Hello hellos, all A bit (or a bit more than a bit) of background first. I am a masters student at the University of Bristol (UK). My programme, MA Archaeology for Screen Media (MAASM), looks at archaeology/heritage and media practices and explores ways in which archaeology can be presented to an audience (or, um, audiences). For those of you familiar with UK television, it is Time Team in the ivory tower. (Mick Aston, one of the founders of the Time Team show, was a Bristol U, Archaeology professor, and was responsible for setting up my course.)
I'm thick in the middle of my dissertation project/research - public archaeology, getting members of the public interested in and involved in archaeology. This translates into me organising photowalks in sites or archaeological and heritage significance. Basically, I will set up a blog/facebook group that calls for photowalks in a) an actual excavation, b) museums, c) state/public managed heritage sites (such as a temple or castle or national reserve) and d) libraries. The aim is to follow the life-story, so to speak, of an artefact. From where it is found (a), to where it is conserved/displayed (b and c) and where the archive of all information regarding the artefact resides (d). I will lead the walks, as well as select 3 individuals to take on specific roles. They are: i)The archaeological site photographer, ii) the documentary photographer and iii) the tourist. These three roles have well defined (or will have well defined, soon.) objectives and feedback loops, in order for me to do required academic skullduggery and ivory-tower-satisfying. The project is called Ancient Light (from the greek: Archaeo(logy) + Photo(graphy)). I have already set up a facebook[1] and flickr[2] group. Now, this is where Silk and silklisters come in. My biggest priority is to get the public (by which I mean non-archaeologists, either the practicing or the arm-chair variety) interested in the project. For which I need buzz. More than that, I need folks to actively participate and organise photowalks in any of the four typesites mentioned above. (I am assuming here that silklisters know what a photowalk is.) All you (or a group of yous) have to do is volunteer to be a leader in your area, call for the walks using your blogs/mailing lists and announce the same on my Fb group. I will then email you my leader's notes/briefing as well as the individual briefing for the three roles. Once the walk is done, folks upload photos to flickr and to the group, and settle down with the pipe and newspaper. It's simple really. A photowalk, some cool archaeology and I do all the number crunching and jargon spouting. Even if you folks are unable to organise a walk, join the group, and throw up ideas, make it sound and look hip and happening. If this sounds cool, and you all are happy to help me attain fame, fortune and an MA degree, show hands. C P.S. Dissertation is due on the 15th of September, 2010. Yes, in two months hence. No pressure. [0] MAASM course info: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/archanth/postgrad/screema.html [1] Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=135532516468070 [2] Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/ancientlight/ -- http://www.linkedin.com/in/chandrachoodan http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravages http://www.selectiveamnesia.org/ +447940289855
