Be challenged to see differently through your images.

There are no available registration dates at this time.

NOTE: This Course will be held in a live, online format using the Zoom Platform.
Class meets Monday-Saturday (See class times (ET) and Schedule Below).

Our world has become unfamiliar in unexpected ways. To find some order we have to shift and expand our imaginations and how we see the world. With this has come an opportunity to express our ideas and interpretation of what we see and try new ideas.. This workshop is about that…daring to see the world in a new way that really pushes us to reconsider everything which, if we think about it, is a gift.

This past year was riddled with pandemic, masks, and a collective sadness of the loss of our freedoms and more importantly the loss of many lives. It was also torn with rife over a hotly contested presidential election. 

In this workshop you can choose what you want to concentrate on visually. 

If you come with ideas we can brainstorm about them. You can bring an ongoing project to work on and experiment with a new vision, or you can start a project from scratch. We will look at classic work and new contemporary work for inspiration. We will have a few small assignments on ideas we have never tried and which can encourage new thinking into projects, new or ongoing.  I’m very excited about this idea of new inspirations and I’ll share all these ideas with you. In some ways this workshop is about making very serious and dedicated work and in other ways, it’s about playing and using your imagination. Our concentration will focus on seeing and interpreting things in a fresh way.

I have found in my own career that taking a break from the work I would describe as serious can really help me see anew and ignite my imagination which then gives me new ideas to apply to my “serious” work

to which I feel most devoted. I like to think of it as this: I love opera and listen to it a lot of it but once a while, some jazz is really nice!  

Participants should come with an idea of what you want to accomplish. You can come with ideas or we will brainstorm about what interests you or you may continue to work on projects already in progress, or produce a five-day series that would address some of the challenges you face in augmenting your storytelling abilities. The workshop will include class discussions on editing, sequencing, and in-class exercises in putting work together. Participants should bring a portfolio of work for review and discussion. We will have one-on-one meetings with each student to provide special attention. If any participants are working on longer term projects, please bring them for me to review with you. Participants must own their own cameras. This is not a class for beginners.

Daily Schedule:

FIRST CLASS DAY: The first day we will look at the work of a variety of photographers in both the documentary and art worlds whose styles, some very new, you might want to apply this week to your own work. Participants should bring 10 to 15 images for review this first day as a class. In these images, I’m looking for how you see and what you find interesting so I can decide how to be of the most assistance to you during the week. We will brainstorm about your ideas for the week.  I will also show some of my work. We will end the class today making sure you have a firm idea of what you will do this work so you can get started. 

Day Two:  You should begin working on your project until 2pm ET at which point we will meet to review what you have done and any issues and make sure you are happy with what you have chosen.  For this please bring at least 10 images or whatever you think is successful so we can see if you are on the right road for your goals. We will end the second day class session with looking at some more work for inspiration. 

Day Three:  Full day of shooting for participants. Maggie is available for one-on-one  hour-long meetings about your work and any issues or challenges you are finding.  

Day Four:  Class begins at 9am ET. Please bring from 20 photos or more that you have shot for the class. We will review, discuss, brainstorm and talk about writing. You will have to write a few paragraphs about your work for Day 5 of class. Class will be over by 12pm so you can continue photographing and Maggie will be available for the one-hour one-on-one meetings. If you need to be shooting in the morning, please talk to me. 

Day Five:  Class begins at 9am ET.  We will review your work and what you have written about your work. Selecting and sequencing discussion along with discussion on importance of writing and being able to speak about your work, tying the work to larger ideas using current issue, literature or science.  Bring work for review and IF you find that you need to be photographing in the morning, please let me know because again, I’ll be available all day. 

Day Six: Class meeting time – 10am ET. Wrap up day for reviewing final presentation of your work and discussion of goals for your work. This will likely be a half day class which will extend to 2pm. 

All photo credit © Maggie Steber

Past student work (clockwise): Lilit Danielyan, Ida Lennestal, Shonna Valeska, Isabelle Thibault, Nancy Crute, Lynne Rosen, Steven Silberstein, Margo Cooper

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Instructor: Maggie Steber

Maggie Steber, a documentary photographer specializing in humanistic stories, has worked in 67 countries. Her honors include a grant from the Guggenheim Foundation in 2017, the Leica Medal of Excellence, World Press Photo Foundation, the Overseas Press Club, Pictures of the Year, the Medal of Honor for Distinguished Service to Journalism from the University of Missouri, the Alicia Patterson Grant, the Ernst Haas Grant, and a Knight Foundation grant for the New American Newspaper project. Steber has worked in Haiti for three decades. Aperture published her monograph, "Dancing on Fire." In 2013, Steber was named as one of eleven Women of Vision by National Geographic Magazine with an exhibition that traveled to five cities. Steber served as a Newsweek contract photographer and as Asst. Managing Editor of Photography and Features at The Miami Herald, overseeing projects that won a Pulitzer. Her work is included in the Library of Congress, the Guggenheim Foundation Collection, and The Richter Library. She exhibits internationally.