The Word & Image Workshop

Through creative collaboration, scholarly research, curatorial and editorial projects the Photocaptionist has long set out to investigate the relationship between images and the written word. We aim to articulate that very specific and still underexplored icono-textual genre of the photo-text, that hybrid object of art and knowledge where photographs and words equally constitute the body of work.

We are thrilled to announce that the Photocaptionist is expanding its efforts towards education by launching its first Word & Image Workshop (WIW), a yearlong series of 12 monthly webinars to help artists, photographers, editors, curators, book-makers and writers better understand this mysterious and challenging intersection.

Within a series of 12 weekend-long webinars featuring lectures, assignments and group critiques, participants will gain an in-depth understanding of the historical, theoretical and practical sides of icono-texts and photo-texts, drawn directly from the ten-year experience in the subject of the Photocaptionist founding director, Dr Federica Chiocchetti, in collaboration with an exciting lineup of guest experts and performers.

Throughout the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to share their image-text projects in any state of production and will receive feedback from the Photocaptionist team, and their fellow classmates. Through dialogue and collaboration, participants will work together to resolve those most difficult questions present within their projects, seeking to create a body of image-text work which is greater than the sum of its parts. Each webinar will have a specific focus within the umbrella theme of image-text relationships and will feature a guest lecturer/performer.

WIW Calendar of Webinars

1. Module 1: The Photo-Text: History, Theory and Practice I, November 26-28, 2021 – from 3 to 7pm CET (9am-1pm EDT, 8am-12pm CDMX, 6-10am PST, 9pm-1am BJT)

This module will focus on Photo-Text history, theory and practice. From 19th century artists and thinkers, such as William Henry Fox Talbot and Julia Margaret Cameron, to more contemporary ones, such as Duane Michals and Sophie Calle we will explore image-text strategies throughout the history and theory of photography.

November 26 and 27 – lectures and discussions led by Photocaptionist founding director Dr Federica Chiocchetti and managing editor Kelsey Sucena, artist and Image-Text Ithaca MFA

November 27 – Guest performance and lecture ‘Everything Speaks’ led by Jason Fulford, artist, editor and co-founder of J&L Books.

November 28 – Group Critiques with the Photocaptionist team

2. Module 2: Activating Visual Archives through Narratives I, December 17-19, 2021, from 3 to 7 pm CET (9am-1pm EDT, 8am-12pm CDMX, 6-10am PST, 9pm-1am BJT)

This module will explore the transformative power of language and narrative on archival/vernacular/anonymous photographs in a sort of ‘death of the author’ mode which is the birth of the viewer.

December 17 and 18 –  lectures and discussions led by Dr Federica Chiocchetti and Kelsey Sucena

December 18 – Guest performance and lecture ‘Verbo-Vernacular Feast from the PhotoMania Collection of Barbara Levine and Paige Ramey ’ led by Barbara Levine, artist, collector, curator and co-founder of PROJECT B

December 19 – Group Critiques with the Photocaptionist team

3. Individual Webinar: Beyond Photography: The Wondrous Life of Icono-Texts, January 21-23, 2022, from 3 to 7pm CET (9am-1pm EDT, 8am-12pm CDMX, 6-10am PST, 9pm-1am BJT)

This webinar will explore art that incorporates text, beyond the purely photographic.

January 21 and 22 – lectures and discussions led by Dr Federica Chiocchetti and Kelsey Sucena

January 22 – Guest performance and lecture ‘Writing on the Wall’ led by Simon Morley, artist, writer, and author of the seminal book Writing on the Wall. Word and Image in Modern Art (Thames and Hudson, 2001).

January 23 – Group Critiques with the Photocaptionist team

4. Module 1: The Photo-Text: History, Theory and Practice II, February 18-20, from 3 to 7pm CET (9am-1pm EDT, 8am-12pm CDMX, 6-10am PST, 9pm-1am BJT)

This module will focus on Photo-Text history, theory and practice. From 19th century artists and thinkers, such as William Henry Fox Talbot and Julia Margaret Cameron, to more contemporary ones, such as Duane Michals and Sophie Calle we will explore image-text strategies throughout the history and theory of photography.

