The Origin Story and Collaborative Process

In this episode, Wendy Ewald, Susan Meiselas and Laura Wexler - three of the co-authors of 'Collaboration: A Potential History of Photography' – delve behind the scenes of their groundbreaking book, exploring the genesis of the project and its ambitious aim. They offer up an alternative understanding of photography as something that is inherently collaborative, and explore the countless complex relationships between photographer, subject, viewer, camera and more. This wide-ranging conversation spotlights a revolutionary experiment in portraiture by Frederick Douglass, questions the fixed nature of history, and celebrates where ‘the human spirit collaborates with the camera’. 'Collaboration' is also co-authored by Ariella Aïsha Azoulay and Leigh Raiford.