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Outputs (16)

AI and the complexity of Black photographic representation and critical analysis (2024)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S., & Edwards, Y. (in press). AI and the complexity of Black photographic representation and critical analysis. In AI and Photography. Bristol: Royal Photographic Society

In this chapter artist Yuko Edwards and academic Shawn Sobers discuss the complex dynamics of AI image making, with regards both the problems and opportunities in the cultural politics of Black and African heritage representation. The significant cha... Read More about AI and the complexity of Black photographic representation and critical analysis.

Navigating personal and professional pathways towards the telling of Bath’s African-connected histories (2023)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S., & Andrews, P. (in press). Navigating personal and professional pathways towards the telling of Bath’s African-connected histories. In Legacies of Slave-ownership and Enslavement: Reshaping Memoryscape in Bath and Bristol after the Fall of Colston. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press

This chapter is a transcript of a conversation between Polly Andrews - Learning Officer for Bath Abbey, and Convenor of the Bath & Colonialism Action Group; and Professor Shawn-Naphtali Sobers – trustee of Fairfield House , Bath, and Professor of Cul... Read More about Navigating personal and professional pathways towards the telling of Bath’s African-connected histories.

Candles (2022)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S. (2022). Candles. In Sway of Shadows Response: Black Men Reminiscing (42 - 43). Taunton: Black Pansophy Books

In this short auto-ethnographic essay, Sobers uses material culture as a doorway into a deeply personal reflection. Focusing on a pair of candles given to him by his late brother, the chapter leads the reader through the complexity of family dynamics... Read More about Candles.

The Message (2022)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S. (2022). The Message. In C. Leith, & P. Wrigglesworth (Eds.), Left Cultures: A Lexicon Of Stories Past And Present. Bristol: Left Cultures

How listening to 'The Message' by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in 1982, became a life changing class-conscious moment for a 10 year old boy.

Which of us photographs? (2021)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S. (2021). Which of us photographs?. In Cohort. Frome: Cohort

How will future historians interpret how the 2020/2021 lockdowns impacted photographic aesthetics? Such a study would likely be done best by scholars who are not yet even born. Practitioners and scholars of today are too close to the moment to be abl... Read More about Which of us photographs?.

Colonial Complexity in the British Landscape: An African-centric autoethnography (2019)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S. (2019). Colonial Complexity in the British Landscape: An African-centric autoethnography. In S. De Nardi, H. Orange, E. Koskinen-Koivisto, & S. High (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Memory and Place. London: Routledge

This chapter explores the notion of what sites of collective significance in the UK can mean to people of African descent , whose ancestral lands were formerly colonised by the British Empire. With such a premise, the methodological position of this... Read More about Colonial Complexity in the British Landscape: An African-centric autoethnography.

View over Bristol - Tryers, creativity and a civic imaginary (2017)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S., Dovey, J., & Agusita, E. (2017). View over Bristol - Tryers, creativity and a civic imaginary. In A. Atay, & J. Brower (Eds.), Communication, Culture, and Making Meaning in the City: Ethnographic Engagements in Urban Environments. Lexington Books

"Bristol has a culture of tryers, lots of people trying but because there’s a lack of accessibility. Because there is a lack of exits, naturally there are loads of people trying to get out… it is full of people who are trying because they can't grab... Read More about View over Bristol - Tryers, creativity and a civic imaginary.

Community media as social innovation: Transformation, agency and value (2017)
Book Chapter
Dovey, J., Sobers, S., & Agusita, E. (2017). Community media as social innovation: Transformation, agency and value. In S. Malik, C. Chapain, & R. Comunian (Eds.), Community Filmmaking: Diversity, Innovation, Policy and Practice. (1). Taylor & Francis (Routledge). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315642727

This chapter discusses the Creative Citizens study, an extensive research project conducted by the authors from 2013 to 2015, looking into the community media practices of the South Blessed collective, a self-motivated network of young creatives appr... Read More about Community media as social innovation: Transformation, agency and value.

