Workshops
Find new inspiration and form new strategies for photographing the people that are closest to you, creating compelling portraits and taking your work to a new level.
There are no available registration dates at this time.
Note: This class will be held in a live, online format using the Zoom Platform
Class meets for 6 Saturdays, Oct 7-Nov 11 from 12-3pm ET.
Do you have an important story to tell about your loved ones? Is it difficult for you to approach friends or family members with your camera? This workshop will help you find new inspiration and form new strategies for photographing the people that are closest to you. This workshop is for those photographers that are interested in taking their work to a new level – overcoming fears and insecurities to move beyond a topical representation of the family dynamic.
During this eighteen-hour intensive workshop, we will deeply examine the work of famous and lesser-known photographers that have successfully described the intimate (or not-so-intimate) dynamics of their families. We will go beyond a topical examination of this photographic history and begin to unpack the tactics and strategies these artists used to create compelling bodies of work.
Daniel will reveal the techniques that he has used to fully engage family members in the act of making provocative works. There will be assignments that encourage you to implement the strategies discovered in this course. In executing these small projects, you can expect to move out of your comfort zones and achieve new breakthroughs in your work.
Ultimately, you will learn how to dance with our subjects—to make carefully choreographed moves that yield compelling portraits. We will also investigate alternative modes of storytelling and portraiture that avoid confrontation altogether. We will discuss the language of photographic images so you can expand your visual vocabulary and construct more potent stories. You will have the opportunity to make new work using what we’ve learned in the course. We will view and discuss your work as a group, and you will have time to respond to this input by making new photographs. The entire workshop will be conducted online via Zoom, so you can attend in the safety of your home.
What to expect from the workshop:
1. A succinct, well-resolved portfolio of 8-10 images (minimum.)
2. A set of strategies that will help you move beyond your anxieties and insecurities when it comes to photographing your loved ones.
3. New concepts that will encourage you to think beyond traditional definitions of family and photography.
4. Intimate, in-depth conversations with your instructor and peers.
5. PDF workshop booklet with notes and instructions outlining our new strategies.
6. PDF workshop booklet with instructions on how to deepen your understanding of photographic language and sequencing.
All images: ©Daniel W. Coburn
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Instructor: Daniel W. Coburn
Daniel W. Coburn was born in San Bernardino, California in 1976. His work and research investigates the family photo album as one component of a visual infrastructure that supports the flawed ideology of the American Dream. Coburn's friends and family members confront his camera to construct a potent amendment to the idealized family album. Daniel's projects illuminate important issues that are often suppressed in traditional family albums. In doing so, he intends to expand the perimeter of visual information considered for inclusion in new iterations of the family album. Coburn's prints are held in collections at major institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College, The Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, and the University of New Mexico Art Museum. His photographs have been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Mulvane Art Museum, Silver Eye Center for Photography, Filter Photo Space and La Fototeca Gallery. Photographs from Daniel's comprehensive body of work have appeared in numerous international group exhibitions including Álbum de Família at Centro Municipal de Arte Hélio Oiticica, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His first monograph, The Hereditary Estate, was published by Kehrer Verlag in 2015. Daniel Coburn is a recipient of a 2017 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. He was named as a finalist for the Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture the same year. Coburn received his MFA with distinction from the University of New Mexico in 2013. He served as Assistant Professor of Photography at the University of Kansas for five years. Daniel currently resides in Chicago, Illinois where he continues his work as an independent artist and educator.
