In collaboration with Coventry University and led by Jonathan Shaw, award-winning photographer and educator, Newfotoscapes is a multi-platform book.

The Library of Birmingham and GRAIN were delighted to host the Launch of Newfotoscapes in collaboration with Jonathan Shaw and have a panel discussion from distinguished contributors Pete James (Curator, Photography Collections and Co-Director of GRAIN), Katrina Sluis (Curator of Digital Programmes, The Photographers’ Gallery) and Dr. Shaun Hides (Head of Media Department, Coventry University).

Photography has never been a more dominant and embedded part of contemporary culture than it is now. The pervasive eye of the world has arisen and new practices of visibility have emerged confronting the power of the establishment. The net has amplified our ability to connect and build communities across the globe and digital technology and the social media sharing and communication of images has facilitated an exponential growth in picture capture and seamless digital distribution.

Newfotoscapes seeks to navigate the evolving topography surrounding the image in the twenty-first century, offering a focused eye on the contemporary creative author-curator and image-maker and on the possibilities afforded by an increasingly complex professional landscape. Jonathan Shaw advocates a new way of thinking about photographic production and education in a post-digital era.

Newfotoscapes can perhaps best be understood as a series of curated texts arising from a series of in-depth conversations with 10 key stakeholders in, and influential commentators on, photography; including: Andy Adams, Charlotte Cotton, Dewi Lewis, Mishka Henner and Stephen Mayes. Perspectives and views cover a wide range of topics such as photo-books, archives, mobile, community, value, curation, appropriation, power, open education, connected/networked image, governance, licensing and the agency.

In the spirit of today’s mobile and connected world Newfotoscapes is available as a book and will also be simultaneously available on the web under a Creative Commons license and versioned in ePub and Print formats.

For more information go to http://newfotoscapes.org or to download the ebook click here, hard copy books are also now available to mail order from the online store.