Tired of the media’s stereotypes of Africa, inevitably presented as war-torn, disease-ridden and poor, in 2012 photographer Peter DiCampo and journalist Austin Merrill launched Everyday Africa, a Tumblr blog showing images of daily life in Africa taken during their reporting. “ Like many documentary works from Africa, this one is humanitarian in its motivations; but rather than draw attention to a specific crisis, we hope this work serves as a much-needed reminder that the mundane and ordinary are ever-present,” they write. Naturally enough, they began posting their pictures on Instagram. A wonderful example of social media as an alternative to traditional media, Everyday Africa was met with enthusiasm by the general public and professional photographers alike.
Colleagues from different regions decided to borrow the concept, adapting it to their vision of local problems. Whereas in the Middle East, like in Africa, the struggle is to show the region beyond the media’s mostly tragic stereotypes, the opposite is true in Asia, where photographers try to avoid the ubiquitous vibrant colors and big smiles seen on the covers of travel magazines, depicting instead its decidedly less glamorous side. Whether it’s @everydayafrica, @everydayasia, @everydayeasterneurope, @everydayegypt, @everydayjamaica, @everydaylatinamerica, @everydaymiddleeast, @everydayusa or @everydayiran, which takes contributions from regular Iranians, the feeds are managed by renowned professional photographers—Lindsay Mackenzie, Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist, Holly Pickett, Amanda Rivkin, Matt Lutton, Brendan Hoffman, Krisanne Johnson, Nina Berman, Matt Black, Jon Lewinstein and Alec Soth, to name but a few—who are showing what can happen to the vetting process when the publisher is out of the picture.
Photoville
The Everyday Project, de Peter DiCampo et Austin Merrill
Until September 28, 2014
Pier 5 – Brooklyn Bridge Park
New York, USA
