Photography, Expanded: Collaborative Images - New Models of Authorship & Aggregation

Panel Discussion Tuesday, March 18, 2014 Aperture Gallery & Bookstore, NYC The rise of online and social media participation has not only created a sheer abundance of user generated content, but also new models for creativity, communication, and collaboration. This paradigm shift has notably taken place with the aid of photo sharing platforms like Flickr and Instagram, offering incredible new opportunities and obstacles for amateur and professional photographers to engage with diverse communities. It also marks a changing role for photographers as not only image makers, but also community managers and content curators. How might photographers build off existing online platforms and communities to generate awareness for the issues behind their work? How can photographers play a role in activating marginalized communities to share their own visual stories? How can we learn from the mistakes of failed online storytelling platforms? In this lab, participating photographers will explore collaborative storytelling methods, crowdsourcing, and curatorial strategies for developing community-based photo projects. Featured Panelists: Madeleine Bair, journalist and curator of WITNESS Human Rights ChannelMichael Premo, artist, activist, and co-creator of Sandy StorylineBrooke Singer, artist and professor of new media at SUNY-Purchase Moderated by Michael Mandiberg, artist, designer, professor at the College of Staten Island/CUNY, and editor of The Social Media Reader. Photography, Expanded is produced by Magnum Foundation, Open Society Foundations Documentary Photography Project, New Arts Axis, Aperture Foundation, and Parsons The New School for Design. The 2014 program features a series of labs, panel discussions, and symposium. Photography, Expanded is supported by the Open Society Foundations Documentary Photography Project, the Ford Foundation JustFilms, and the Compton Foundation. Videography and editing: Fivel Rothberg