Possibility. Inspiration. Transformation.

2023-1 SFW/Miele “How To Write and Talk About Your Work” Workshop Private Page

Links, information, and assignments for our “How To Write and Talk About Your Work” online workshop will be posted here, and updated as we go.

This page is only for our class. While the URL is public, only those who have the URL can access it. Please let Gino know immediately if any links on this page are broken, or if there are any errors. Thanks!

Here’s a link to the Lightroom and the Landscape workshop I’m teaching for SFW in July. Join us!

Here’s the link to the “final project” class slideshow.

Let’s all get together for a class reunion, Monday 3/20 at 12:30 (mt. time, same day/time as the class was), using Gino’s office hours/extracurricular Zoom link.

GENERAL INFO, SCHEDULE, ZOOM LINKS, CONTACT

Unless otherwise directed, please send assignments, images, etc. directly to Jake Baca, our Course Coordinator, not to Gino. To contact Jake, e-mail is best: jake@santafeworkshops.com

To contact Gino, text messages are best: 212-222-4808 – or you can email me at workshops@jeanmiele.com

Class will meet 12:30 – 2:30 pm (Mountain Time; 2:30pm for the East Coast; 11:30am on the West Coast)) on Mondays and Thursdays starting January 30 and ending on Thursday, February 16 (six online group sessions). Here’s the course page on the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops website, and on mine.

Here’s the Zoom Link for our class: (It will be the same for every class session):
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84031583805?pwd=Nmw0T0dHdW8xbWdHZURDMnRJNkR6Zz09

Just clicking on the link should be all you need to do, but just in case, here’s the Meeting ID: 840 3158 3805 and Passcode: 081960. Jake will open the Zoom meeting 30 minutes before the scheduled time, if you’d like to chat with your fellow students before class. If you’re going to be late for class or miss a session, please let us know. Every class will be recorded, and the recordings made available to you afterwards.

Office Hours & Extracurricular Meetings: Gino will be holding open office hours via Zoom, Friday 2/3 and 2/10, from 12:30 to 1:30pm Mountain Time. Feel free to stop by! Here’s the Zoom link for office hours: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88080912791?pwd=V0Y5V2VnSjdNQTllcWlEaGhwZXZMdz09 Please note: This is NOT the same link as for class.

Zoom Bonus: Here’s Bob Sacha’s cinematographer’s guide to looking good on Zoom.

HANDOUTS, ASSIGNMENTS, AND FILES FOR STUDENTS
This Dropbox folder contains handouts and other information for students, and will be updated as we go. You can view or download whatever’s in this folder. Here’s the full link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3vk4k99op2fb5kz/AADPEgohIrihz4D5RTmbcPrda?dl=0
Continuously updated feedback on the writing you submit can be found in this document in the Dropbox folder: “WritingAssignmentsAndFeedback2023-2-9.pdf” (The date/suffix will change as it’s revised.)

Session 1 – 1/30/23 – Session 1 Assignment and Zoom recording link:
1) Read these two PDFs found in Dropbox link above: “Miele-How to Talk and Write About Your Work 2022-10 v4.pdf” and “TheGuardian-1-ArtspeakArticle2013.pdf”. Follow the (active) links in the Guardian-1 PDF.
2) Please review the private class website.
3) Collect everything you’ve ever written about your work (statements, scribbles, website text, etc.) into a single document. 
4) If you haven’t already sent 5 images to Jake, please send those in.
(Session 1 Zoom recording link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOQDeMwe_Ec)

Session 2 – 2/2/23 – Assignment and Zoom recording link:
1) Reading (find these in the DropBox folder, link above):
Miele – Secrets to Good Writing 2022-10
Guardian-2 article
Stephen King – On Writing excerpt
TheBlueOfDistanceByRebeccaSolnitFromAFieldGuideForGettingLost.pdf
(Take a look at): Miele-WritingPromptsV1.pdf
2) Write 5-sentences about you/your work, based on the advice in the reading, and what we’ve discussed in class. Focus on what’s “in here” rather than what’s “out there.” Don’t talk about photography, or light, or beauty. Consider using the form, “I’m interested in…” or “What I’m drawn to is…” or “I’m obsessed with/addicted to…” Write about what matters to you. Write a lot, read it out loud to yourself, then edit it down. Put the best stuff first. (This handout in DropBox may help. Take a look if you want to: “Miele-WritingPromptsV1.pdf”) E-mail what you’ve written to Jake by Sunday morning.
3) If you’d like to provide email, website, instagram, links and haven’t please send to Gino. Likewise if you haven’t submitted 5 images, send to Jake, please.
(Session 2 Zoom recording link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkI5WkyP1ko )

