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Paper short abstract:

In the three cities of Singapore, New York, Johannesburg the interaction in public space is explored using collaborative and participatory photographic projects as research method. The aim of the projects is to put up an exhibition in the research area itself and to collect feedback from the locals.

Paper long abstract:

In the research project "Globaldivercities" at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity interactions in public space of diverse people living in certain quarters of Singapore, New York, and Johannesburg are studied. Besides participant observation and interviews various visual methods are applied. The local researcher developed the idea of doing photographic projects to get more insights on how people perceive the diversity in public space. Anna Cieslik started a collaboration with a photographic class in a college. They have the task to take photos in the research area on certain topics, to put up an exhibition and comment on the photographs. Junjia Ye started a participatory photography workshop in Singapore, teaching interested migrants how to photograph giving them several tasks to exercise the skills. Each task is combined with a research questions and the results are discussed in the class thus getting insights in how fairly new migrants perceive their new living space. Alex Wafer is preparing a participatory photography workshop in Johannesburg where he wants to explore the difficult living situation with the help of younger citizen.

In all three cases selected photographs from the projects are exhibited in the research area thus giving the research partners some insights in the work but also being able to get some feedback from them and talk with the locals about the photos and the daily encounters in public space. In the conference some photo of these projects will be presented and the results will be discussed.