Ethiopian stories in an English landscape (2017)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S. (2017). Ethiopian stories in an English landscape. In H. Roued-Cunliffe, & A. Copeland (Eds.), Participatory Heritage. Facet Publishing

Bath is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with an established narrative of being built by the Romans, and built upon with architectural splendour by the Georgians in the 1700-1800s. This has resulted in a tourist industry worth an annual average of £414... Read More about Ethiopian stories in an English landscape.

Civic cultures and modalities of place-making (2016)
Book Chapter
Alevizou, G., Alexiou, K., Harte, D., Sobers, S., Zamenopoulos, T., & Turner, J. (2016). Civic cultures and modalities of place-making. In J. Hartley, & I. Hargreaves (Eds.), The Creative Citizen Unbound: How Social Media and DIY Culture Contribute to Democracy, Communities and the Creative Economy (205-230). Policy Press

Acts of creative citizenship require places, where challenges and tensions generate energy, inviting resolution through creative collaboration. In this chapter we aim to shed light on processes of place-making, whether they occur in physical, digital... Read More about Civic cultures and modalities of place-making.

Varieties of creative citizenship (2016)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S., Zamenopoulos, T., Alexiou, K., Alevizou, G., Chapain, C., & Williams, A. (2016). Varieties of creative citizenship. In J. Hartley, & I. Hargreaves (Eds.), The Creative Citizen Unbound: How Social Media and DIY Culture Contribute to Democracy, Communities and the Creative Economy. Policy Press

This chapter reflects on different variations of creative citizenship drawing from empirical studies carried out across the Creative Citizen project, covering different domains in which media are used creatively by communities. It discusses a number... Read More about Varieties of creative citizenship.

Conversations about co-production (2016)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S., Greene, C., Zamenopoulos, T., Chapain, C., & Turner, J. (2016). Conversations about co-production. In J. Hartley, & I. Hargreaves (Eds.), The Creative Citizen Unbound: How Social Media and DIY Culture Contribute to Democracy, Communities and the Creative Economy. Policy Press

This chapter explores the dynamics of Higher Education Institutions working with non-academic partner organisations. The chapter engages in dialogue with key individuals in these partnerships, discussing key issues experienced throughout the Creativ... Read More about Conversations about co-production.

Language and resistance: Memories of transatlantic slavery, and its continuing afterlives in the use of Rastafari language and terminology (2016)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S. (2016). Language and resistance: Memories of transatlantic slavery, and its continuing afterlives in the use of Rastafari language and terminology. In J. Gill, & J. O'Connell Davidson (Eds.), Slavery: Memory and Afterlives (60-63). Open Democracy

This article discusses how language within the Rastafari culture, known as Iyaric, or Word Sound, has been formed in resistance to the effects of white supremacist domination in the forms of slavery and colonialization. It explores how Rastafari ter... Read More about Language and resistance: Memories of transatlantic slavery, and its continuing afterlives in the use of Rastafari language and terminology.

Re:Interpretation: the representation of perspectives on slave trade history using creative media (2013)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S., & Mitchell, R. (2013). Re:Interpretation: the representation of perspectives on slave trade history using creative media. In M. Dresser, & A. Hann (Eds.), Slavery and the British Country House (132-139). English Heritage

This chapter describes the process, production and context of Re:Interpretation, a participatory media project carried out by Firstborn Creatives in partnership with the National Trust. The brief was to explore the challenging subject of transatlant... Read More about Re:Interpretation: the representation of perspectives on slave trade history using creative media.

Positioning education within community media (2010)
Book Chapter
Sobers, S. (2010). Positioning education within community media. In K. Howley (Ed.), Understanding Community Media (188). Sage Publications, Inc

Looking at how educational activities contribute to the broader community media sector, and discussing the impacts of involvement for young people in media arts activity.