Session 3 – 2/6/23 – Assignment and Zoom recording link:
1) Read these PDFs found in Dropbox (link above): “Miele-CartierBressonWhatsThisAboutExerciseV1.pdf” and “Miele – On Photographic Portfolios V3 2023-2.pdf” and, as a bonus: “WhatDoesWritingSmellLike_byAlyssaBrandt_TheNewYorker.pdf”
2) The Cartier-Bresson exercise draws a distinction between what the picture is of, and what it’s really about. Please answer the questions “What do you shoot?” or “What kind of photographer are you?” in one or two sentences. Write a lot, then distill what matters to you into one or two “bulletproof” sentences that make people want to know more. (Refer to this weblink/gallery for a model/inspiration: https://lightroom.adobe.com/shares/12f3d7e363e74b809187d1b63fd30b59 ) Please email this to Jake by 3pm Mountain time Wednesday.
3) Please also read each other’s 5-sentences submissions and Gino’s feedback in this PDF: “WritingAssignmentsAndFeedback2023-2-9.pdf” (also in the Dropbox folder.) Optional: Copy the text that applies to you, and begin revising it. This will be this Thursday’s assignment, if you want to wait.)
(Session 3 Zoom recording link: https://youtu.be/_ZBstRan7eo )

Session 4 – 2/9/23 – Assignment and Zoom recording link:
NOTE: Please email your assignments directly to Gino no later than 2pm Sunday afternoon (mountain time).
1) Assignment: Please take a second crack at your 5-sentence artist statement. Begin by gathering as much as what you’ve written about your work as possible into one place. Review Gino’s edits to-date, the recording of your mini-portfolio review, and all of your notes. Consider integrating what you wrote for the 2-sentence exercise. Edit and refine, then write more. As you read through, focus on which lines and ideas stand out most for you. Where are the “arrows to the heart?” Which lines does your body respond to with a big “yes!”? If you must write about photography, beauty, color, or light (and I discourage you to), write about them the way Rebecca Solnit would. Don’t write about what you do, or where you’ve been. Tell us why, not what or how!! Lead with your best line. Play. See where it goes. Write, rewrite, and edit mercilessly – the way you would with your photos. Have fun! 🙂
(Session 4 Zoom recording on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W559Rj9Oqu8 )

Session 5 – 2/13/23 – Assignment and Zoom recording link:
NOTE: Please email your assignments directly to Gino by Wednesday, 2pm mountain time. Put text and pictures in the body of your email. Choose the email option for “actual size” for the attached image file.
1) Please select and submit one picture of yours that you absolutely love (as a jpeg, 1500 pixels on the long side) accompanied by one or two bulletproof(!) sentences that reflect what really matters to you.
2) If you’d like to revise your 5-sentence statement and resubmit it, please feel free to do so.
3) Optional: Read “KingsEnglishByFowlerBros1906.pdf” (in Dropbox). Particularly the first page or two after the table of contents.
(Session 5 Zoom recording link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wwdtbqjfNk )

Session 6 – 2/16/23 


Here’s the link to the “final project” class slideshow.
https://lightroom.adobe.com/shares/5e571417d96d4e2f98d1f0d610dd5c8a

FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT AND EDIFICATION: HELPFUL LINKS AND INSPIRATION

(Please feel free to contribute by e-mailing suggestions to Olivia or letting us know about things during class.)

Calvin and Hobbes on Art – © Bill Watterson

    • A previous student found real inspiration in this podcast (A Photographic Life – 231: The Conversation with Bill Shapiro ‘Art Speak’). Give a listen!

    • Check out this online “artist statement generator.”  There are many!

    • My friends Josef Skye Tornick & Cinta Sinta Tornick are experts on how to present work for sale. View a gallery of still images of their work and captions here: https://adobe.ly/3skGHFb Pay close attention to the text that accompanies each image. (The text for each follows the image in the online gallery.) And view video of Josef talking about what he’s actually selling here – and telling the story of his Magic Horse picture here.

    • Here’s where we’re headed. Check out this slideshow from a previous workshop, paying close attention to the short statements each student crafted to accompany their images. (Warning: contains nudity and scars.)

    • A little parable on writing: In the movie A River Runs Through It, one of Reverend Maclean’s sons is asked to write an essay. The young man writes a full page. His father, played by Tom Skerrit, makes edits and hands it back to the boy along with the instructions, “half as much.” The son makes another attempt, and the father again marks-up the page and once again returns it with the instructions, “half again.” Lather, rinse, repeat, my friends.

    • Bonus suggested reading (Amazon links here, but go to the library!)
      The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
      The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
      On Writing by Stephen King
      Rebecca Solnit’s River of Shadows (also everything she’s ever written)
      Sally Mann’s Hold Still

    • Pat Trotter mentioned Gina Rae La Cerva, who also teaches for SFW. One of the exercises she had us do was “Write about yourself as a photographer from the perspective of your work. How would your photographs describe you?” Pat said, “It was challenging, but really worthwhile to do.” 

PARTICIPANT INSTAGRAM HANDLES, WEBSITE URLS, etc.

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