Brian Silver Documentary Archive
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Photography and text are prioritized. Interactive geographic context loads only when needed.
Brian Silver Documentary Archive
Loading the documentary experience…
Photography and text are prioritized. Interactive geographic context loads only when needed.
Collaborate with Everyday Lives
Everyday Lives is being developed as an independent documentary archive and cultural journal. We invite photographers, writers, journalists, scholars, musicians, artists, researchers and people with first-hand knowledge to help tell, interpret and preserve stories of everyday life.
A collaboration begins with a conversation about the work, what each person hopes to bring and what we can offer in return.
What collaboration offers
We work with contributors on how their work is presented, with clear authorship, agreed credit and room for their own voice.
Our long-term objective is a sustainable publication that can compensate commissioned contributors whenever resources permit. We do not promise payment where funding has not yet been secured.
Rights and ownership
Contributors retain copyright and ownership of their work. Everyday Lives will seek only the publication, archival and promotional permissions specifically agreed with the contributor.
Contributor work will not be sold, commercially licensed, materially altered or repurposed for unrelated uses without additional permission where required. Editing, cropping, captions, translation and attribution will be handled transparently with the contributor.
Before publication, contributors receive the proposed text, image selection, captions and credit for review. Sending an idea, sample or portfolio does not itself grant Everyday Lives permission to publish it.
Who we hope to work with
Potential collaborators may include documentary photographers, photojournalists, journalists, writers, historians, architects, academics, musicians, artists, researchers, translators and other people whose knowledge can deepen the documentary record.
We are especially interested in hearing from people who live in a place or know it from within. Their perspectives can sit alongside those of visitors, opening up different ways of understanding the same place.
India is the first major editorial territory. Future work is intended to extend wherever the Everyday Lives Documentary Archive and its collaborators develop substantial projects.
Editorial independence
Different perspectives, informed disagreement and complexity are welcome. The Journal is interested in first-hand knowledge, strong visual work, careful context and distinct voices.
A collaborator's photographs or writing may lead an essay or issue. We follow the story and the work, making room for individual voices.
We check facts and sources carefully, while leaving space for questions and different interpretations.
What we welcome
We welcome photographic essays, first-hand stories, thoughtful writing, contextual expertise and multidisciplinary collaborations about people, place and everyday life. Work might begin with family, work, faith, rest, celebration, humour or the routines of a day. Shared experiences can open onto very different individual lives.
You might bring your own photographs and story, add local knowledge to an existing essay, contribute historical or cultural context, propose a conversation, or suggest a collaboration between people working in different disciplines.
You do not need to arrive with a finished article. A clear idea, a meaningful connection to the subject and a willingness to work together are enough to begin a conversation.
How we work together
We begin by discussing the idea, its fit with Everyday Lives, what each person would bring to the collaboration and what the contributor should receive in return.
If we decide to develop the work together, we agree on scope, materials, credit, rights, editorial process, practical arrangements and any available fee or expense support before asking for a finished contribution.
We then work together on image selection, text and captions while keeping individual voices distinct and separating first-hand experience from interpretation. Names, dates, places and contextual claims are checked where possible; uncertainties remain explicit.
Begin a conversation
A first note can be simple: a few sentences about yourself, your connection to the subject, the story or question you want to explore, and a link to relevant work if you have one.
For photographic work, a small selection of preview images is enough at first. Full-resolution files are not needed until we have agreed to develop the work together.
Start a collaboration conversation →
Write directly to hello@everydaylivesarchive.com.
A different kind of contribution
If you recognize a person or place in an existing photograph, want to correct a caption, or can add a first-hand memory or piece of historical context to the archive, please use the separate archive contribution pathway.
Current stage
Everyday Lives Journal is currently in editorial development. The initial India phase is beginning with direct, invitation-led conversations rather than an open-call submission system. Those conversations are intended not only to identify work for publication, but also to improve the editorial and contributor model before the inaugural issue is fixed.