The OpenShutter Project creates immersive media environments that move beyond simplistic narratives of people, problems and places. By increasing awareness of the world around us, transcending barriers of language and endeavoring to create the idea of a global community, we hope to inspire tangible action and positive social change.

The deadline for submissions for the fall OpenShutter show has passed, and photos have been selected. Guests to the OpenShutter show, which kicks off with an opening reception on Friday, November 13 from 6-8pm, are in for a real treat!  Please join us at Enigma Café!

In the meantime, a fellow GES member brought to our attention a CNN video clip, in which Paula Newton reports on images taken by children at a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon as part of Zakira’s ‘Lahza’ participatory photography project. Participatory photography allows people who would otherwise be the subjects of photos to create images that tell their own life stories. Founded by photojournalist Ramzi Haidar, Zakira, or “memory” in Arabic, is “devoted to the promotion of photography in Lebanon as an art form, a means of honest reporting and a professional skill.”

Under the guidance of Haidar, and with the help of just a disposable camera and their creative minds, 500 children were given the opportunity to create something truly unique.

OpenShutter, an exciting initiative within GES, is now accepting submissions for its fall exhibit, taking place November 13-19 at Cafe Enigma in downtown Evanston. So, do you have a story to tell; a compelling narrative currently stuck on your computer’s hard drive or camera’s memory card? Share these images with the Northwestern community and the world.

OpenShutter selects Northwestern students’ photography based on the principles of responsible media creation. We live in a media-saturated world — a world in which a camera dangles from every traveler’s neck, and everyone seems to be clicking away at the sight of others’ poverty. OpenShutter strives to place humility at the center of the conversation about documentary photography. In addition to conventional aesthetic criteria  — color, light, saturation — we believe the photographer’s worldview is all-important in analyzing a photograph.

Submit your photos, arranged in a series of 3-5 related images, toopenshutter@theges.org by this SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31th. And stay tuned for more information about the fall show. We look forward to giving you a multi-sense exhibit experience.