about us

The Everyday Projects uses photography to challenge stereotypes that distort our understanding of the world. We are creating new generations of storytellers and audiences that recognize the need for multiple perspectives in portraying the cultures that define us.

We are a global community of visual storytellers — documentary photographers, journalists, artists, and more — all committed to using imagery to combat harmful misperceptions and to rise above persistent inequality. As a nonprofit, we work to provide opportunities for our global community and to provide structure, support, and direction for the diverse and worldwide range of Everyday photography groups.

The photography of The Everyday Projects is featured regularly in the world’s leading publications and at exhibitions in international galleries and festivals. We work with dozens of schools to reach thousands of students through our visual literacy curriculum, partner with the World Press Photo Foundation to support the African Photojournalism Database, and produce original stories about photography for our publication Re-Picture. 

We believe in amplifying local voices and in shifting power away from monolithic narratives dominated by a Western, top-down approach to storytelling. We work toward a future of photojournalism and visual storytelling that is inclusive and anti-racist.

history

This grassroots movement began in 2012, when Peter DiCampo and Austin Merrill started Everyday Africa as an effort to present a more accurate depiction of life on the continent and to direct a critical eye toward the international media industry in which they worked. Everyday Africa’s emphasis on localized storytelling via social media has been a force for correcting journalism’s unbalanced history, providing greater context to international coverage of Africa and promoting the work of African photojournalists. Its viral success inspired like-minded storytellers worldwide to start their own Everyday communities on Instagram, using photography to celebrate local norms and global commonalities. In 2014 the creators of a number of these projects came together to exhibit at Photoville in Brooklyn, meeting for the first time and forming The Everyday Projects.

From Latin America to Asia, Russia to the Middle East, Mumbai to the Bronx, the collective audience of The Everyday Projects is well over 1 million.

If you are interested in starting your own Everyday feed, download our starter guide to find out how!

Our values

Truth in storytelling.

Photography and visual journalism connect and inform, but too often are used to create misleading, one-dimensional impressions of many parts of the world. In the right hands, images have the power to dismantle harmful misperceptions, and can be a force for amplifying perspectives of people and communities that, for too long, have been marginalized.

Context.

Focusing on the “everyday” does not mean that we focus solely on the positive. Everyone’s daily lives, after all, consist of a broad spectrum of experience. When photographing the issues of our time, we do so with an eye toward greater context and human impact – we believe that news photography’s focus on generating sensationalized “iconic images” has served to further stereotype people and places across the globe.

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and representation.

In order to begin to correct the problems of historic misrepresentation and to provide opportunities for all, the photojournalism industry — the storytellers and leadership alike — must be a reflection of those whose stories we hope to tell.

Community.

Now and always, we must focus on what we can learn from each other and how we can support and stand up for one another.

Shifting power.

Those with privilege should work toward equality and do their part to amplify underrepresented voices.

Education.

In order to effect lasting change, we must endeavor to reach young people, using our imagery in classrooms to demonstrate the urgent necessity of challenging toxic stereotypes and thwarting the urge to regard the “other” as exotic.

Ethical conduct.

We are committed to building a safer, healthier, more inclusive, and transparent visual journalism industry. We are an Author Organization of the Photo Bill of Rights (PBoR), a document that brings attention to the pervasive issues surrounding health, safety, access, bias, ethics, and finance throughout the visual media industry and offers solutions to establish equitable standards through actionable steps. As a Signatory of the PBoR, we are committed to upholding its principles. We encourage our partners and collaborators to do the same. We also encourage all contributing photographers in The Everyday Projects community to follow the National Press Photographers Association Code of Ethics, which includes important standards on how to interact respectfully with those we photograph as well. We do not tolerate harassment of any kind.

@EVERYDAYEVERYWHERE

These images upload from  @EverydayEverywhere, our central Instagram account that is curated by a new set of eyes each week. Help us keep the account diverse and democratic. Let us know if you'd like to curate or recommend a curator: contact@everydayprojects.org