The web resource Aday.org is an initiative of The Expressions of Humankind Foundation, a Swedish non-profit.
Jeppe Wikström, a photographer and Board member envisions his one-day, global photo project, “A Day in the World” as “the largest collaboration in documenting the human condition ever.’
The event takes place on May 15, 2012 when thousands of photographers at all stages of expertise — professional, semi-professional, and amateur — will shoot photos for a period of 24 hours. Jeppe said in an e-mail that he predicts that the project will be massive, generating at least 100,000 images from everyday life around the globe in a single day. “1,000 images will be selected for inclusion in a global exhibition and a book that will be published in at least ten countries”, Wikström noted in an e-mail to GroundReport LLC. .
Wikström said the sign up site went live a couple of weeks ago and so far photographers from 104 countries have joined. Some are well-known, but he believes the backbone of the project will be “engaged citizens that want to tell that story that never will reach the front pages of the mainstream media. Therefore, I have reached out to citizen journalism platforms like GroundReport who reporters will play a very important role in making the project a global sensation.”
Wikström asked Rachel Sterne, the Chief Digital Officer of New York City and founder of GroundReport, if her free speech platform would also lend a hand. Sterne reminded him that GroundReport is now run by a blind trust because she is a public servant, but she introduced him to the trustees so they could work together to promote the project.
“The “A Day in the World” project is a unique inclusive single-day photographic project involving professional, semi-professional and amateur photographers from around the World who will collaboratively create a web resource, especially for education, and exhibitions. It is a truly democratic project, empowering people to document their own lives, together with professional photographers who capture the human condition on film – or at least a memory chip. Information and data are key components in the project, that is also a tribute to still photography and to its relation to memory and historic impact,” Wikström pointed out.
“International dignitaries have joined forces with the project as part of an Advisory Council.” Wikström went on to say, “Our project is supported by an Advisory Council with prominent leaders from different parts of the world, for example president Mary Robinson; Nobel Laureate Martti Ahtisaari; Deputy Secretary General of the UN, Jan Eliasson, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Wikström then quoted Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu: "Photography is a wonderful thing – pictures transcend the barriers of language, age, gender and culture. If we are to improve understanding between people, it is important that we share the way we live and who we are. Take this unique opportunity with me and thousands of others around the world to create a priceless collection of images, to boost understanding and enhance research and education. This project is exciting, significant and truly exhilarating. Leave a message for the future. Share your life with the rest of the world."
To learn more about the project and sign-up, visit: http://www.aday.org/. Email this article to your friends and family using the GroundReport email icon.
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