Co-Authored Projects: Collective Authorship in Film and Photography

The Opportunity

How can co-authored creative practices challenge dominant ways of making and telling stories?

This summer, Side will host Co-Authored Narratives, a symposium exploring collective authorship approaches to film and photography as a distinctive artistic practice embedded in the North of England (and across other areas of the UK) - highlighting it as a globally relevant method for social and cultural engagement.

Drawing inspiration from pioneering models such as the Amber Film & Photography Collective, whose decades-long practice defined how stories are told with communities rather than about them in the North East of England - the symposium will focus on how co-authorship creates space for new perspectives, particularly those often overlooked in mainstream art and media.

We’re calling for presentations on artistic and documentary methods that prioritise shared narratives, emotional truth, and long-term engagement over detached observation. This includes work in both photography and docudrama film, where creative collaboration and long-term social engagement are used to produce emotionally resonant and authentic representations of lived experience.

We welcome proposals from artists, researchers, curators, educators, and collectives working across disciplines. Presentations may take the form of artistic research, community projects, films, installations, or provocations. We particularly encourage voices from working-class, post-industrial, and regional backgrounds, and those exploring how creative collaboration can speak to contemporary issues - from climate justice to inequality.

This is an opportunity to come together, reflect on methods of making that centre care, trust, and collaboration - and consider how these practices can shape the future of socially engaged art.

Selected applicants will share their work at a respected venue for socially engaged documentary practice, gaining critical feedback and dialogue with peers and curators. They’ll be published in a post-symposium print piece, contributing to an emerging body of research. It’s a chance to test ideas publicly, connect with a network of practitioners, and be visible to Side’s curatorial team. £150 is offered if not institutionally funded. Travel support letters available.