Word & Image

Utilize the finest photographic printing process and letterform printing process to create extraordinary combinations.

An old Chinese proverb states that a picture is worth a thousand words, but the communicative and emotive power of pictures increases exponentially when they are combined with words. Letterpress printing, with its 550-year history, has influenced typography and the written word more than any other technology in history. Modern inkjet technology, with its ability to predictably reproduce an astonishing tonal range, has revolutionized the photographic process.

These two printing methods are united in this workshop, which explores the combination of words and images in striking and innovative ways. Participants learn how to seamlessly combine ICC color managed inkjet printing workflow with the three-dimensional tactile quality of handset and printed type. Each participant creates word-image hybrids that sit beautifully together on luxurious archival paper. Whether for visual artists who love words, or writers who love photography, this workshop affords opportunities to explore new areas of creative expression using the best of “new school” digital fine-art printing with the best of “old school” letterpress relief printing.

The workshop explores new forms of creative expression for photographers, writers, traditionally minded digital artists, and visual poets of all kinds. With long careers in print, photography, design and publishing, former Workshops' President Charles Altschul teaches this workshop utilizing the school's state-of-the art digital lab as well as its new Book Arts Studio. Students should be comfortable with an advanced digital imaging program (Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, etc.) and should arrive for the workshop with finished digital images and texts. No prior letterpress experience is necessary.

 

Instructors

Charles Altschul

Charles Altschul is the Director of the Design and Book Arts Program at Maine Media Workshops and College. From 2006 – 2011, he served as it's first President following it's transition to non-profit status. He Received a B.A. and M.F.A. from Yale where he also held a faculty appointment as Senior Lecturer. In 1991, he moved to Camden, Maine to become Director of Education at the Eastman Kodak Center for Creative Imaging. When Kodak sold the business in 1993, Altschul worked with several art schools, including the Cooper Union in New York, to help them integrate digital technologies into their curricula. In 1997, he created the nation’s first BFA program in Multimedia at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He was Chair of the 1996 American Center for Design conference, "Design for the Internet," and has judged international new media competitions for “Communication Arts” magazine and the Art Directors’ Club Annual. He is a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and has been a judge for the Webby Awards since 2000. Altschul’s work as an artist stems from contemporary as well as historical perspectives. His photographs have been exhibited widely and published in numerous publications. He has designed and published handcrafted books, most notably an illustrated folio signed by Nobel prizewinning author Samuel Beckett.

 

http://www.altschul.com/