VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: Smartphone Storytelling

Images and poetry have long shared a deep and resonant dialogue, each illuminating the other in unexpected ways. This workshop invites students to explore that intersection, using the visual language of photography to respond to and be inspired by the written word. In this workshop, students photograph, edit, print, and sequence a small body of work inspired by poetry. Each morning begins with group dialogues and critiques designed to help participants refine their narrative voice and strengthen their conceptual approach. Along the way, they are introduced to artists and writers who have merged image and text, expanding the possibilities of both. Working with a range of photographic techniques—including portraiture, landscape, appropriation, and alternative processes—students are guided in bringing a project from concept to final form, gaining confidence in experimentation and new ways of seeing. Field trips complement studio activities.

The deceptively simple cyanotype process—one of the oldest photographic printing methods—offers a stunning range of exquisite and mysterious blues. Students embark on an exploration of this timeless technique, experimenting on various papers to create both photograms and photographs while learning to produce digital negatives. While cyanotype stands alone as a beloved process for contemporary photographic artists, many practitioners push its boundaries by toning their prints with organic botanical toners, unlocking a remarkable spectrum of colors and hues. This versatile method also pairs beautifully with other alternative techniques, including gum bichromate. Participants delve into the vibrant possibilities of layering gum bichromate over their cyanotypes, engaging deeply with color and process while connecting to the medium’s rich artistic heritage.

This workshop is designed for photographers interested in reimagining the politics of image-making through the lens of lived experience — particularly those shaped by gender, feminism, marginalization, and underrepresented perspectives. Drawing on both historical strategies and speculative approaches, participants will engage in collaborative and experimental exercises such as multiple exposures, camera-passing, and surrealist "exquisite corpse" techniques. Together, we'll challenge traditional roles of photographer and subject, questioning photography's roots in authorship, control, and visual dominance. Through image-making, critique, discussion, and selected readings, we'll explore how even the smallest choices — editing, framing, language — can reinforce or resist dominant structures of seeing. This workshop invites play, experimentation, and critical reflection as we ask not just what an image shaped by marginalized experience looks like, but what it can do.