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CEO Portraits and the Authenticity Paradox

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TLDR
In this paper, the authors explore the authenticity paradox and its implications by means of an analysis of executive portraits taken by one prominent Danish photographer, Per Morten Abrahamsen, and map out an agenda for the further exploration of CEO portraits and images as an important element in the social and symbolic construction of business leadership.
Abstract
Top executive and CEO portraits represent significant sites for the visual construction of corporate identity and image, but they also highlight what we call the authenticity paradox. At first glance such photographs may appear to convey an impression of the kind of authentic presence many consider crucial for establishing a strong corporate image. But a closer look at the constructed nature of both CEO identity and portrait photography lays bare the elusive nature of authenticity itself, as well as the way that CEO portraits can function also to expose the corporation's chronic lack of authenticity. We explore the authenticity paradox and its implications by means of an analysis of executive portraits taken by one prominent Danish photographer, Per Morten Abrahamsen. We also map out an agenda for the further exploration of CEO portraits and images as an important element in the social and symbolic construction of business leadership.

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References
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Book

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

TL;DR: One of the most important works of cultural theory ever written, Walter Benjamin's groundbreaking essay explores how the age of mass media means audiences can listen to or see a work of art repeatedly and what the troubling social and political implications of this are as mentioned in this paper.
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Keeping An Eye on the Mirror: Image and Identity In Organizational Adaptation

TL;DR: In this article, the authors address how individuals make sense of their organization's response to a nontraditional and emotional strategic issue, and the reported research also concerned microprocesses involved in the response.
Journal ArticleDOI

Organizational Identity, Image, and Adaptive Instability

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that organizational identity is a relatively fluid and unstable concept, and instead of destabilizing an organization, this instability in identity is actually adaptive in accomplishing change.
Journal ArticleDOI

Relations between organizational culture, identity and image

TL;DR: The relationship between organizational culture, identity and image has been discussed in this article, where the authors argue that contemporary organizations need to define their corporate identity as a bridge between the external position of the organization in its marketplace and other relevant environments, and internal meanings formed within the organizational culture.
Book

Visual methods in social research

Marcus Banks
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a research project with visual methods to investigate the use and production of images in social contexts, focusing on the use of images for research in the context of social media.
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