March 2024

INTERNATIONAL SUMMER PHOTOGRAPHY SCHOOL

01 Aug - 23 Aug 14

​YARAT CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE ANNONCED OPEN CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL SUMMER PHOTOGRAPHY SCHOOL

1 > 23 AUGUST 2014

Application deadline: 15 JULY 2014

Places are limited! There is a maximum of twelve.


Designed for professional photographers, the Summer School provides a highly intensive three-week practical and theoretical training in key aspects of contemporary photography.

The programme has been developed in collaboration with Magnum Photography. Magnum’s educational and community events provide opportunities for photographers at different stages in their careers to benefit from the vast experience of Magnum’s established photographers and employees.

Through a variety of Workshops, portfolio reviews, Masterclasses, University partnerships and visiting lectures, Magnum Photos is able to reach out to a larger audience of photographers, enthusiasts, students and fans of photography.

Events offer hands-on practical, technical and theoretical advice to help participants develop their own visual language and the skills required to compete in photography’s changing marketplace.

Summer School tutors include:

Thomas Dworzak (Germany), Chien-Chi Chang (Taiwan) from Magnum Photography and prominent London based photographer David Montgomery.

The Summer School will take place  from 1-23 August 2014. Application Deadline is July 15th  (to download the application form click to scrol down or here).


OUTCOMES

The Summer School will provide participants with a structured framework of theoretical talks, discussions and debates, visual presentations, critiques and assignments. This will lead to the development of a photographic portfolio reflecting their individual interest and visual practice in relation to urban research. At the end of the Summer School a curated salon exhibition will be organized from a selection of participants’ photographs.

PROGRAMME

The workshop is aimed at professionals or serious photography enthusiasts. During the workshop, students are expected to work on story research and proposal exercises, visual exercises and editing exercises. In the end, it will define and sharpen each student’s own vision, heighten their storytelling skills using their own motivations and methods.

Applicants will need to have sound photographic skills prior to commencing the programme and are required to submit a sample portfolio of their own work (max. 5  images) along with an application form.

WHAT STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO BRING

  • A story proposal
  • Digital camera with enough memory cards
  • Laptop with HDMI cable
  • Portfolio, either in digital form or in prints
  • An audio recorder (optional)

The Photography can be either film or digital. Due to the fast pace of the workshop, Magnum highly recommends that participants produce and edit their work digitally, using their own laptops. Individuals wishing to use film may do so, but at their own cost and during the time imposed.


COURSE STRUCTURE

The following schedule is to give you an idea of how the week is usually organized. This is a flexible schedule as the photographer in charge of the workshop will ascertain the needs of the group and adapt the schedule appropriately. The workshop is an organic, self-directional experience and people are free to manage their own time.

DAY ONE

9.00 Welcome Meeting & Introduction to tutor. 

Participants will be provided with a welcome kit that will include: detail of exhibitions in the city, a city map and a list of contact numbers for members of the workshops staff. They will be then directed to their class.

9.30 - 13.30 The morning will be spent with the groups, reviewing each participant’s existing portfolio and discussing story ideas for the duration of the workshop.

Lunch People can choose how to spend this time.

14.30 - 18.00 Individual shooting sessions

The afternoon will be spent photographing. We recommend that the students research into areas of interest prior to their arrival, so they can begin shooting immediately. This afternoon will be spent photographing; either personal stories or mini assignments set by the tutors.

DAY TWO

10.00 - 12.00 Class time. Students should arrive with an edit of approx. 20 images shot from the previous day. Their work should be initially edited individually or in pairs, to be viewed as a group and criticized by their tutor.

13.00 - 18.00 The afternoon should be spent shooting their personal projects

DAY THREE

10.00 - 12.00 Class time. Students should arrive with an edit of approx. 20 images shot from the previous day. Their work should be initially edited individually or in pairs, to be viewed as a group and criticized by their tutor.

13.00 - 18.00 The afternoon should be spent shooting their personal projects

DAY FOUR

10.00 - 12.00 Class time. Students should arrive with an edit of approx. 20 images shot from the previous day. Their work should be initially edited individually or in pairs, to be viewed as a group and criticized by their tutor.

13.00 - 18.00 The afternoon should be spent shooting their personal projects

DAY FIVE

9.00 - 14.00 Class Time. The day will be dedicated to refine student’s edits with their tutor for the slideshow. Works prints will be provided, and people will work with their workshop tutor, to finalize their edits.

