Youth Photography Workshops and Classes
Please inquire about our discounted rates for public schools and non-profits.
Digital or Polaroid Workshop: Community Study
In this workshop we use Digital point and shoot or Polaroid Cameras to instantly document the student’s community. We will discuss what the components of a community and the best ways to photograph a community. Students will be introduced to the work of Bruce Davidson, Steven Shore and others who have made an art out of documenting communities. Ultimately, students will make an album of their images. If time allows, we will explore writing captions and stories for their images.
Digital or Polaroid Workshop: Portraiture
This workshop introduces students to the art of portraiture. Students will learn about vantage point, narrative, composition and to think before they press the button. We will look at examples of powerful portraiture and learn from the masters. Older students can explore portraiture and identity: what we can or can’t tell about someone from a picture.
Time: 1+ hours | Cost: $400 on-site/$500 off-site | Class Size: less than 25 is optimal, but up to 30 is possible | Age: 3rd grade – high school
Digital or Polaroid and Writing Workshop: Two-part workshop
One of the above Polaroid workshops can be combined with a writing workshop. Pictures will be used to inspire fiction, non-fiction and editorial writing. Students will make a booklet that combines their images and writing. This is a great workshop for high school English classes.
Time: 1+ hours | Cost: $475 on-site/$575 off-site | Class Size: less than 25 is optimal, but up to 30 is possible | Age: 5th grade – high school
Photogram Workshop
A great way to introduce the photographic process to students. Students learn about design, shapes, transparency and silhouettes. A photogram is a photographic image made (without a camera) by placing objects directly onto the surface of a photo-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light. The result is a silhouetted image varying in darkness based on the transparency of the objects used, with areas of the paper that have not received any light appearing light and those that have appearing dark, according to the laws of photosensitivity. The image obtained is hence a negative and the effect is often quite similar to an X-Ray.
Time: 1+ hour | Cost: $400 on-site/$500 off-site (sunprints available off-site) | Class Size: 15-20 students maximum for the darkroom | Age: 4th grade – high school
Pinhole Cameras Workshop
The ultimate in low-tech! Pinhole cameras reduce photography to its most basic elements and demonstrate fundamental principles of optics in a way that is visual and easy to understand. Simple cameras capable of making beautiful images can easily be constructed in a few minutes. Students will make their own cameras from RayKo templates. They will then take an image and process it in RayKo’s darkrooms.
Time: 3 hours | Cost: $650 onsite only | Class Size: 15-20 students max in darkroom | Optimal age group: 10 and up
Disposable Camera Workshop: Two-part Community Study Workshop
Students will photograph their community with disposable cameras. The students will be inspired by the work of Bruce Davidson, Roy De Carva and others and they will be given some guidelines for their shoot. The film will be processed and prints will be made. In the second workshop we will edit and produce photo collages in the style of Romare Bearden.
Time: Two 1-hour workshops | Costs: $650 onsite/$750 off-site | Class Size: 30 students | Age: 3rd grade – high school
B&W Photography Darkroom Workshop
Photography teachers can bring their class in to learn how to make a print or other classes can come for a one-part workshop where students learn how to print b/w images from b/w negatives. The other option is a two-part workshop where they photograph, process and print. Students will discover the beauty and complexity of b/w traditional photography.
One class workshop | Time: 4 hours | Cost: $650 onsite only | Class Size: 15-20 students maximum for the darkroom
Two class workshop | Time: 4 hours/2 days | Cost: $900 | Class Size: 15-20 students maximum for the darkroom
Photography as a Teaching Tool: Workshops for Teachers
Teachers learn to use digital cameras and other photographic materials in their classroom. This is a hands-on workshop where teachers are taken through an example workshop which they can then adapt and bring back to their class room.