Pictures That Tell Powerful Stories
In August, the now 11-year-old Latifa and 25 other AIDS orphans in Maputo worked with American photographers and filmmakers to document their lives. Her photos have been published online, and her story is being shared with readers around the world.
The project, conducted by Venice Arts, is among a burgeoning movement of “participant-produced” photography and film programs that give traditionally marginalized and underrepresented communities a direct way of communicating about their struggles and accomplishments, raising awareness that can lead to social change.
Venice Arts is teaming with the USC Annenberg’s Center on Communication Leadership and the USC Center on Public Diplomacy to launch the Institute for Photographic Empowerment, a unique university-community partnership to support the study and practice of participant-produced documentary projects in photography, film and digital media.
“A social phenomenon is emerging in countless communities and countries that we think deserves to be celebrated, replicated, studied and identified,” said Geoffrey Cowan, University Professor and director of the Center for Communication Leadership.
“The institute combines the resources, energies and contacts of Venice Arts and USC Annenberg. Venice Arts has compiled a remarkable record in the United States and the world – from helping the homeless document their lives to giving voice to women in Africa who are living with HIV-AIDS. At USC Annenberg, scholars are studying the impact of these images on communities and individuals.”
Cowan and the other principals of the institute – Lynn Warshafsky, Venice Arts’ co-founder; Joshua Fouts, director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy; Neal Baer, executive producer of the NBC series Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and a Venice Arts’ board member; and Jim Hubbard, acclaimed documentary photographer and Venice Arts’ creative director – announced the institute’s creation at a press briefing this month.
“This is an extraordinary opportunity to develop a growing field by bringing a cross-section of people together in practice, study and research,” Warshafsky said. “More importantly, it provides new opportunities for those of us who have been working in communities for many years to better advocate for social change and to support those who tend to be the most voiceless amongst us by lifting up their powerful visual stories for the world to see.”
The Institute is the first of its kind and will serve as a resource for photographers, filmmakers, academics, researchers and project participants to share best practices and develop this important and burgeoning field. It will:
• create a portal through which projects from all over the world can be viewed;
• support social change by sharing information and images produced by participants with policymakers and non-governmental organizations;
• convene conferences, retreats and seminars;
• conduct academic research and explore ethical issues;
• offer internship opportunities on documentary projects around the world;
• develop new courses at USC Annenberg, including distance learning, certificate programs and potentially new degree and minor programs;
• serve as a source for media interested in participant-produced photography and the issues being uncovered through their work;
• partner with secondary schools to engage in the institute’s projects as a teaching tool;
• disseminate the resulting work through exhibitions and an online gallery; and
• increase awareness of critical social issues being addressed through participant-created photography and film.
Hubbard began putting cameras into the hands of homeless and Native American children through his Shooting Back project more than 20 years ago. Instead of having outsiders – documentary photographers – produce the work, his method has the subjects themselves take the pictures.
The USC Annenberg School will offer its first class on this topic in the Spring 2008 semester. Taught by Hubbard, the course is titled “Visual Communication and Social Change” (COMM 499).
For more information about IPE, visit http://joinipe.org
To read more about Latifa, visit http://www.thehouseissmall.org/
Latest stories
- USC Price School Celebrates Naming Gift February 9, 2012 2:45 PM
- George Will Shares His Perspective on Politics February 9, 2012 1:10 PM
- Life on the Rez February 9, 2012 12:10 PM
-
For Journalists »
-
USC in the News
for 2/8/2012 »-
The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
-
-
Campus News
- Capital Connections
- USC faculty, staff and alumni in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento
- In Print
- New and recent books written or edited by USC faculty and staff
- Family Matters
- Achievements and awards
- Obituaries