[ISEA2011] Paper: Richard Vickers – Many with a mobile cameraphone: The Democratization Of Documentary?

Abstract

The author is developing a new documentary project entitled 24-hours.?in (www.?24-hours.?in) that will explore new opportunities for participation, collaboration and the potential democratisation of documentary production. Utilising user-generated video captured on mobile phones, the project will be participatory whereby the audience/producers contribute documentary pieces shot on mobile devices, around the theme of 24 hours in a city or location; e.g. 24-hours.in/Istanbul or 24hours.in/London. With reference to Dziga Vertov’s seminal 1929 documentary film ‘Man with a Movie Camera’, the films will document the cities, the people that live there and their daily lives. Moving beyond the participation model, the project will build up a database of location specific documentary material and aim to create a new system for collaborative documentary production. The project is currently in development, for ISEA 2011 I will discuss the project as a work in progress, the impact of mobile phones and the potential that these devices, Web 2.0 and social media may offer for documentary production.

  • Richard Vickersis a Principal Lecturer at the University of Lincoln, School of Media in the United Kingdom. He previously worked as a freelance photographer and designer, before becoming interested in the possibilities of interactive multimedia in 1994. The emerging digital technologies had an immediate impact on his work as a photographer and he was an early exponent of the ‘digital darkroom’. He gained industry practice as a multimedia producer, working on a broad range of websites and interactive multimedia projects for commercial clients and arts organisations, before moving into lecturing full time. Richard is a practicing new media artist, digital media producer and design consultant.

Full text (PDF)  p. 2490-2496