Gallery

CASABLANCA, MOROCCO, June 2008 GO TO THE CASABLANCA GALLERY

La Source du Lion and the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux Arts. Casablanca, Morocco. June 2008. This workshop was developed as part of Moving Walls: A Documentary Photography Exhibition. An international exhibition curated and sponsored by the Open Society Institute, a private operating and grant making foundation based in New York City. Simon Wheatley taught this five-day workshop to a total of eight students. The workshop was more about creating a dialog on photography and the reasons for making photographs than actually working on concrete story ideas.   Simon encouraged a shift in thinking about the medium, focusing on the importance of photographing human situations from within rather than from the outside. As the week progressed students developed an awareness of the need to establish relations with people before photographing and, if intimate documentary photography was to be the result, to be a human being first and a photographer after that. If it was a question for many of the students of going backwards in order to go forwards, this workshop helped them overcome certain mental barriers that they held before.   As a result a few produced new work during the five days to be shown in the gallery while others produced edits of previous work. Most importantly for Simon and the group was that through the on-going workshop dialog some walls were moved and gaps were created which allow for the adventurous to squeeze forth and find the space to create interesting, thought provoking reportages on topics that are culturally and socially significant.

CAIRO, EGYPT, October/November 2007 GO TO THE CAIRO GALLERY

Contemporary Image Collective. Cairo, Egypt. October/November 2007. This workshop was developed as part of Moving Walls: A Documentary Photography Exhibition. An international exhibition curated and sponsored by the Open Society Institute, a private operating and grant making foundation based in New York City. Chien-Chi Chang from Magnum Photos taught this five-day workshop to a total of nine students. Instead of having the students work on story ideas, Chien-Chi applied a number of exercises aimed at having them think about their own photography and why they wish to pursue it. These exercises were designed to have each person feel more comfortable with the medium and their equipment; to think about subjectivity and objectivity in documentary photography; and to explore what it feels like to be photographed in an intimate setting, putting themselves in the role of subject. For each exercise Chien-Chi set a number of technical and practical restrictions thus encouraging the participants to think outside of the box. By the end of the workshop, the group was able to select a series of portraits made by each person.   They edited this final selection into an installation that was included as part of the Moving Walls exhibition hanging at CIC.

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ALEPPO, SYRIA, April 2007 GO TO THE ALEPPO GALLERY

Le Pont Gallery. Aleppo, Syria. April 2007. This workshop was developed as part of Moving Walls: A Documentary Photography Exhibition. An international exhibition curated and sponsored by the Open Society Institute, a private operating and grant making foundation based in New York City. Photographer and photo-editor Sheryl Mendez co-taught this five-day workshop with Issa Touma, photographer and director of the Le Pont Organization and Gallery. The workshop included a total of nine students from varying social and economic backgrounds and age groups. Most in the group were very new to photography, having been introduced to the medium by Issa and the annual International Photo Gathering. Sheryl worked closely with each student on choosing his/her story idea, using her own work and that of other photographers to demonstrate possibilities. She led the group editing sessions while Issa provided the local logistics and support for the students when they were out on their own photographing. The collaboration proved for a workshop that was intense and productive for all the participants. Each person produced a solid body of work during the five days; many were inspired to continue working on their projects after the workshop ended. The final edit of each student's work was projected on a large screen television and formed an integral part of the opening night of the Moving Walls exhibition that was held at the gallery.

DAMASCUS, SYRIA, March 2007 GO TO THE DAMASCUS GALLERY

Mustafa Ali Art Foundation. Damascus, Syria. March 2007. This workshop was developed as part of Moving Walls: A Documentary Photography Exhibition. An international exhibition curated and sponsored by the Open Society Institute, a private operating and grant making foundation based in New York City. James Nubile, whose photographs are included in the Moving Walls exhibition, taught this five-day workshop to ten photographers. Housed in the heart of the Old City, the group of ten participants was representative of the diverse demographic that make up the city of Damascus. From different age groups, social and economic backgrounds and levels in photography, everyone in the group shared a passion for the medium and the group editing sessions and discussions were intense and beneficial. The subjects chosen by the group were very different, some taking a conceptual approach and others a more traditional documentary or journalistic style. Each person worked hard during the five days to put together a body of work that was edited into a group show and presented as a public projection at the Mustafa Ali gallery.

BEIRUT, LEBANON, February 2007 GO TO THE LEBANON GALLERY

Espace SD Gallery & Arab Image Foundation. Beirut, Lebanon. February 2007. This workshop was developed as part of Moving Walls: A Documentary Photography Exhibition. An international exhibition curated and sponsored by the Open Society Institute, a private operating and grant making foundation based in New York City. Gary Fabaino, whose photographs "Property" are included in the exhibition, taught a four-day workshop to twelve photographers. Lebanon has a strong history of photography and the participants came to the workshop from varying backgrounds in the medium, from art to photojournalism. All shared in common a firm belief in the importance of documentary photography and in record keeping. Gary asked each participant to pick one story idea and for most, the time spent working on their stories during the workshop, was just the beginning of what will be long-term projects. By the final day, after intense photography and editing sessions, the participants had sufficiently developed their stories to be able to show the work in a public projection held at the Espace SD gallery.

AMMAN, JORDAN, December 2006 GO TO THE JORDAN GALLERY

The Makan House of Expression. Amman, Jordan. December 2006. This workshop was developed as part of Moving Walls: A Documentary Photography Exhibition. An international exhibition curated and sponsored by the Open Society Institute, a private operating and grant making foundation based in New York City. Eric Gottesman, whose photographs "AIDS and Stigma in Ethiopia" are included in the exhibition, taught a four-day workshop to nine photographers. The group was a reflection of the country's demographic make-up. From different social and economic backgrounds, the group came to the workshop with varying interpretations of the photographic medium and it's many uses; backgrounds in photojournalism, reportage, studio photography, and art. Unlike the other workshops in this series, this one focused more on dialog than on production. The work produced was the bases for establishing a dialog about photography and encouraging criticism. The participants were encouraged both by Eric and amongst themselves to experiment with the medium in ways they might not have to date and to open themselves up to alternative ways of interpreting photography and its role in society. The workshop ended with an evening presentation projected onto a two-way screen on Makans balcony, allowing for the work to be viewed by both those on the inside and also by those in the street.