Join In!
Almost 40 years ago, EPA’s Documerica project captured thousands of images of environmental problems and everyday life across America. Now it’s your turn.
What does our environment look like today? What will future generations look back on? EPA has put out a global call for photos and we’ve also issued the “Locations” challenge, to photograph the “after” of places originally captured in the 1970s. Your photo could display with the original as the 2012 exhibit travels the country.
INSTRUCTIONS
Grab your camera, it’s easy!
We’re looking for:
- Images of the environment you see around you, good or bad, it’s YOUR view.
- Photos that capture the CURRENT environmental issues or successes of our time.
- Photos taken in the same spot as a DOCUMERICA photo* see below to find one near you.
Have current photos now?
We will feature photographs that illustrate the above. However, our choosing to feature a photo doesn’t mean we endorse the photo or its contents.
Featured photos collected in this gallery series and shown off on EPA’s Facebook page have a chance to be in the nationwide traveling exhibit featured by EPA and the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration starting in April of 2012.
Help spread the word – Print pocket-size reminders (PDF,
1 pp) to give folks to check out the Photo Project!
See a sample | About PDF
- Choose an original Documerica photo either from the ones we post for each challenge or one you find yourself. Read more about the photo on Flickr, for additional clues about location or subject matter that might help you. If the challenge includes more than one Documerica photo, choose one or as many as you like. Check back on Mondays for new challenges!
- Check out the original Documerica inspiration
- Go to the location where that Documerica photo was taken, possibly even the exact spot where that photographer stood to take the photo 40-odd years ago, and “re-take” a current photo of the same scene.
Try to capture the location from the same (or close) vantage point, so viewers looking at the “before” Documerica photo and your “after” photo can compare how the area may have changed. The better you can match the original viewpoint, the better to compare then and now. Please keep in mind:
- Always be mindful and respectful of your and others’ safety, privacy, private property, and other considerations at any location.
- For this challenge, we’re trying to focus on how places have changed, so please avoid personal closeups or identifiable people in your photos.
- Can’t wait for a location closer to home?
Find “Digital Copies” of photo under specific location name. - EPA is not offering prizes for this challenge or to reimburse you for any costs you incur in taking your photos.
Submit your photo under the “State of the Environment” project but ALSO be sure to include the link and name of each original Documerica photo you’re responding to, as part of each submission. We won’t know which Documerica photo you’re referring to, without its link and name. When you submit your photograph(s), you are agreeing not to submit a claim for compensation to EPA.
We will feature photos that best illustrate the new “after” view of the same original “before” Documerica photo. Featured submissions will have a chance to become part of the Earth Day 2012 State of the Environment Exhibit at the U.S. National Archives in Washington D.C. Stay tuned for details throughout the year!
DEADLINE: We haven’t set a deadline for each submission under this challenge. But like the general State of the Environment photo project, this challenge will likely conclude around Earth Day April 22, 2012.
Previous locations challenges will remain open and you can go back and submit a photo for those at any time.
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