Protest poster. Visual analysis of protest images based on the example of Polish manifestations between 2015-2019

Abstract

The work examines protest images from Polish manifestations between the years 2015-2019 – from both the visual and social perspective. The introduction to the paper provides a deeper analysis of the topic of political graphics, as well as an explanation of the concept behind ‘protest images’. Later on, I try to answer why I’ve decided to choose particular posters as the main representative of protest images, what is its role in Polish history and why I’ve decided to examine the Polish political scene between the years 2015-2019. Next, I analyse protest images on example of: Women’s Strike protests, the demonstrations against Judicial reforms and the far-right protest imagery. After briefly analysing the chosen images, I use them as examples to better examine and describe protest images’ role and transformation within the internet, social media and new media technologies. I try to see how different contexts change their character, as well as how new technologies may affect the design choices now and in the future.