BildBotschaft - Encounter and dialogue through photography
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About this project
Our democracy thrives on community, respect and the willingness to tolerate different perspectives. This requires credible, balanced, and local journalism, as well as media and discourse expertise within society.
We create spaces for this. With photography - BildBotschaften
Photos have superpowers. They speak to people, open up perspectives and invite dialogue. We are harnessing this power - from autumn 2025 with BildBotschaften in German cities. Starting in Hamburg!
(The German term "BildBotschaft is a play on words. "Bild" means image, and "Botschaften" means message as well as embassy. It brings the physical space and the message together.)
Each BildBotschaft consists of three elements:
- Taking photos - people from the neighbourhood become photographers and a local photo editorial team.
- Showing/seeing photos - Our exhibition space invites you to marvel.
- Talking about photos - Moderated dialogue formats get visitors talking.
For whom?
For everyone. Our aim is to bring as many different people as possible into dialogue through photography. We offer young people (and other groups) their own photo-editing projects in which they realise, show and discuss their topics photographically. They also develop workshops for schools - by, with and for young people.
Who we are
The laif foundation is the non-profit subsidiary of the laif cooperative - associated with the renowned photo agency laif. For over 40 years, laif has stood for committed photojournalism, an informed society and a strong democracy.
Why we can do it
Our team has experience in journalism, education, management and fundraising - including with young people and refugees. Our festival ‘Zeigen, was ist.’ reached over 6,000 people in just 10 days in autumn 2024 through exhibitions, lectures and workshops. We organise the ‘Jugend fotografiert Deutschland’ competition and regular media skills workshops.
The schedule
We want to open five BildBotschaften by 2029 - in the north, south, east, west and centre of Germany. The first will be in Hamburg in autumn 2025 for ‘Press Freedom Week’.
We need you
A BildBotschaft costs around €150,000 for six months - for staff, rent and materials. The project is funded by three pillars:
- Funding - First foundations are already involved.
- Sponsoring - We attract companies that promote social interaction in their region.
- Crowdfunding - This is where you come in!
We believe that democracy needs spaces. And people who make it possible. Support us, become part of the community - and help BildBotschaften make many voices visible and audible.
Support us now - for more dialogue through photography.
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betterplace.org is the largest German donation platform. Since 2007 we have been helping people, aid organizations and companies to do good. All projects on betterplace.org are non-profit. Since we ourselves also do not work for profit, our platform is free of charge for the projects.
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