YOUR WORK AND ITS AUDIENCE: MAKING THE MATCH, NYC 2021

Mary Virginia Swanson & Special Guests  

WORKSHOP DATES

November 1 - November 6, 2021

LIMIT

16 photographers

COST

2,200 USD tuition only

APPLICATIONS OPEN

March 29,2021

APPLICATIONS CLOSE

July 29,2021

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

As artists, we derive great joy from bringing a personal project to completion. Sharing the work with others completes the creative cycle.

In this workshop, participants will gain insights from a diverse range of industry experts on advancing their project towards targeted presentation. This includes researching your topic and finding its audience, working to edit a project to its strengths and present it to potential venues, publishers, and other constituencies.

Author, educator, and mentor Mary Virginia Swanson will be the lead faculty member, presenting a series of illustrated lectures that will broaden your industry awareness on a range of key issues. Topics discussed include the evolving editorial market, the challenges to the traditional gallery market, identifying new buyers for fine prints and licensing rights, understanding exhibition venues to maximize opportunities, and the role publications can play in promoting your work. Additionally, she will meet with each participant to help identify appropriate audiences for their work and discuss how to effectively market to them.

At the start of the workshop, Swanson will be joined by award-winning photo editor Elizabeth Krist for a 2-day editing session of students’ work. Through classroom talks and interactive demonstrations, you will learn the nuances of editing your photographs. Krist will work with each participant to edit images brought to the workshop, helping you to reveal the heart of your project.

Throughout the week, Special Guests will join us to share their expertise on a variety of topics including: the role of a gallery in your career, securing commissions to make new work, considerations when granting licensing rights for your images, the path towards publication of your projects, and more. Our final guest will be an artist for whom all of these engagements are core elements in their career.

Our NYC 2021 Special Guests are:

  • ‍Elizabeth Krist – Photo Editor, Reviewer, Independent Curator and Competition Judge (Monday & Tuesday)  ‍
  • Joan Liftin - Photographer, Photo Book Editor, Educator (Tuesday)‍
  • Alan Rapp- Editorial Director, Monacelli Press (Wednesday)‍
  • Karen Marks- Director, Howard Greenberg gallery (Thursday)‍
  • Jane YeomansJane Yeomans - Photo Editor / Photo Researcher, Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine(Friday)‍
  • Elinor Carucci - Photographer (Saturday morning)

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Serious photographers, both working professionals and those who aspire to be, who are ready to share their work with a larger audience, whether it be in exhibitions, fine print, or publication format(s).  This class is ideal for a photographer who wishes to increase their awareness about today’s diverse markets for imagery and gain an understanding of how to reach their target audiences.

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE IN BRIEF*

Monday November 1st
(9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.)

Our first day will be dedicated to the review and editing of each student’s project. Elizabeth Krist will begin by sharing the steps to edit an extensive photo essay, dissecting its strengths to form a traditional published story. Through a series of discussions, Elizabeth will then guide students towards editing their images for a variety of outlets and to best maximize the potential of each project.

In the afternoon session, Mary Virginia will offer an examination of self-publishing your work vs. being published, and the role of a publication in your career.

Tuesday November 2nd
(9:00am–6:00 pm)

During the morning, photographer, editor, and educator Joan Liftin will join us for a lecture on editing photo books.

Today Elizabeth Krist will continue editing each participant’s project.

Wednesday, November 3rd
(9:00am–6:00 pm)

Throughout the morning, Alan Rapp, Editorial Director at Monicelli Press, will join us in the classroom for an in-depth conversation about photo book publishing today. He will lend his advice on when a project is ready for publication, discussing targeting publishers most likely to be interested in your work and how to bring your projects to their attention.

Today’s classroom discussion will focus on audiences who are likely to respond to your work in fine print form. Mary Virginia will provide an overview of the diverse market for fine art photographs today: who buys prints and why, how to introduce your work to decision makers through competitions and investing in face-to-face meetings at portfolio reviews.

