Read more about the article How Ryan Libre’s Documentary Arts Center Empowers Asia’s Visual Storytellers
Ryan Libre speaks on grassroots photojournalism and visual literacy at TEDx

How Ryan Libre’s Documentary Arts Center Empowers Asia’s Visual Storytellers

Ryan Libre speaks on grassroots photojournalism and visual literacy at TEDx

Ryan Libre is an award-winning documentary photographer and the founder of Documentary Arts Asia (DAA), a non-profit organization working to tell stories from Asia that need to be heard. The organization was conceived in 2008 after Ryan’s work on NGO documentary projects brought Asia’s need for visual literacy education to his attention.

In 2011, he was awarded he Howard Chapnick Grant, part of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund, to build a physical space for the organization. Three years later, DAA flourishes in its mission. The DAA center supports documentary artists in Asia with various amenities including a gallery, a library and a workshop space.

We caught up with Ryan to learn more about DAA’s current role in providing community and resources for Asia’s storytellers and what’s next for his organization and his career.

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Read more about the article Discovering Daylight in a Sea of Change

Discovering Daylight in a Sea of Change

Michael Itkoff is cofounder and editor of Daylight, a non-profit organization dedicated to publishing art and photography books. He is also the 2006 winner of the Howard Chapnick Grant. Michael and his partner Taj Forer founded an organization dedicated to a print product in 2003, when the industry was already moving to digital. In this interview, he discusses the growth and adaptation of Daylight in the evolving digital landscape and how winning the Howard Chapnick Grant helped him reach his goals. Interview with Michael Itkoff What led you to create Daylight back in 2003? Taj Forer and I founded Daylight in part because we felt that our specific area of interest—photo-based work existing somewhere between the documentary mode and that of fine art—was not being properly addressed by the industry. We set up Daylight as a platform for more subjective, personally experienced truths that were realized through photography. You founded an organization…

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Read more about the article Standard Three-Camera Interview Setup

Standard Three-Camera Interview Setup

MediaStorm’s standard interview setup is meant to provide a clean, focused environment for the viewer. It can be used both in a studio or in the field. We typically use at least two cameras, usually three, both for visual variety and for editing on-camera sequences. This is by no means the only way to conduct an interview and you should consider the role and look of the interview before beginning a project. The example below is for an interview with the subject sitting screen-right. If you want the subject to be sitting screen-left, camera and lighting placement should be reversed. Visual Look Background - We often use a black background behind our subjects to focus attention on what the subject says and how he or she says it. A large felt cloth works nicely. Cameras - We currently use the Canon 5D Mark III for our interviews. Camera Settings - It’s important…

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Read more about the article The Ways: Sharing Contemporary Native Culture Through Story

The Ways: Sharing Contemporary Native Culture Through Story

Finn Ryan, a producer, educator and March 2011 MediaStorm Storytelling Workshop participant is a big believer in the importance of storytelling in education. His 2010 project, Climate Wisconsin, which uses multimedia and interactives to explore local climate change impacts, received significant attention when it was published, including a regional Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement for Informational/Instructional Programming. His most recent project, The Ways, produced with Wisconsin Media Lab, features storytelling as a means to share contemporary Native culture and language from around the central Great Lakes. I contacted Finn to hear about his experience creating The Ways and to take a closer look at contemporary ways to use storytelling in education. Below is a lightly edited version of our conversation. An Interview with Finn Ryan You recently launched The Ways, an online storytelling publication about language and culture of Native communities in the central Great Lakes region. Why did you start the…

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Read more about the article New Transom Manifesto: The MediaStorm Approach to Storytelling

New Transom Manifesto: The MediaStorm Approach to Storytelling

We're excited to announce the release of a new Transom Manifesto about quality storytelling by MediaStorm founder and executive producer Brian Storm. Here's more about the manifesto from Transom's Jay Allison: Brian Storm: The MediaStorm Approach to Storytelling In his Transom Manifesto, Brian Storm—the founder and executive producer of the innovative, multimedia production studio MediaStorm—talks about "quality" on the web as the main driver of web traffic (besides gossip or sensationalism, or being really funny). In an attempt to diagnose the elements of quality, he's prepared a fascinating Transom Manifesto, comparing three versions of the same story about a New York City Seltzer Man—one for radio, one for TV, and one by Mediastorm. He takes the time to disassemble them and break down the beats. This is a great multimedia storytelling exercise, highly recommended. See Brian Storm's Transom Manifesto at transom.org.

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