News

[img_assist|nid=1215|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=250|height=32]MMW is partnering with Blurb, the online book publishing company, and B&H Photo Video to sponsor the Maine Frame Photo Book Contest in celebration of the creative work produced by Workshops students.

2009 students, across all programs, are invited to participate by submitting four images to one or of four categories: Portraits, Places, Documentary, or Fine Art. One hundred images will be included in a Blurb book titled Maine Frame, copies of which Blurb has generously offered to provide to students whose images appear in the book. Copies will be available for purchase in the Blurb online bookstore beginning in October, with proceeds to benefit the Workshops’ scholarship fund.

[img_assist|nid=1214|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=175]Images to receive top votes in each category receive a $100 gift card from B&H Photo Video. B&H will host a reception for Workshops alumni in Manhattan during the 2009 PDN PhotoPlus Expo to celebrate the release of Maine Frame.

The submission deadline is August 21. Visit our website August 22 - September 2, 2009 to vote for your favorite images, whether you enter the contest or not. You can also email this link to friends and encourage them to vote, too.

For entry details and guidelines visit www.theworkshops.com/maineframe. Good luck!

The images of VII photographers and Workshops faculty Ron Haviv and Marcus Bleasdale are featured in the touring exhibition Congo/Women Portraits of War: The Democratic Republic of Congo, which returns to New York this fall.

photo by Marcus Bleasdale

Congo/Women is an international photography exhibition and educational campaign to raise awareness of the widespread violence facing women and girls in Congo. The exhibition features powerful life-size photographs that convey the strength and courage of Congolese women, with accompanying essays, both written and audio, that describe the impact of the crisis from a range of perspectives.

The exhibition also features the work of photojournalists Lynsey Addario and James Nachtwey. Congo/Women is co-produced by Art Works Projects and the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media, Columbia College Chicago.

With a total of 38 images, Congo/Women demonstrates the impact of war on women, illustrates the physical reality of the crisis, and reveals specific cases of individuals who are personally affected by, and bear witness to, the region’s extreme violence. NPR’s Tell Me More interviews Ron Haviv prior to the Washington, D.C. exhibition opening. LISTEN

The VII Photo Agency partners with MMW each season to bring internationally renowned photojournalists to Rockport to lead Master Classes. Marcus Bleasdale teaches his class August 9 – 15, and Ron Haviv leads a workshop September 13 – 19.

Summer nights in Rockport, Maine mean master faculty presentations at Union Hall Theatre: the whir of the ceiling fans, the scent of the sea in the air, the room filled with language of imagemaking, as the lights dim and yet another remarkable speaker stands at the podium.

July 20 at 8PM, Jeff Rosenheim, Curator of Photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art returns to Rockport for one of his captivating lectures. This year’s special talk is on Robert Frank’s groundbreaking book, The Americans, the subject of a blockbuster show at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art this fall, celebrating the book’s 50th anniversary.

Thursday 23 July at 8PM Bruce Kennett presents “W.A. Dwiggins: Master of the Opposable Thumb.” Known primarily as one of America’s foremost designers of printing types and books, Dwiggins was also a brilliant illustrator, satirist, playwright, set designer, marionette maker and writer of science fiction and fantasy. In this illustrated lecture, graphic designer Bruce Kennett will give us a taste of “WAD” in all the rich layerings of his life, both studio and personal.

Visit www.theworkshops.com/community for a complete listing of all free summer programs at Union Hall, 2 Central Street in Rockport Village.

Join our Facebook Group for weekly invitations.