One-on-one sessions with Mary Virginia to discuss your project and its audience will begin this afternoon. Participants are encouraged to observe each other’s one-on-one sessions throughout the week.

Thursday, November 4th
(9:00am–6:00 pm)

Karen Marks welcomes us to Howard Greenberg gallery where she will share her insights into the fine collecting market and gallery representation today, pricing / editioning your work, and other related topics.

Afternoon classroom discussions with Mary Virginia will focus on making the most of your exhibition opportunities—researching how to identify and build relationships with appropriate venues and collaborating to maximize the benefits of exhibitions for you, the venue, and its community.  We will discuss developing sponsor relationships, creating appropriate educational components, and fostering long-term professional relationships from every opportunity.

This will be followed by a lecture on licensing your work in the commercial marketplace, including insights into buyers today, rights language and constructing pricing parameters

At the end of the day, we continue our one-on-one sessions with Mary Virginia.

Friday, November 5th
(9:00am–6:00 pm)

We will start the day with a lecture by Jane Yeomans, Photo Editor at Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine, who has deep experience in commissioning photographers to create new work, and in utilizing photo research skills to identify images for licensing as illustrations for the editorial and book jacket markets. Yeomans will bring many examples of projects she has been involved with and share related research and production details. She will advise participants on best practices for you and your work being ‘found’ by editors and researchers today.

Jane and Mary Virginia will discuss the editorial market today, as well as how to target appropriate publications to secure contracts for commissions, and how to then deliver on expectations.  

During the afternoon, Mary Virginia’s presentation will be on how to strategize long-term personal projects through partnerships and collaborations as you work towards presentation, exhibition, and publication.

This will be followed by a presentation on using social media platforms to introduce and engage followers with your creative practice and move your career forward.

We will continue with the last round of one-on-one sessions with Mary Virginia at the end of the day.  

This evening there will be a group visit to a local gallery.

Saturday November 6th
(9:00am–2:00 pm)

During the morning, photographer Elinor Carucci will join us for a conversation on how to sustain a successful career as an artist today.

Workshop concludes at 2pm today.

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* This schedule is subject to change at any time. If a guest presenter must cancel unexpectedly, we will work hard to confirm another industry expert with a similar level of expertise to join us.

WHAT TO BRING

40 IMAGES IN PRINT FORM

‍Participants should bring a selection of 40 images from the project they submitted. For ease in sharing, please bring 8x10 inch prints (slightly smaller is fine, “work” or “lab” prints preferred).  It would also be helpful to bring an additional 50 images from the same project in digital form, in case faculty might want to see more.

If you’d like to bring a small group of what you consider exhibition prints for sharing with faculty, you are welcome to do so, but not required (unframed, please).

Mary Virginia will issue a questionnaire to each accepted participant about 4 weeks in advance with further instructions on making the most for our time together in New York City.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

1. TEN IMAGES‍

Please email a carefully considered edit of 10 jpgs (72dpi; 1080 pixels longest side) of the project that you are considering presenting during the workshop.

2. BIO & SHORT STATEMENT OF INTENT

Submit a short bio (up to 200 words) followed by a brief statement (up to 200 words) telling us why you would benefit from this workshop at this time (as a single Word document)

At the bottom of the document please include the following:

  • Date of birth
  • Country of origin / country of residence
  • Profession
  • Previous photography studies, including recent workshops attended (if any) How did you hear about this workshop

Please email your application to selma@laluzworkshops.com

Upon acceptance, participants are required to make a 500 USD deposit within two weeks. The balance is due 90 days before the workshop begins. To see our terms and conditions and cancellations policies please click here

Workshop will be held at Penumbra Foundation / Highlight Studios (36 East 30th Street, New York NY 10016 ).

Each day the workshop will be from 9am - 6:00pm, except on Saturday the 6th when we will finish at 2pm.

A few months before the class begins, participants will receive additional details regarding travel to NYC, housing suggestions and more.