Who We Are
Do You Know What it Means is a collaborative project conceived by members of the staff, alumni and chair of the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media department at the School of Visual Arts in New York. They have teamed up with a number of organizations, including many in New Orleans, to unite their expertise in sociology, ethnology, history, photography and archival technology.
The School of Visual Arts has donated equipment and administrative support to launch this project and SVA's Alumni Society is serving as fiscal manager; George Mason University's Center for History and New Media is storing and archiving the collection; The Historic New Orleans Collection is furnishing technology consultation, archiving and preservation capabilities and office and exhibition space; in concert with anthropologist Dr. Joyce Jackson, The Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve is providing anthropological and historical research on the Fazendeville group; and the University of New Orleans is offering staff and student volunteers to help analyze gathered material.
Do You Know What it Means is loosely modeled after "Here is New York: A Democracy of Photographs", an exhibit of professional and amateur photographs taken during and around the World Trade Center tragedy. Charles Traub, co-founder of both projects and chair of the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media department at the School of Visual Arts, states, " Both projects aim to function as living memorials to restore our sense of equilibrium as a nation, as a city, and particularly as a community. We need to develop a new way of looking at and thinking about history."
The School of Visual Arts has donated equipment and administrative support to launch this project and SVA's Alumni Society is serving as fiscal manager; George Mason University's Center for History and New Media is storing and archiving the collection; The Historic New Orleans Collection is furnishing technology consultation, archiving and preservation capabilities and office and exhibition space; in concert with anthropologist Dr. Joyce Jackson, The Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve is providing anthropological and historical research on the Fazendeville group; and the University of New Orleans is offering staff and student volunteers to help analyze gathered material.
Do You Know What it Means is loosely modeled after "Here is New York: A Democracy of Photographs", an exhibit of professional and amateur photographs taken during and around the World Trade Center tragedy. Charles Traub, co-founder of both projects and chair of the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media department at the School of Visual Arts, states, " Both projects aim to function as living memorials to restore our sense of equilibrium as a nation, as a city, and particularly as a community. We need to develop a new way of looking at and thinking about history."
