bildestrømmer

Bildestrømmer, a Norwegian term meaning image streams, is a concept used in visual culture and media studies to describe the continuous flow of visual content presented to a viewer. It can refer to the sequence of images within a single work, such as film, video, or animation, as well as to the cumulative stream of images encountered across platforms like social media feeds, news graphics, and online galleries.

In cinema and video, bildestrømmer arise from editing choices, shot composition, camera movement, and transitions that create a sense of continuity, rhythm, or tempo. The rate and pattern of cuts, the use of long takes versus rapid montage, and recurring visual motifs shape how the audience perceives narrative progression and emotional impact.

In digital media, image streams describe streams of still images or thumbnails delivered through feeds, galleries, or dashboards. The design and curation of these streams—image selection, aspect ratios, captions, loading behavior, and prioritization algorithms—directly influence attention, interpretation, and engagement.

Key characteristics include rhythm and pace, coherence versus fragmentation, legibility of visual information, and the viewer’s cognitive processing of rapid image sequences. Bildestrømmer intersect with concepts such as montage theory, visual rhetoric, attention economy, and media ecology, highlighting how the arrangement and flow of images shape meaning and experience.

See also: montage, editing, film theory, visual culture, social media feed.