“Aut Aut” is a long-term project dedicated to empowering people with autism through the use of photography. As a social cooperative, Shibboleth set up an editorial team of people with autism that publish a printed and digital photographic paper. In the future, the same team will sell the paper in a street kiosk, reinforcing their position as authors and creatives.

As both a safe context for the creation of contents and a vibrant working environment with international bonds, Shibboleth is a platform allowing people with cognitive disadvantage to deal with responsibilities, make self-affirming decisions and outline future-oriented designs. Literally meaning ‘either, or’, “Aut Aut” explores the encounter of literal and metaphorical extremes in the space of 64 pages for every issue: stories of strangers who meet in the central spread of the paper, cities clashing with the wilderness, the West fusing with the East. The investigation of contrasts in the form of fictitious narratives and short stories is reinforced by a black and white graphic.

This invites authors with autism to blur the confines between them and ‘others’ and to pioneer non-binary views of the human family into groups, imagining ways for differences to dissolve. Overall, “Aut Aut” aims to expand the literal and metaphorical fields of vision of any possible reader through a social use of photography championed by people with autism.