I received my PhD in Visual and Cultural Studies from the University of Rochester in 2003. I completed an MA in Art History at York University in 1997 and a BA (summa cum laude) in Art History at McMaster University in 1995.

I am also an avid runner, spouse and dad and can sometimes be naively optimistic.

My research and teaching are based in the areas of visual culture studies, visual communication, and sport studies. I am primarily interested in critical analyses of photography, specifically how the image is used as evidence across a wide range of social and institutional practices. My current work looks at the intersection of sport and surveillance, from satellites to wearable fitness tracking devices.

I am willing to supervise graduate students in the areas of visual culture, visual communication, sport studies and surveillance studies.

• Beyond the Finish Line: Images, Evidence, and the History of the Photo-Finish. McGill-Queen’s University Press. (2020)
• “The Photo-Finish as Sports Media Content.” Sports Media History: Culture, Technology, Identity. Ed. John Carvalho. New York: Routledge. (2020).
• “Identification Made Visible: Photographic Evidence and Russell Williams.” The Art of Identification: Forensics, Surveillance, Identity. Eds. Rex Ferguson, Melissa Littlefield, and James Purdon. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. (2020)
• “Making the Criminal Visible: Photography and Criminality,” Routledge International Handbook of Visual Criminology Eds. Eamonn Carrabine and Michelle Brown. London: Routledge, 121-134. (2020)
• Finn, Jonathan, Ed. Sport and Visual Culture. Special Issue: Amodern. (2014)
• Finn, Jonathan. “Anatomy of a Dead-Heat: Visual Evidence at the 2012 US Olympic Trials.” International Journal of the History of Sport.” (2014)
• Finn, Jonathan. “Seeing Surveillantly: Surveillance as Social Practice.” Eyes Everywhere: The Global Growth of Camera Surveillance. Eds. David Lyon, Randy Lippert, and Aaron Doyle. (2012)
• Finn, Jonathan. “Surveillance Studies and Visual Art: An Examination of Jill Magid’s Evidence Locker.” Surveillance and Society. (2012)
• Finn, Jonathan, Ed. Visual Communication and Culture: Images in Action. (2012)
• Finn, Jonathan. “Powell’s Point: Denial and Deception at the U.N.” Visual Communication. (2010)
• Finn, Jonathan. Capturing the Criminal Image: From Mug Shot to Surveillance Society. (2009)