Are you interested to learn and write about photography and visual culture? Are you interested to use photography to think about the politics, history and culture of different societies? Are you a cultural worker, artist, art educator, curator, critic, designer, photobook editor, researcher, NGO worker or university student who wants to work with bothphotography and text? If the answer is yes, this is the workshop for you.
Writing can seem daunting to some people; but this does not have to be the case. In fact, writing about photography can be perceptive and fun.
In this workshop, you will be guided, in a very practical way, on how to begin writing about photography. Our focus will be on how to produce a review of an exhibition or a photobook, or a more analytical piece on photography. The workshop will begin by offering an expansive framework of photography, which allows us to see how it permeates all aspects of society. You will be given practical tips on how to locate and generate source materials for your text. The workshop will offer a few basic templates to structure your essay and how we might deconstruct these templates for your specific needs. You will be guided to draft and complete your article during the workshop and receive feedback from the tutor and fellow participants.
Proposed dates:
19 March (Sun), 3 to 5pm (online)
26 March (Sun), 3 to 5pm (online)
2 April (Sun), 3 to 5pm (onsite HK)
9 April (Sun), 3 to 5pm (onsite HK)
16 April (Sun), 3 to 5pm (probably online; date TBC)
Language of instruction: English supplemented by Chinese
Fee: HK$1,750 (Settle the payment before 10 Feb to enjoy 10% discount)
Deadline: 28 Feb 2023
Apply now: https://forms.office.com/r/fUeahxPH4M
About the tutor: Zhuang Wubin
Zhuang Wubin is a writer who makes photographs, publications and exhibitions. He is interested in photography’s entanglements with modernity, colonialism, nationalism, “Chineseness” and the Cold War in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. Zhuang received his PhD by Published Work (Research–Photography) from University of Westminster, London.
More Details:
Target groups:
- People who are interested to learn, think and write about photography, visual culture and art history
- People who are interested to use photography (and its different practices, including exhibition making, photobooks, how the masses use photography, etc) to think about the politics, history and culture of societies
- Cultural workers and art educators, curators, aspiring critics, writers who are interested to write about the visual, photobook designers and editors who want to transit into curating, academics who are interested in incorporating the visual into their social science or humanities research
Workshop objectives:
- To equip the participants with an expansive view of photography, which can offer us many different ways to understand the culture, histories and politics of society
- To offer a practical guide on how to find or generate source materials to write about photography
- To offer a practical guide on how to draft, structure and write a photobook or exhibition review, or a more analytical essay
- To provide an opportunity for each participant to begin and write a short article (minimum 1,000 words, in either Chinese or English); individual feedback will be given at the end of the workshop.
- To provide practical tips on the best practices of writing
Language of instruction: English supplemented by Chinese
Course outline (TBC):
Session 1:
- Housekeeping: Understanding the expectations of the participants and previewing the workshop, including briefing them about the specs of the assignment
- What is photography? How does photography help us understand the culture, histories and politics of society?
Session 2:
- How to find or generate source materials to write about photography? What are some of these source materials? How to use them for writing and research?
- Practical guide on how to conduct interviews with photographic practitioners
Session 3:
- Practical guide on how to draft, structure and write a photobook or exhibition review, or a more analytical essay
- Do we need to know Theory?
Session 4:
- Class activity 1: Selected volunteers will each bring one image to class. Each of them will be given 3 to 5 minutes to describe the photograph in whatever way she or he prefers. The class will respond to each participant’s short presentation.
- Class activity 2: Participants will begin to show their drafts for the assignment and discuss, within the group, some of their obstacles in writing the article. We will try to resolve the issues together.
(Three or four days before session 5): Participants submit their writings
Session 5:
- Participants will submit their writings (or final drafts) to me a few days before class. I would offer quick comments to the submissions in class. After that, participants are encouraged to complete the essays, if they have not done so.
- Garnering feedback and closing the workshop