Photography Atelier 30

Photo Silke Hase

Photography Atelier is a portfolio and project building course for emerging to advanced photographers taught by Meg Birnbaum and assistant Julie Williams-Krishnan. Participants engage in supportive critical discussions of each other’s work and leave with a better understanding of the fine art industry and with an ability to edit, talk about and sequence their own work.

The Atelier was conceived by Holly Smith Pedlosky. The first Photography Atelier took place in 2001.  Karen Davis taught the Atelier for 7 years. Meg Birnbaum has taught the Atelier for the past four years.  Emily Belz is teaching the Fall Ateliers 29 with Dennis Geller assisting. Meg Birnbaum returns to the Atelier 30 for March 2019. The workshop was previously offered at Radcliffe Seminars, Harvard University and Lesley Seminars and in the Seminar Series in the Arts, The Art Institute of Boston (AIB), both at Lesley University.

Instruction in the Atelier includes visual presentations based around 4 class assignments which are designed to encourage experimentation in both subject matter and approach. The remainder of the course allows for students to work on a personal project that culminates in an exhibition at the museum. Students learn the basics of how to approach industry professionals to show their work and how to prepare for a national or regional portfolio review. There is discussion of marketing materials, do-it-yourself websites, DIY book publishing and the importance of social media. Students learn the critical art of writing an artist’s statement and bio.

Any method or medium of image making is welcome although digital photography is recommended for the first half of the class when work is assigned each week. The class culminates in an exhibition at the end of the class.

The Griffin Museum of Photography honors Holly Smith Pedlosky each time we offer what we consider an important educational experience. Holly died in 2012 entrusting the class to Karen Davis (who now teaches our online course from her home in Hudson, NY). Miriam Goodman another integral part of the Atelier passed away in 2008. Both women made a tremendous impact on the lives of the “Ateliesti” (students of the Photography Atelier).

The Atelier is held on Tuesday evenings from 6:00 – 9:00 or Wednesday mornings from 9:30 – 12:30 on the following dates:

Meg Birnbaum is a photographer, educator and graphic designer specializing in publication design based in Watertown, MA. She is the director of communications for the Griffin Museum of Photography and produces all design collateral for the museum and the exhibition catalogs associated with the museum’s exhibitions. She is a member of the Griffin Museum’s exhibition committee.

Birnbaum taught illustration at Montserrat College of Art and has assisted Karen Davis with the Photography Atelier at Lesley University and the Griffin Museum of Photography. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Art, Houston, and the Lishui Museum of Photography.

She has had solo exhibitions in Kobe, Japan, the Davis Orton Gallery, NY, Panopticon Gallery, Boston, Corden Potts Gallery, San Francisco, the Griffin Museum of Photography, Lishui China, International Photography Festival, and at the Museum of Art Pompeo Boggio, Buenos Aires during the biennial Encuentros Abiertos-Festival de la Luz. Her work has been juried into many national and international photography competitions. Birnbaum was an invited exhibitor at Flash Forward Festival 2011 in Boston. She has a solo exhibition in January 2019 at the Stonewall National Museum and Archives in Florida.