New York meets CAMERA

We have now reached the fourth edition of the Masterclass in Visual Storytelling that CAMERA – Centro Italiano per la Fotografia stages in collaboration with the ICP-International Center of Photography in New York, a leading institution in photography training and contemporary languages.

Many students over the last few years have investigated, experimented and created new visual worlds thanks to both the lectures and hands-on activities that the Masterclass has proposed. Also in 2019, the Masterclass activity programme offers a wide range of visions, input as well as opportunities for reflection and research, and which will allow the 25 participants from eight countries – Peru, the United States, Spain, India, Italy, Germany, Norway and Great Britain– to become new professionals in multimedia languages and narratives told through images.

A month of lectures and photoshoots with specialised teachers of the standing of Karen Marshall, Saul Metnick, Andrew Lichtenstein, Greg Miller and Gaia Squarci, who will teach students how to tell a refined story using imagery; how to develop their own ‘multimedia kit’ full of tools, both of a technical and an artistic nature; how to edit sequences of images and how to explore the finest practices to get closer to the desired subject. This Masterclass, unlike the previous ones, will examine in detail what it means to create visual stories that are mindful of the social, cultural and emotional spaces of the people and places in which the stories themselves reside.

For this edition of the Masterclass, four study grantshave been assigned: two offered by CAMERA and awarded to Matteo Grasso and Caldwell Manners; a study grant promoted by the IED (European Institute of Design), the international school of Advanced Training oriented towards professions in the creativity sector, which will be given to Matteo Montenero, and lastly, a study grant from LIERAC: a brand which for years has been committed to the promotion of gender equality, and which goes to Elisa Villaverde.

Alongside the Masterclass lessons – organised in thematic weekly modules – Workflow + Sense of place(1-6 July), Photographing people + Stories in the social landscape (8-12 July), Creating stories + Mixing media (15-19 July), Editing all together (22-26 July), CAMERA provides the public with a series of meetings and investigations, entrance to which is free and in English:

>Thursday 4 July, 7.00 pm

Marked, Unmarked, Remembered. Andrew Lichtenstein

From Wounded Knee to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and from the Upper Big Branch mine disaster to the Trail of Tears, Marked, Unmarked, Remembered presents photographs of significant sites from US history, posing unsettling questions about the contested memory of traumatic episodes from the nation’s past. Focusing especially on landscapes related to African American, Native American, and labor history, Marked, Unmarked, Remembered reveals new vistas of officially commemorated sites, sites that are neglected or obscured, and sites that serve as a gathering place for active rituals of organized memory.

>Thursday 11 July, 7.00 pm

Everyday Ephemeral. Greg Miller

American photographer and Guggenheim Fellow, Greg Miller, discusses the stories behind some of his iconic images and his journey leading up to his two latest projects: the monograph Unto Dust, a 20 year exploration of New Yorkers observing Ash Wednesday; and his series  Morning Bus, a quiet meditation on the fragility of childhood in the era of American mass shootings.

For over 25 years Greg Miller has honed a unique style of street portraiture working with a large format 8” by 10” view camera, using the serendipity of chance meetings with strangers to build insightful, narrative photographs. He has been exhibited in several solo shows in Los Angeles, Barcelona and the Cheekwood Museum in Nashville, TN as well as group exhibits in New York City, including Yossi Milo, James Danziger and Sasha Wolf Galleries. His work has appeared regularly in advertising and magazines including TIME, Esquire, Fast Company, LIFE and many other publications.

Since 1999, Miller has been a faculty member at the International Center of Photography in New York.

>Thursday 18 July, 7.00 pm

Developing Relationships: Self, Subject and Medium. Karen Marshall and Gaia Squarci

The moment stories are born, our relationship to them starts evolving: the way we think of them, the way we think of ourselves in relation to them, the way the protagonists of the stories see themselves reflected and may actively collaborate to shape the narrative. Photography, text, audio and video require us to engage in a variety of ways with other people in the room and with ourselves. At some point we thought our job was taking pictures. Now we spend as much time allowing our images to guide the process.  We write in our diary, dig into archives, interview strangers, our family, or record the sound of the rain. Karen Marshall and Gaia Squarci will use their projects to question the possibilities that technology has opened, and the relationships established among the self, subject and medium.

ICP-International Center of Photography is an institution dedicated to photography, and is a leading light in visual culture throughout the world. Cornell Capa, brother of Robert Capa, founded the ICP in 1974 in order to preserve the idea of an inheritance of “concerned photography” – the creation of images that are socially and politically oriented, and which have the potential to educate and change the world – and the centre’s mission continues to this day. Through its exhibitions, school, public programme and the promotion of the photography community, the ICP offers an open forum in which to discuss the roles that photography, video and multimedia play in our society. It has staged over 700 shows, holding thousands of courses at all levels. The ICP unites photographers, artists, students and scholars who together interpret the realm of imagery to explore photography and visual culture as catalysers for wide-ranging social change.