Telling the Story: Field Techniques for Documentary Photographers and Writers

IDSS, in association with Pictographers and with the support of Michaels Camera Video and Digital will be hosting this exciting week-long workshop with the objective of helping your organization get the images and stories from your programs that really stand out.

Presenters: Thatcher Cook and Roger Burks
Date: 1 - 5 March (Mon - Fri) 2010
Early Bird Registration: By 18 January (Mon) 2010

Who is this course for?

This course is designed to help those with an interest in community development to represent the work they are passionate about in the best possible light. If you work with an NGO, community group, media organization, academic institution, aid agency, commercial aid company or government department - or have an interest in documentary photography and writing - you should consider attending this unique course.

Course Description

This week-long course will explore how you can use two enduring, engaging forms of communication - photography and writing - to create a culture of storytelling at your organization. Storytelling will help you make your organization's work more vital and vibrant to supporters, as well as bringing the critical social issues you care about most to better awareness with new audiences. The course will cover relevant topics and approaches in the classroom before practicing it in the field. Throughout the week, you will document your experiences through photography and writing, and then weave that work into a singular, powerful form of storytelling that gets results. The workshop will combine classroom-based sessions, field trips, assignments and critical feedback from a professional photographer and an experienced journalist/writer.

Course Content

• The ethics of documentary storytelling in the humanitarian context;
• Ways to weave photography and writing into an effective communication style;
• How to use different kinds of written pieces to convey and vary your message;
• Photography techniques; and
• Identifying your organization's strongest stories.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Approach, interview and photograph beneficiaries;
• Identify, edit and process digital photographs;
• Transform field notes into well-crafted stories; and
• Combine written pieces and photography into features that drive fundraising, communications and advocacy campaigns.

You can find out more details and register for the course by visiting this page or emailing Ruth Garner at training@idss.com.au.