Larson Shindelman (American, estab. 2007) collaboratively investigate the data tracks we amass through networked communication. Our work ties the invisible to actual sites, anchoring the ephemeral in photographs and immersive video installations. Our most well-known project, Geolocation, traces Twitter posts to the point of origin and makes a photograph to mark the location in the real world, probing the expectations of privacy surrounding social networks.
The first phase of Geolocation (2009 - 2016) took us across the US, from New York to Los Angeles, as well as to Canada and England. Flash Powder Projects published a monograph of this work in January 2016. The second phase, #Gratitude (2016 - 2021), took us to Russia, photographing tweets with the hashtag #ThanksPutinForThis, and the sister hashtag #ThanksObama in the US. We are shaping this work into our second book. The third phase, #Mobilize (2018 - 2019), examines the power of social media to organize for social justice. A selection of this work was installed at the George Eastman Museum from January through June 2019.
New York Times, WIRED, The Picture Show from NPR, Hyperallergic, Places Journal, VICE, Hotshoe Magazine, Indiana Public Media, Gizmodo, Washington Post, Utne Reader, F Stop Magazine, Marketplace Tech Report