I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Communication at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. My doctoral dissertation offers critical examination of different ways in which commercial brands and media corporations appropriate and adapt user-generated ‘amateur’ or ‘vernacular’ aesthetics.
In addition to being fascinated with the corporate use of amateur visual patterns and the different ways in which these phenomenon are important to our understanding of contemporary consumer society and digital culture, I am also a mother of two living in Herzliya, and a creative director at an Israeli public relations firm.
Much like Keith Negus’ illuminating research on the music industry – which started with his own experience as a young, aspiring musician dealing with the uncertainties of a frantic (somewhat chaotic) field, or the work of Laura Grindstaff as an intern on the set of televised talk shows that lead to her investigation of the prime time moments in which guests lose control and expose raw feelings ("The Money Shot"), in my case too work and academic interests continually intersect and influence each other. I find that working with and for commercial companies often serves as inspirational source for future research, and a useful tool in understanding the ‘behind the scenes’ insights of an industry ever on the search for the next big thing.
Research Interests
- Commercial Appropriation
- Fashion and advertising
- Stock photography
- Amateur and vernacular visual patterns
- User generated-content
- Digital culture
- Social media
- Consumer culture
Selected Publications and Presentation
- Simatzkin-Ohana, L. and Frosh, P. (2022) Corporate appropriations of vernacular images on Instagram: from User Generated Content to a User Generated Aesthetic. 9th European Communication Conference. Denmark (2022).
- Simatzkin-Ohana, L. (2022). When Vernacular Style becomes a Corporate Strategy: Who is the 'Self' in Stock- photography Selfies? Visualizing What’s Social Pre-conference 72nd Annual ICA Conference, Paris (2022)
- Simatzkin-Ohana, L. and Frosh, P. (2022) From user-generated content to a user-generated aesthetic: Instagram, corporate vernacularization, and the intimate life of brands. Media, Culture & Society, DOI: 10.1177/01634437221084107
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Simatzkin-Ohana, L. (2022). When Selfie Culture Meets Commercial Stock Photography: Who is the "Self" in Stock Photography Selfies? Paper presented at Photomedia Conference, Aalto University, Helsinki (2022)
Simatzkin-Ohana, L. and Frosh P. (2021) User-Generated Aesthetic: The Style of Corporate Authenticity. Paper presented at Cultures of Authenticity virtual symposium hosted by Loughborough University
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Simatzkin-Ohana, L. and Frosh P. From User-generated Content to a User-generated Aesthetic: Instagram, Brands, and the Appropriation of Digital Photography (2020). AoIR 2020 virtual conference
Awards and Prizes
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2020: The Smart Doctoral Student Award for Excellence, granted by Mary Smart and the Smart Family Institute of Communications
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2017: Outstanding Student Paper, Israel Communication Association, Yuval Shahal Memorial Prize
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2016-2021: Scholarship for Doctoral Students, granted by the Department of Communication and Journalism, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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2010: Award for Excellence, Department of History and Theory, The Jacob Bar-Gera Award granted by Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Jerusalem