A nine month mentorship program by the VII Academy and Pathshala South Asia Media Institute for emerging photographers from the region of South Asia.
Research plays a critical role in photographic practice and is especially important while doing personal, intimate, and investigative works. The program for nine participants will begin from the preliminary framing of an idea, through research findings, collecting practice, and the use of archives, participants will learn how to get immersed in a story intimately, which is often not found in mainstream practice.
Understanding how to analyze images from field research, effectively utilizing them as a key source of story-direction, yields powerful insights that bring visual research to its full potential.
New methods of documentary photography, examining how research has been used to invoke diverse visions and approaches, and how photographing intimate spaces can inform personal narratives will also be explored.
Learning Objectives
The program will focus on the role of research as a creative method and variants of the photographic approach: photographing personal space, investigating censored fields, and using archive, text, and found materials, establish meaningful relationships with them to build a more comprehensive narrative. After concluding this program, participants will have improved their skills and comprehension in several areas:
- Using research as a tool of practice in several photography methods.
- Collecting images and using archives to inform a deeper understanding of archival contents, intimate interactions with people, investigating complex and censored stories.
- Leveraging and editing the body of work as a publishing element in exhibition, book, zine, and website.
Micro grants will be given to each participant based on individual projects.
The online program:
Phase I: April – May 2021
– Introduction & Presentation, lectures by mentors (one week)
– Research work, on location survey (1 Month)
– Group meetings: proposals & presentations
– Individual meetings with participants
Phase II: June – October 2021
– Fieldwork
– Group meetings: “mid-term report” (August, 3 days)
– Individual meetings with dedicated mentors
Phase III: Nov – January 2021-22
– Editing workshop (5 days)
– Revisit/reshoot (7 days)
– Format evaluation: exhibition/book/multimedia – designing the final form of the developed body of work.
– Final submission