19.00 The session will culminate in a projection of participant work


TUTORS:

DAVID MONTGOMERY (Great Britain)

04 > 08 AUGUST 2014

Montgomery is a celebrated award-winning international photographer. Heralded by Q Magazine in their recent special edition on Psycadelia as having produced some of the most iconic images of the sixties. Professor Montgomery is internationally renowned as one of the most legendary photographers of all time. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he attended photography courses run by Alexi Brodevitch in New York and worked for the award-winning photographer Lester Bookbinder for four years, following Bookbinder to England in the early 1960’s. David fell in love with the soft, romantic English light and took up residence in London, where he now continues to live and work. David is known as a portrait photographer of high profile statesmen and celebrities. Among some of his previous sitters are: HM Queen Elizabeth II, The Queen Mother, Prince Andrew, Prince Harry, Lord Mountbatten, Baroness Margaret Thatcher, Lord Hume, Edward Heath, Jack Straw, Bill Clinton, Pierre Trudeau, HM King Hussein, Cardinal Basil Hume, Andy Warhol, Lucien Freud, David Hockney, Francis Bacon, Howard Hodgkin, Josef Bouys, Bill Brant, Gilbert & George, Conrad Shawcross, Cathy de-Monchaux, Grayson Perry, Diana Ross & the Supremes, Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Jean Shrimpton, Terence Stamp, Professor Stephen Hawking, Alfred Hitchcock, Muhammad Ali, Bing Crosby, Sir Paul McCartney, Chrissy Hinde, Pierce Brosnan, Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Barbara Streisand, The Clash, U2, to name a few.

Course description:

Photography has finally been accepted as an honest and interesting way of making a living as well as being acknowledged as a serious, highly expressive art form in its own right. Through digital innovation, taking photographs has never been more widely accessible. However, a chasm separates everyday, snapshot photographs with those that resonate with a subtle emotional depth approaching the condition of art. Truly great photographs combine sensitive composition with a fundamental understanding of light, shape and form. This course aims to get students mastering the basics of their cameras and learning to see SEE.

David Montgomery will take students on a journey of discovery through the mysterious world of "seeing". Paying special attention to the endless possibilities of light and the practical potential of cameras and lenses, David will present and explain the fundamental building blocks of photography while encouraging students to develop an awareness of their own personal and creative vision.


CHIEN-CHI CHANG B. (Taiwan)

“Still images can be moving and moving images can be still. Both meet within soundscape”.

09 > 15 AUGUST 2014

Born in Taiwan in 1961, Chang studied at Soochow University and at Indiana University. Chang joined Magnum in 1995 and became a full member in 2001.

In his work, Chien-Chi Chang makes manifest the abstract concepts of alienation and connection. The Chain is a collection of portraits made in a mental asylum in Taiwan. The life-sized photographs of pairs of patients literally chained together resonate with Chang’s jaundiced look at the less visible bonds of marriage. He has treated marital ties in two books - I do I do I do (2001), a collection of images depicting alienated grooms and brides in Taiwan, and in Double Happiness (2005), a brutal depiction of the business of selling brides in Vietnam.

The ties of family and of culture are also the themes of an ambitious project begun in 1992. For 20 years, Chang has photographed the bifurcated lives of Chinese immigrants in New York’s Chinatown, along with those of their wives and families back home in Fujian. A work in progress, China Town was hung at the National Museum of Singapore in 2008 as part of a mid-career survey, Doubleness. Chang’s investigation of the ties that bind one person to another draws on his own deeply divided immigrant experience.


THOMAS DWORZAK (Germany)

'Exploration of territory'

18 > 22 AUGUST 2014

Thomas Dworzak wants to put his participants in a real-time situation, of doing a real job, asking each participant to be part of team. The students will be asked to come up with at least two ideas for the subject they will follow. Through a daily program of shooting, editing and sequencing with group feedbacks, Thomas Dworzak will help turning them into a better photographer, and one who thinks carefully about what they are trying to achieve. Being familiar with the Caucasus area where he led several photographic projects, Thomas Dworzak is also willing to lead participants into an exploration of their environment, supporting them with a regular analysis of the evolution of the work.


APPLICATION

Application deadline is July 15th. Applications after this date will only be considered if spaces are available. To secure a place candidates are advised to apply early. There is a maximum of 12 places. Application forms are available to download online. Successful applicants will be informed shortly after submitting the form.

For further information contact Ulvia Akhundova

Education Programme Coordinator

ulvia.a@yarat.az


FAQ:

  • Can I apply for the summer school programme if I’m a foreign citizen?

Yes, foreign students should apply following the same procedure as Azerbaijani students and submit portfolio of their work along with a completed application form.

  • As a foreign students will I have to pay for my trip or will YARAT support me?

Foreign students  who are selected as a result of a rigorous selection process are responsible for fully covering the costs of their trip (including their accommodation, flights,  insurance meals and etc).

  • Can YARAT assist me with finding accommodation in Baku?

Yes. You are welcome to contact our staff member who will suggest a low-cost hotel or other accommodation options and help you to do the booking. 

  • If I’m selected, can I ask YARAT to help me to apply for a visa?

You should normally apply for a visa at least 10 days ahead of your trip. We can provide you with an official invitation letter to assist you with visa application.


For more information, please, write to ulvia.a@yarat.az or info@yarat.az with topic 'INTERNATIONAL SUMMER PHOTOGRAPHY SCHOOL'


DOWNLOAD APPLICATION FORM ENG

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