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Dr Aaron Humphrey

@aaronhumphrey.bsky.social

Lecturer in Media and Digital Humanities at the University of Adelaide. I research visual and digital communication, with a focus on comics and graphic narratives.

Posts Replies Media

Reposted by Dr Aaron Humphrey

Journal of Australian Studies @jas-jozstudies.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

Open category winner: Aaron Humphrey and Simon Walsh, “Lost Precursor to Autobiographical Comics, Kangarooland (ca. 1918–1919), Illuminates Transnational Creativity in Australia’s WWI Internment Camps,” JAS, 48:2 (2024), 209-29. @aaronhumphrey.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Screenshot of journal article. Title: Lost Precursor to Autobiographical Comics, Kangarooland (ca. 1918–1919), Illuminates Transnational Creativity in Australia’s WWI Internment Camps. Authors: Aaron Humphrey and Simon Walsh. Abstract: Autobiographical graphic novels have become crucial texts for understanding displacement and transnational identities. This article discusses a long-lost early example of the genre, The Voyage and Adventures of a Well-Behaved German in Kangarooland (Reise-Abenteuer eines Braven Deutschen im Lande der Kangaroo), a series of proto-comic books created circa 1918–1919 by the cartoonist C. Friedrich. A German immigrant to Australia imprisoned in an Australian internment camp during World War I, Friedrich used his self-published comics to document the routines, passions and frustrations of camp life. Drawing on recent scholarship on “POW creativity” as a conceptual lens, we argue that the transnational displacement at the heart of Friedrich’s work affirms Kangarooland as a pioneering work that provides a conceptual link with later autobiographical graphic novels and which should lead scholars to question claims that autobiographical comics are an American-born genre. Its origins in displacement and transnationalism, themes that animate so many of the most renowned graphic novels of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, suggest the genre instead developed out of the ability of comics to depict transnationalism and the precarity of displacement.

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Reposted by Dr Aaron Humphrey

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 02/03/2024

I came across a 1939 book of data visualizations — more than 500 pages! — and it is just terrific. Free to read:

s2.washingtonpost.com

How To Read This Chart: The most amazing collection of charts I’ve ever seen.

Plus, the GOP tries to chart some cash out of your pockets.

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Reposted by Dr Aaron Humphrey

Emma Hughes @thatfilmcritic.bsky.social · 11/03/2024

chunks > blobs #digiplatdesign

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Reposted by Dr Aaron Humphrey

Matt Ficke @mattficke.bsky.social · 11/03/2024

“On Photography” is my favorite Sontag work, and is fascinating to read today in the context of modern photography. “What does a photo actually represent” has never been a straightforward question.

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Dr Aaron Humphrey @aaronhumphrey.bsky.social · 27/02/2024

'Now Breezing' reports that for ten minutes during our first Digital Platforms class of the semester, the #digiplat hashtag that students use to create introductory posts was one of the top ten most used hashtags on bluesky! Clearly hashtags aren't common on bsky right now-- but still 👍 #digiplat!

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Dr Aaron Humphrey @aaronhumphrey.bsky.social · 27/02/2024

Nearly 90 years since Benjamin pondered the meaning of art in the age of mechanical reproduction, Mireille Silcoff despairs fading auras of subcultures in the age of TikTok aesthetics. www.nytimes.com/2024/02/21/m...? Worth reading for learning about 'tomato girl summer' and "super cottage core".

Selection from NYT article about subcultures, with the highlighted section "Mom that dresser is super cottagecore and that is NOT my aesthetic at all. "

Headline from Elle article "Amazon has everything you need to master the vanilla girl aesthetic: because vanilla is not just a scent. It's a lifestyle"

Section from Teen Vogue article, including the headline "Are there other fruit-inspired aesthetics besides tomato girl?"

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Dr Aaron Humphrey @aaronhumphrey.bsky.social · 27/02/2024

In 2024, our Digital Platforms class is experimenting with Bluesky. It's a lot quieter than other platforms right now, which is actually nice! I'll repost some of the best student content, and am interested to see what everyone comes up with!... ✍️ #digiplat

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