February 18 and 19 – lectures and discussions led by Dr Federica Chiocchetti and Kelsey Sucena

February 19 – Guest performance and lecture ‘Wanderlust’ led by Aaron Schuman, artist, writer, curator, and author of SLANT (MACK, 2019).

February 20 – Group Critiques with the Photocaptionist team

5. Module 3: The Photo-Text Book I, March 18-20, 2022, from 3 to 7pm CET (9am-1pm EDT, 8am-12pm CDMX, 6-10am PST, 9pm-1am BJT)

Within this module we’ll take a deep dive into our greatest obsession,The Photo-Text Book, in which words & images share equal prominence.

March 18 and 19 – lectures and discussions led by Dr Federica Chiocchetti and Kelsey Sucena

March 19 – Guest lecture ‘Publishing Words and Pictures’ led by Lesley Martin, creative director of Aperture Foundation and Publisher of The PhotoBook Review.

March 20 – Group Critiques with the Photocaptionist team

6. Module 4: Notes on Photo-Literature and Photo-Poetry I, April 8-10, 2022, from 3 to 7pm CET (9am-1pm EDT, 8am-12pm CDMX, 6-10am PST, 9pm-1am BJT)

This module looks at specific categories within the genre of the photo-text, in which the challenges of making a “successful” artwork are even higher, given poetry and literature’s idiosyncratic DNA. How does literature relate to photography, and how might photography approach a poetics of its own?

April 8 and 9 – lectures and discussions led Dr Federica Chiocchetti and Kelsey Sucena

April 9 – Guest performance and lecture ‘Re-Generating Images and Texts:
Composing and Modulating Meaning through Literature and the Archive’ led by Anya Jasbar, artist, writer, editor, designer, and founder of Ahorn books.

April 10 – Group Critiques with the Photocaptionist team

7. Module 1: The Photo-Text: History, Theory and Practice III, May 6-8, 2022, from 3 to 7pm CET (9am-1pm EDT, 8am-12pm CDMX, 6-10am PST, 9pm-1am BJT)

This module will focus on Photo-Text history, theory and practice. From 19th century artists and thinkers, such as William Henry Fox Talbot and Julia Margaret Cameron, to more contemporary ones, such as Duane Michals and Sophie Calle we will explore image-text strategies throughout the history and theory of photography.

May 6 and 7 –  lectures and discussions led by Dr Federica Chiocchetti and Kelsey Sucena

May 7 – Guest performance and lecture ‘A Picture Held Us Captive’ led by Catherine Taylor and Nicholas Muellner, artists, writers and co-founders of Image Text Ithaca and ITI Press.

May 8 – Group Critiques with the Photocaptionist team

8. Individual Webinar: Photo-Texts and Fashion, June 3-5, 2022, from 3 to 7pm CET (9am-1pm EDT, 8am-12pm CDMX, 6-10am PST, 9pm-1am BJT)

This webinar will ask some important questions about the role of the written word within the iconography of the fashion world.

June 3 and 4 – lectures and discussions led by  Dr Federica Chiocchetti and Kelsey Sucena

June 3 – Guest performance and lecture ‘Do words matter in fashion?’ led by Chiara Bardelli Nonino, photo editor of Vogue Italia and L’Uomo Vogue.

June 5 – Group Critiques with the Photocaptionist team

9. Module 3: The Photo-Text Book II, July 15-17, 2022, from 3 to 7pm CET (9am-1pm EDT, 8am-12pm CDMX, 6-10am PST, 9pm-1am BJT)

Within this module we’ll take a deep dive into our greatest obsession,The Photo-Text Book, in which words & images share equal prominence.

July 15 and 16 – lectures and discussions led Dr Federica Chiocchetti and Kelsey Sucena

July 16 – Guest lecture ‘Designing and Producing Photo-Text Books’ led by Morgan Crowcroft-Brown, designer and production manager for MACK Books.

