agents—automated, recursive, and embedded within the logics of the attention economy.

Images, Boumeester argues, no longer merely represent the world but actively generate its conditions of recognition and existence. Operating “by proxy,” they perform through algorithmic substitution and systemic validation, shaping how individuals and societies perceive, relate, and act. The monograph poses urgent philosophical and ethical questions: What forms of thought and responsibility remain possible when images dictate the parameters of recognition? How do infrastructures of imaging extend beyond representation to structure social, political, and ecological realities?

Drawing from media theory, philosophy, affect studies, and cultural critique, Boumeester’s work situates the image as both material and operational—an active force within the entangled ecologies of technology, cognition, and power.

About the author:

Marc Boumeester is a researcher, author, and education developer whose work pursues a sustained inquiry into the ontology of imaging. His theory of perception explores autopoiesis and entropy in relation to how images emerge, circulate, and structure reality.

View the book trailer here>