Akilah Townsend

Before culture was commodified, it was built in community, community that was not online. These communities were in person – in rooms, in face-to-face conversations, in gatherings of people with shared interests. Powered by True Chicago, this panel brings together photographers and creatives to talk about how those communities have shaped their work and their paths, and why in-person connection still holds something the internet can't replicate.

We experience culture as something we can see, buy, and participate in. But long before that, it was built in community, in rooms, in conversations, in relationships that most people never see. Powered by True Chicago, this panel brings together photographers and creatives to talk about what in-person community has meant for their careers and why it still cannot be replicated online. In a world of followers and feeds, showing up in person matters as much as ever.