Enhance your photographic practice by developing powerful written statements to accompany your work, leaving a lasting impression on galleries, curators, critics, and your audience.

There are no available registration dates at this time.

Note: This Class will be held in a live, online format using the Zoom platform. 
We will meet Saturdays & Sundays, Sep 16, 17 & 23, 24  from 10am-1pm ET.

Producing a strong photographic body of work is a tremendous accomplishment, but without strong writing and editing skills, photographers may face difficulty connecting with galleries, curators, critics, or even their own website visitors. In this fun and informative workshop, students will use creative writing techniques to enhance their professional practice and explore their photographic vision. Not your typical “how to” writing workshop, this class will focus on the development of written statements as unique as the images they will accompany.

Each student will hone their writing and editing skills to complete an artist statement, project statement(s), and a narrative biography. These writings will be the culmination of creative writing prompts, in-class critiques, and one-on-one editing. We will discuss the many ways that writing can enhance your photographic career, both practically and creatively. Discussion topics include the role of criticism, turning words into pictures, identifying your audience, and the importance of captions and titles. All writing will be short form. No previous writing experience is necessary. Students are encouraged to bring samples of their photography portfolios.

We will start with an online meeting from 10am to 1pm where we will get to know each other a little, discuss the purpose of writing about your art, and do in-class writing exercises. The afternoon will be spent writing, with a review of student writing and class discussion the following morning from 10am to 1pm. The instructor will be available for one-on-one meetings in the afternoon. In between weekend sessions, students will have several small assignments to keep them engaged with the writing process without overwhelming their otherwise busy lives. The second weekend will also have two morning Zoom sessions from 10am to 1pm where we will fine-tune student writing.

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Instructor: Kat Kiernan

Kat Kiernan is a photographer, curator, and writer in Brooklyn, NY. Often using herself as subject, her photographs explore mythologies of womanhood and and feelings of uncertainty. She curated numerous exhibitions as the Assistant Director of Louis K. Meisel Gallery in New York, Director of Panopticon Gallery in Boston, and owner of The Kiernan Gallery in Lexington, Virginia. From 2013 to 2021 Kat published and served as Editor-in-Chief of the photography magazine, Don’t Take Pictures. In 2015, she received the Griffin Museum’s Rising Star Award for her contributions to the photographic community. Kiernan’s writings on photography have been published in journals and blogs including Art New England Online, Feature Shoot, and Big, Red, and Shiny, as well as in books, including Agnieszka Sosnowska: Myth of a Woman (The National Museum of Iceland, 2019), and The Artist as Culture Producer: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life (Intellect, 2017). She holds a BFA in photography from Lesley University College of Art and Design and an MA in Art Market Studies from the Fashion Institute of Technology.