July 17 – Group Critiques with the Photocaptionist team

10. Module 2: Activating Visual Archives through Narratives II, dates TBC, 2022, from 3 to 7pm CET (9am-1pm EDT, 8am-12pm CDMX, 6-10am PST, 9pm-1am BJT)

This module will explore the transformative power of language and narrative on archival/vernacular/anonymous photographs in a sort of ‘death of the author’ mode which is the birth of the viewer.

– lectures and discussions led by Dr Federica Chiocchetti and Kelsey Sucena

– Guest performance and lecture ‘Image Text Time Machines: Archival Assemblages and Transtemporal Travel’ led by Carla Liesching, artist, writer, bookmaker, and author of Good Hope (MACK, late 2021).

– Group Critiques with the Photocaptionist team

11. Module 4: Notes on Photo-Literature and Photo-Poetry II, September 23-25, 2022, 3 to 7pm CET (9am-1pm EDT, 8am-12pm CDMX, 6-10am PST, 9pm-1am BJT)

This module looks at specific categories within the genre of the photo-text, in which the challenges of making a “successful” artwork are even higher, given poetry and literature’s idiosyncratic DNA. How does literature relate to photography, and how might photography approach a poetics of its own?

September 23 and 24 – lectures and discussions led by Dr Federica Chiocchetti and Kelsey Sucena

September 24 – Guest performance and lecture ‘Image and Text: contextualising the personal’ led by Max Ferguson, photographer, writer, curator, Founding Editor of Splash & Grab Magazine, Photo Editor of Granta Magazine, Director of Photography of Port Magazine.

September 25 – Group Critiques with the Photocaptionist team

12. Individual Webinar: Image-Text Playlist and Marathon, dates TBC, 2022, 3 to 7pm CET (9am-1pm EDT, 8am-12pm CDMX, 6-10am PST, 9pm-1am BJT)

This webinar will be a bit more experimental then most, including a pecha kucha style marathon of words & images, with several surprise guest apparitions speaking as experts in the field of image and text relations.

 – Image-Text Playlist led by Dr Federica Chiocchetti and Kelsey Sucena

– Image-Text Marathon led by surprise appearances

Workshop Packages

Applicants can choose to attend the entire yearlong workshop of 12 webinars, one or more of the 4 modules, or the individual webinars 3, 8, and 12 separately based on their specific needs.

Modules

• Module 1 – The Photo-Text: History, Theory and Practice – €1100 for 3 webinars.
• Module 2 – Activating Visual Archives through Narratives – €750 for 2 webinars.
• Module 3 – The Photo-Text Book – €750 for 2 webinars.
• Module 4 – Notes on Photo-Literature and Photo-Poetry – €750 for 2 webinars.

Individual Webinars

• Webinar 3 – Beyond Photography: The Wondrous Life of Icono-Texts – €390
• Webinar 8 – Photo-Texts and Fashion – €390
• Webinar 12 – Image-Text Playlist – €390

The entire workshop

• All 12 webinars – 12 for the cost of 10 – €3,900

Limited scholarships will be available on the basis of merit to candidates who require financial assistance in the application.

Space is limited per webinar in order to ensure maximum time and attention is granted to each participant.

How to Apply

Prospective participants can apply by filling out this Google Form, where they are asked to submit:
– a short bio (50 words max)
– a short description of the image-text project they want to work on (200 words max)
– a selection of 10 images
– either a selection of texts/excerpts they would like to pair the images with, or a mention of the text/s they intend to use in the description.

Both images and texts can be your own or anonymous, vernacular, appropriated.

If you prefer not to submit via Google or don’t have a Google account, please include a link to your materials or send them as a low res PDF to [email protected].

***Applications still open for the last webinar Image-Text Playlist and Marathon – dates TBC***

For any inquiries contact us at [email protected]

We can’t wait to work with you!

Yours fictionally,

Photocaptionist

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