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America at Home: Millions of Simultaneous Snapshots Will Show What 'Home' Means to Americans

    NEW YORK, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Beginning Sept. 17, in the course of
a single week, 100 of the world's top photojournalists - and millions of
amateur shutterbugs - will fan out around the United States to shoot
digital photos of the most important place in their lives: Home.
    With America at Home, Rick Smolan and the team that produced A Day in
the Life of America: America 24/7, 24 Hours in Cyberspace, and One Digital
Day, will be taking on their biggest challenge to date. The result, which
is expected to include several million photographs, will be the most
extensive record of American home life ever created in the 21st century.
    "The idea of 'home' is as universal and deeply ingrained as that of
'mother' or 'father,'" says Smolan. "Ask people to describe what the word
'home' means to them and their answers tap into a deep pool of emotions and
memories. We're inviting millions of Americans to collaborate in the
creation of a digital time capsule that may prove to be an invaluable
resource for our descendants to understand the fabric of home life in
2007."
    Editorially, America at Home aims to capture the emotions of home: the
distinctive rituals, intimate moments and all the myriad ways in which we
work, play, learn, conduct our lives and interact with friends, family
members (and pets!) as we transform our dwellings into our homes. From
McMansions to mobile homes, from tree houses to tenement slums, from
ranches to old age homes, the public is invited to help document the
harmonies and paradoxes of home life across America over a single seven-day
period.
    Snapshots Heard 'Round the Nation
    Through massive grassroots online outreach, millions of Americans are
being invited to simultaneously contribute their own images via a series of
daily snapshots taken at the same time of day across the nation each day
throughout the week. Participants will receive daily emails with assignment
instructions and can also take general photos of what makes their home
special.
    The public will be able to sign up and upload their images at
http://www.MyAmericaAtHome.com.
    An international team of leading magazine and newspaper photo editors
will edit all of the images, shot by both professionals and amateurs. The
best images will be woven together with essays from leading writers in a
unique and evocative coffee table book, a website, a TV show, and an
exhibit.
    The images shot by the 100 professional photojournalists and millions
of amateurs will reflect the extraordinary diversity that makes up American
family life and will represent a broad range of economic, geographic,
racial, political, and socially diverse lifestyles.
    The America at Home book will be published by Running Press in March
2008 and will offer the public the ability to personalize their books with
customized covers. The custom cover feature was largely responsible for the
success of Smolan's last project, America 24/7, when more than 21% of all
book buyers customized their copies. This was the first time in publishing
history that a New York Times best-seller was mass customized by its
readers.
    America at Home is made possible through a partnership with IKEA with
additional support being provided by HP's Snapfish, Google, BabyCenter.com
and Nikon.
    AMERICA AT HOME - Project Details
    What: The largest collaborative project in Internet history as 100 of
the top photojournalists and millions of Americans document the concept of
home
    Where: Throughout the United States

    When: The week of Sept. 17th to 23rd

    Who: Any American who owns a digital camera or cell phone camera

    Project Url: http://www.MyAmericaAtHome.com

    Publisher: The book will be published in March 2008 by Running Press


SOURCE America at Home




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Related links:
  • http://www.MyAmericaAtHome.com/
    CONTACT:
    Chris Hamilton of Connors Communications,
    +1-212-798-1409, CHamilton@connors.com