May 9 – 13, 2016
University of Texas, Austin
Magnum Photos is proud to announce a new workshop programme at The University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with the Harry Ransom Center. We are pleased to announce that Matt Black and Alessandra Sanguinetti will be the workshop teachers in Austin. Each photographer will lead students through a focused program, outlined below.
Aimed at photographers with a good understanding of photographic practice, each Magnum photographer will lead their groups through a daily program of shooting, reviews, group critiques, mentoring, editing sessions and the opportunity to learn amongst peers. Students will spend the five days alongside their selected photographer developing visual language, photographic identity, practical, technical and conceptual skills and the expertise required to compete in a changing marketplace. Upon acceptance, students will be emailed a welcome package with directives from their instructor as well as pertinent details about the workshop and information on traveling to and working in Austin.
<b>The Documentary Commitment with Matt Black</b>
Through assignments and class discussion, this workshop will sharpen your perceptive skills as a photographer and work to bridge the gap between your ideas and how you photograph. The goal is to establish a personal, authentic and ongoing visual dialogue with your subject.
<a href="https://magnumphotos.wufoo.com/forms/m1mum9ar0tdmfsz/" target="_blank">Apply here for The Documentary Commitment with Matt Black</a>
<b>Storytelling with Alessandra Sanguinetti</b>
When telling a story, we have a rare opportunity to step into someone else’s world – be it a loved one or a stranger, a familiar or foreign community – at times anonymously, at other times with the complicity of the portrayed. This workshop will explore storytelling in its many forms, with the emphasis on the use of portraiture within a narrative. The participants will be expected to engage with a subject in ways that challenge their comfort levels and boundaries, with a sense of play and a willingness to experiment.
<a href="https://magnumphotos.wufoo.com/forms/m58fv6b1pslfj7/" target="_blank">Apply here for Storytelling with Alessandra Sanguinetti</a>
<b>The Magnum Photos Collection at the Harry Ransom Center</b>
This workshop takes place as complementary programming to the historical acquisition of the Magnum Photos Collection by the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin. The Ransom Center holds The Magnum Photos Collection, comprising more than 1,300 boxes of photographic materials dating from the 1930s to 2004, the bulk of the nearly 200,000 photographs from Magnum Photos' New York bureau are gelatin silver prints, though the collection also contains some color prints. The works of more than 100 Magnum photographers, such as Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Susan Meiselas and Elliott Erwitt, are included in the collection. Students will visit the Ransom Center to view materials from the Magnum Photos Collection.
The workshop will culminate in a screening of each student’s work at the Ransom Center’s Prothro Theater on Friday, May 13th. A reception will follow.
<b>Fees</b>
Tuition for the Magnum workshop is $1500 USD and does not include flights, accommodations, or meals. All on the ground expenses are the responsibility of the student. Students will be emailed a full welcome package with suggestions for lodgings as well as a guide to Austin, Texas. Magnum Photos will also supply each student with a letter of credentials for the workshop in the event that access to subjects is required.
<b>Further information:
Matt Black: The Documentary Commitment</b>
Join photographer Matt Black for a five day workshop which will focus on developing and deepening your connection and commitment to long term documentary work. The commitment we will explore is twofold, both to your subject, and to your photography: how to follow themes and ideas over time and build bodies of work that are relevant and meaningful.
This workshop is open to photographers of all skill levels and genres.
About Matt Black
Matt Black’s work has explored poverty, agriculture, the environment and migration. A native of rural California, he has photographed extensively in the state’s rural Central Valley and in Southern Mexico.
In 2014, he began the project The American Geography, a digital documentary work that combines geotagged photographs with census data to map and document poor communities. In 2015 he completed a thirty-state trip photographing seventy of America’s poorest places. Other recent works include The Dry Land, about the impact of drought on California’s agricultural communities, and The Monster in the Mountains, about the disappearance of forty-three students in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero. Both of these projects, accompanied by short films, were published by The New Yorker.
Matt is a contributor to the @everydayusa photographers’ collective and has taught photography with the Foundry Photojournalism Workshops, the Eddie Adams Workshop, Leica Fotografie International, and the Los Angeles Center of Photography. He was nominated to Magnum Photos in 2015.
He received the W. Eugene Smith Award in Humanistic Photography and his work has also been honored by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation, the Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Pictures of the Year International, World Press Photo, The Center for Cultural Innovation, The Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and others.
<b>Storytelling with Alessandra Sanguinetti</b>
The first day of the workshop will consist of group portfolio reviews an overview of historical and contemporary storytelling in photography and beyond. Students will choose a person, community or place that they want to develop a story on, with previous research on Austin’s neighborhoods, history, culture and social scene. Magnum will provide a story list to assist students in this process, with story suggestions as a prompt for individual ideas.
The week will consist of shooting, editing, class reviews and tutorials, with discussions on work focused on both approach and technique. By the end of the workshop, each participant will have created a story on their subject consisting of a collection of edited and sequenced images, and a notion of the ideal form of presentation for the work.
Prior requirements/preparations:
Participants should bring an edited digital or print portfolio of their work and be prepared to give a 5-minute presentation about themselves. Participants should research the surroundings of Austin prior to arrival, including the history, communities, and social scene. All students need to bring their own equipment including a tripod if they own one.
<a href="http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/" target="_blank"><b>About The Ransom Center</b></a>
The Ransom Center is an internationally renowned humanities research library and museum at The University of Texas at Austin. Its extensive collections provide unique insight into the creative process of writers and artists, deepening our understanding and appreciation of literature, photography, film, art, and the performing arts. Visitors engage with the Center's collections through research and study, exhibitions, publications, and a rich variety of program offerings including readings, talks, symposia, and film screenings.
Last registration closes 30 April where any remaining places will be allocated 7 days following submission.
<a href="https://magnumphotos.wufoo.com/forms/m1mum9ar0tdmfsz/" target="_blank">Apply here for The Documentary Commitment with Matt Black</a>
<a href="https://magnumphotos.wufoo.com/forms/m58fv6b1pslfj7/" target="_blank">Apply here for Storytelling with Alessandra Sanguinetti</a>
Once you submit your application, you will be notified within 7 business days of your status. Full payment of the tuition is required within 7 business days. Please see below for our cancellation policy.
A $100 application fee is required for each application. If accepted, this balance will be applied to the final tuition. If the student is not accepted, a refund of the application fee, minus a $5 processing charge, will be granted.
For any questions or for more information, please contact emily.graham@magnumphotos.com
Cancellation Policy
- If a participant decides to cancel for whatever reason, it must be confirmed in writing:
. Magnum Photos will reimburse all the registration costs except for $50 administrative fee, if the participant informs Magnum Photos of cancellation at least 3 weeks before the first day of the workshop. Beyond this time limit, Magnum Photos will charge the following:
. 50% of the cost if cancelled between 6 and 20 days before the workshop commences.
. 100% of the cost if cancelled less than 5 days before the workshop commences.
. All workshops that are commenced but not completed through the fault of either the contractor/or participant need to be paid in full.
- Magnum Photos is not responsible for reimbursement of travel expenses in case a workshop is cancelled. We recommend that you buy refundable air tickets and/or travel insurance.