As artists, we derive great joy from bringing a personal project to completion. Sharing the work with others completes the creative cycle. In this online 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 present a series of lectures that will increase your knowledge of the range of markets seeking photographs today. Topics discussed include the challenges to the traditional gallery market, identifying new buyers for fine prints, the evolving editorial platforms, licensing rights and the role publications play in promoting your work. Mary Virginia will discuss the power of networking, the importance of strategic social media presence in your marketing efforts and the current state of the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Towards the end of our week together, Mary Virginia will review and discuss each participant’s project, what audience(s) are most likely to be interested and receptive to the work, and the most effective path to connect with industry professionals.
At the start of the class, Swanson will be joined by award-winning photo editor Elizabeth Krist for editing sessions of students’ work. Krist will work with each participant to edit images brought to the workshop, helping you to reveal the heart of your project. All participants are encouraged to observe the individual appointments with Mary Virgina Swanson and the editing appointments with Elizabeth Krist.
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 Special Guests are:
- Elizabeth Krist – Photo Editor, Reviewer, Independent Curator and Competition Judge (Monday & Tuesday)
- Joan Liftin - Photographer, Photo Book Editor, Educator (Tuesday)
- Douglas Marshall - Director, Marshall Contemporary (Wednesday)
- Alan RappAlan Rapp - Editorial Director, Monacelli Press (Thursday)
- Jane 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.
This workshop is an abbreviated online version of our in-person workshop of the same name held in New York City every year.
