What is the rationale for conservation in a world driven by change, by an astronomical energy to produce, consume, and develop, then destroy the old to make room for the new? What is the value of place and permanence to an increasingly mobile citizenry with mixed ethnic and cultural identities and cross-historical memories? Should conservation move from being object or site-specific to being human-sensitive? Should it shift its mental grammar from the past to the present? And how should it manage change-preserving the past while helping to create the future?

The Landmarks Campaign of the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) is a search for answers to these questions and an experiment in thinking about the future of conservation through different voices and fresh perspectives. Born from a Los Angeles community-based GCI project and publication named Picture L.A.: Landmarks of a New Generation the campaign has grown into a grassroots initiative conducted in Cape Town, Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Mexico City, and Paris. In each project the Institute has asked youths of diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds aged 10 to 18 to photograph personal landmarks as well as designated heritage sites and to comment on the landmarks’ relevance to their own and other people’s lives. Each project culminates in a local exhibition, accompanied by a book and a short video.

The campaign’s underlying premise is that if people come face-to-face with their landmarks and if they see the built landscape as an extension of their cultural history and its outstanding features as an embodiment of their personal and social identities, they will develop a sense of caring for it. These feelings, in turn, will help prevent landmarks from being neglected or abused.

This books offer a guide for creating such a “Landmarks” photography project.

• Youth and Preservation
  Miguel Angel Corzo
• 1. The Plan
  • What Is a Landmarks Project?
  • Why Should I Start One?
  • Is My Community Suitable?
• 2. The People
  • Project Director
  • Project Coordinator
  • Field Director
  • Photographers
  • Field Assistants
  • Editor/Book Designer
  • Exhibit Designer
  • Web Site Designer
  • Video Producer
  • Public Relations Manager
• 3. The Products
  • Photographs
  • Book
  • Video
  • Website
  • Exhibition
  • Marketing Products and Publicity
• 4. The Process: 1. Main Tasks
  • A. Administration and Finance: Project Director’s To-Do List
    • A.1. Defining Your Mission and Focus
    • A.2. Developing an Overall Budget
    • A.3. Determining a Project Time Line
    • A.4. Creating Partnerships
    • A.5. Selecting a Field Director
    • A.6. Contracting Project Personnel
    • A.7. Addressing Liability and Intellectual Property Issues
  • B. Photographs: Field Director’s To-Do List
    • B.1. Developing a Detailed Photography Budget
    • B.2. Developing and Printing Photos
    • B.3. Selecting Field Assistants
    • B.4. Selecting Photographers
    • B.5. Drafting Release Forms
    • B.6. Buying Cameras, Film, Log Books
    • B.7. Planning Shooting Schedule and Beginning Photography
  • C. Video: Video Producer’s To-Do List
    • C.l. Developing a Detailed Video Budget
    • C.2. Producing the Video
  • D. Book: Editor/Designer’s To-Do List
    • D.l. Developing a Detailed Book Budget
    • D.2. Selecting Photos and Commentary
    • D.3. Designing and Producing the Book
  • E. Web Site: Web Designer’s To Do List
    • E.l. Designing and Producing a Web Site
  • F. Marketing/Publicity: Marketing/PR Manager’s To-Do List
    • F.l. Developing a Detailed Marketing/Publicity Budget
    • F.2. Publicizing the Project and Marketing Its Products
  • G. Exhibition: Exhibit Designer’s To-Do List
    • G.l. Selecting an Exhibition Space
    • G.2. Developing a Detailed Exhibition Budget
    • G.3. Designing and Producing the Exhibition
    • G.4. Giving Recognition to the Photographers
    • G.5. Touring the Exhibition
• 5. The Process: II. Timetable
  • Sample Timetable and Checklist for a Landmarks Project
• Afterword
  • Landmarkers: A New Generation of Culture Heroes
    Mahasti Afshar