The Birth of Video Nation
As video cameras became smaller and easier to use during the Eighties and Nineties, Video Diaries became a popular format to take a look at people's lives.

In 1993 Chris Mohr and Mandy Rose of the Community Programmes Unit started Video Nation, using a series of cameras distributed across the UK. The contributors were given their Hi-8 camera for one year, during which time they filmed their everyday lives. The response to Video Nation was immediate:

	"A television gem of immense value"
	Polly Toynbee

	"The immediacy of these programmes is entirely different to anything shot by a crew. There seems to be nothing between you, not even the glass..."
	The Guardian

More than 10,000 tapes were shot and sent into the BBC, from which approximately 1300 shorts were edited and shown on television, the first of which was Mirror by Gordon Hencher. The popularity of the format (viewing figures varied from 1 million to 9 million) led to some themed series of Video Nation shorts such as African Shorts, Hong Kong Shorts, Coming Clean (a ten part series on housework), Bitesize Britain (10 fifteen-minute programmes about what the Nation really eats), and many more.

The result was two awards - a Race in the Media Award and the European Prix Iris.

In the early 1990's Video Nation moved to BBC2 as a continuation of the early sociological photographic projects. During its first decade, ten thousand tapes were shot and 1,300 shorts were screened on TV.