Developing the Photographic Project
© Mary Ellen Mark
Join world-renowned photographer Mary Ellen Mark for a weekend of photographic discussion and portfolio review. On Friday night, workshops participants will enjoy private time with Mary for introductions and discussion of personal goals. The larger presentation which follows will offer an opportunity to see Mary Ellen’s work and perhaps some short films that she produced with her husband, Martin Bell.
Saturday and Sunday will offer personalized, one-on-one time with Mary, as well as group time to discuss portfolios and projects that students are currently working on. If a participant is working on a personal project, Mary will review his or her portfolio and offer guidance on the project’s direction. Mary will also discuss what it takes to originate a project idea, the steps necessary to implement the idea, and how to see the project to completion. Additionally, Mary Ellen will discuss the basics of how her library is organized, then lead discussions about the photographic world in general, exploring such topics as: working with galleries, magazines, corporate clients, publishers and other aspects of photography as a business.
This workshop is a combination of lecture, portfolio review and critique – it is not a technical workshop. Each student should bring their portfolio, between 15-30 images, printed or on disc.
Mary Ellen Mark (www.maryellenmark.com) has achieved worldwide visibility through her numerous books, exhibitions and editorial magazine work. She is a contributing photographer to The New Yorker and has published photo-essays and portraits in such publications as LIFE, New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. For almost three decades she has traveled extensively to make pictures that reflect a high degree of humanism. Her portrayals of Mother Teresa, Indian circuses, and brothels in Bombay were the product of many years of work in India. Among her 15 published books, her most recent book, Extraordinary Child (National Museum of Iceland, 2007), is about disabled children in Iceland. Today, she is recognized as one of our most respected and influential photographers.
