RE-VISION: SELF-REFLECTION THROUGH WRITING AND PHOTOGRAPHY
Ages 16-29
Spring 2020, Online
Photography, even at its best, can be an intuitive activity that doesn’t require much reflective thought. As a result, photographers often fail to recognize meaningful work of their own making. In this distance learning workshop, student fellows will write from (not about) their own body of photographic work toward a better understanding of what their own images mean. Starting with photos that might have held purely personal value when they were made, fellows will select images, write according to individualized guidelines from the instructor each week, discuss the work of others, and finally discover how the meaning of images can grow through an attentive writing process. Assignments include poems, short fiction, erasures, and more. New photographs are not encouraged for this workshop. Fellows will be required to connect with the instructor and the group at least twice per week to share progress, review peer material, ask questions, and receive feedback. This communication might be via text, email, online platform, or a Google Hangout video call. Fellows can expect to spend at least four hours per week discussing work, thinking, and writing. Their best work will appear on BYFA social media feeds and the main website in a virtual exhibition. Limited to 8 student fellows.
Somer Greer is a writer and photographer who lived in Baltimore for close to a decade, working as a writing instructor at Johns Hopkins University and other schools in the Mid-Atlantic. He now lives on Bayou Vermilion in Lafayette, Louisiana. Currently, he is working on a series of candid photos of Cajun musicians.
Olugbenga Osikomaiya, a Morgan State University graduate, is a freelance cinematographer and photographer who focuses on creating compelling images that also tell a story.
