About

Everyday digital photography, often shared on social media, is a critical form of heritage documenting contemporary society through the eyes of citizens and communities. The Nordic museums and archives in this project are exploring how this heritage can be collected in a participatory way. It aims to work with communities, engaging in citizen science approaches, and supporting sustainable societies, through contemporary themes such as social and ecological sustainability, place and identity. 

Today identities and ways to look at the world are being constructed and redefined by production and sharing of digital photographs, often on social media. Taking and sharing photographs is an everyday practice for most people in the Nordic countries. Still, this digital cultural heritage and creative expression has so far been poorly recognized by heritage institutions. In this project, social digital photography is understood as important cultural phenomena of our time, and as an emerging form of citizen science. It is an ephemeral form of heritage, at serious risk from a lack of preservation processes, but one that has huge potentials for helping to democractise heritage collecting practices. 

Through five case studies, connecting with communities around contemporary topics, the project is looking to facilitate spaces for co-curating contemporary photography, and document the stories of people and places with the purpose of supporting sustainable societies and future generations. The case studies will be performed in a similar manner across the Nordic countries, experimenting with different participatory methods. Topics will be decided in collaboration with local communities, with areas of interest including climate change, gender and sexuality, food and cultural connections. The heritage institutions will facilitate dialogue around collecting and as well provide access to the materials as they are collected.  

During the case study period the participating institutions will meet regularly and discuss methods and outcomes of the case studies. Supported by an action research facilitator, together the partners will analyze and evaluate processes and learn from each other’s experiences. 

Collecting will be performed using a collection-tool, which has been developed as result of an earlier successful Nordic collaboration. In this project new technical features will be developed, together with the current developer, with the aim of enhancing the tool’s co-curation capabilities. Other developments will be informed by the project’s collaborative case studies.

Additionally, the photographs collected, together with testimonies from participating communities, will be presented through a joint online exhibition on Nordic social digital photography.

The methods and results of the project will be shared through ongoing communication on a project blog, on social media and via the participants’ websites. The final output of the project will be an online seminar where a project report with recommendations will be presented.