Tune In - Sonic Navigation In A Sea Of Images

This free three-session workshop is designed to help photographers find fresh visual approaches in their photography. During two sessions and an exercise we will collectively discuss the idea of the gaze and experiment, how it's formed and what it does to the images we make, before testing one way of finding our own photographic style. 

As photographers, the photographs we make are influenced by the photographs we have seen before; these form and inform the photographs we make, both in terms of content and style. But especially in places like Uganda many of the photographs that feed our eyes come from cultures very different to our own. How do we find our own voices as photographers?

This workshop will use a strategy that goes against the grain: instead of trying to forget the photographs we've seen before, we will instead experiment with how music can shift a photographer's attention. The goal of the workshop is to see if you make different pictures when you listen to different things. 

During this workshop a group of eight participants will engage in exchange with two teachers, an image researcher and a photographer. Together we will apply a knowledge-sharing method as we work through a theoretical discussion, a practical assignment and a visual review.

In Session One we will have a guided discussion about the concept of 'the gaze' in photography. It's a word that is used a lot, but what does it really mean? How do we develop a 'gaze'? What do different gazes see in the same subjects? And can we change our gaze? (2hrs)

During Session Two each participant will undertake an assignment according to some rules agreed in the first session. You will make a photo story about a subject in your daily life, while listening to some music. For this session you will need some good headphones or earbuds. Don't worry about making perfect photographs- we're focusing on the process.

Finally in Session Three, we will gather as a group to review the pictures you made during session two, and we will discuss how the process was shaped by session one's discussion and by the music you listened to while you were working. We will wrap up with a conversation about developing a personal voice as a photographer.

This workshop is an experimental initiative by:

FOTEA Foundation (Uganda)

PHLSPH - Philosophy & Photography Lab (Greece)

Dead Pixels (Netherlands)

By taking part, participants agree that their images and reflections may be used in an academic setting to discuss the workshop and its outcomes. All use will be credited unless agreed otherwise.