Workshop: Writing About Photography (Online)

Saturday, June 20, 2020  10:00 am – 12:00 pm (Eastern time)
Sunday, June 21, 2020  10:00 am – 1:00 pm (Eastern time)
Saturday, June 28, 2020  – Due by noon – Submission of written assignment for final private editing by one of the instructors via email

Offered by Elin Spring & Suzanne Révy

Why write about photography? Just as an image frames a visual viewpoint, analytic writing offers context and perspective, influencing how we see.  Learn to view and write about photography more critically in this online workshop with “What Will You Remember” editors Elin Spring and Suzanne Révy.

Before Session I, participants will be given three short samples of writing about photography which will be integrated into a two- hour, didactic slide presentation and discussion. Following this in-depth guide to clear and creative writing practices that apply to art reviews, artist statements and grant applications, participants will prepare their own artist statements to be discussed the following day.

During Session II, participants take turns will reading aloud their prepared artist statements. In each 10-15 minute segment, instructors will propose practical suggestions and all participants are invited to discuss, question and offer constructive commentary. There will be a short break every hour.

During the following week, participants will work on their artist statements and submit their edited version via email to their assigned instructor by noon the next Saturday. Each instructor will return a final edit within one week.

Through guided observation, discussion, practice writing, and individual feedback, participants will begin to develop their voice for writing engagingly about photography – especially their own.  At the end of the workshop, each person will have a polished piece and a fresh approach to sharing their views on photography.

Instructor Biographies:

Elin Spring is Founder and Editor of What Will You Remember? online photography magazine.  She is a contributing writer to other online and print magazines and has provided essays for various exhibition catalogs. As an independent curator, she juries photography competitions and exhibitions.  Elin regularly conducts portfolio reviews at national photography festivals, colleges, and museums, highlighting newly discovered work online. In 2014, her photography writing was recognized with the Scribe FOCUS Award from the Griffin Museum of Photography. Before concentrating full-time on WWYR?, for over two decades she specialized in professional portraiture in and around Boston. Elin earned her bachelor’s degree from Brown University and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from University of Pennsylvania.

Suzanne Révy is a fine art photographer who has created visual diaries of her family’s life and is Associate Editor of What Will You Remember? online photography magazine. Earning her BFA from the Pratt Institute and MFA from the New Hampshire Institute of Art (NHIA), Révy has worked as Photography Editor at U.S. News & World Report and Yankee Magazine and has exhibited her work at museums and galleries nationwide. Révy has taught at the New England School of Photography and at the Institute of Art and Design at New England College.  She is a Board Member of the Photographic Resource Center in Cambridge.