Camera Ludica

Redefining screenshots: Toward critical literacy of screen capture practices

“…Despite a modest academic interest in screenshot-related phenomena over the last 10 years (see Allen, 2016; Frosh, 2018; Gaboury, 2018; Gerling, 2018; Giddings, 2013; Moore, 2014; Möring and Mutiis, 2019; Sprengler, 2014; Zylinska, 2020), there has been no open discussion, let alone consensus on the definition of screenshot. Some scholars (Giddings, 2013; Moore, 2014; Poremba, 2007) have completely avoided this question and instead have relied on the vernacular understanding of the term, which is dependent on the sociohistorical context (see Gaboury, 2019a).…”

“…Some scholars (Giddings, 2013; Moore, 2014; Poremba, 2007) have completely avoided this question and instead have relied on the vernacular understanding of the term, which is dependent on the sociohistorical context (see Gaboury, 2019a). For others (Allen, 2016; Möring and Mutiis, 2019), all types of images captured from any screen have qualified as screenshots regardless of the specific technological solution. This approach can, however, be seen as anachronistic as the term itself was coined only in 1983 (see Allen, 2016).…”

“…The already unclear terminology is further complicated by transformative practices whose definitions, such as in the case of in-game photography, partially overlap with the common understanding of screenshot. However, in-game photography can be also created using an external photographic camera (Gerling, 2018; Möring and Mutiis, 2019; Zylinska, 2020). 1…”

“…After more than 10 years from Cindy Poremba’s (2007) first major article on the topic, there has still been no attempt at defining screenshots on a conceptual level. Instead, the existing scholarly works focus on the cultural practices that employ various screen capture techniques (Allen, 2016; Frosh, 2018; Gerling, 2018; Möring and Mutiis, 2019; Poremba, 2007) and largely rely on vernacular terminology in determining their object of study. Thus, what the current screenshot scholarship is lacking is a clear definition of its central phenomenon and accounting for its various cultural uses and variants.…”

“…As I show, screenshots have often been relegated to a mere form of remediation of photography (Book, 2003; Gerling, 2018; Giddings, 2013; Moore, 2014; Möring and Mutiis, 2019; Poremba, 2007), while at the same time they have become a foundation of transformative practices, such as promotional screenshots (Sprengler, 2014) and in-game photography (Gerling, 2018; Möring and Mutiis, 2019; Zylinska, 2020). By drawing attention to the different functions of these qualitatively distinct uses of screen capture techniques, I show the need for an explicit definition of screenshots that would acknowledge the claim of representational accuracy and the circumstances behind screenshots’ creation.…”