Unruly Narratives: Street Photography and DIY Book Making For Unprofessionals is a series of workshops developed and facilitated by Irenie How with the support of Photosynthesis. It is for anyone interested in creative adaptability, street scenes, night life, and hitting the books occasionally.
The series comprises six two-hour workshops in which participants will learn practical principles of design and bookmaking for any occasion and delve into the conceptual world of culture and the history of the book. Irenie focuses on the importance of found poetry: learning to see what will make a striking image with your own eye, paying attention to what captures your attention, developing your artistic voice, creative adaptability, and using what you have rather than technical requirements. No experience is needed. Materials will be provided.
The workshops run in two blocks over two months. Participants will meet once-weekly for three weeks each in September and October. In September, each evening will be spent in discussion, reflection and walking in the city, rain or shine. These evenings will be opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals at Photosynthesis and then embrace the night air on a walk around the inner city, searching for unique photographs and found objects. The catalogue of people, places and things captured during this time will form the basis of the photo books that each participant will learn to produce for themself. In October, the bookmaking will begin. Each workshop evening will take place indoors at Photosynthesis around the proverbial fire. Irenie will walk through her process for making a photo book out of whatever images and materials happen to be there.
By the end of the series, both artist and attendee will have a new creation from their efforts and an opportunity to bring their work to November's Photo Book Club.
Workshop Dates
Part One: Discussion Walks
Thursday 5 September 2024, 6.30–8.30 pm — Introduction + Photo Walk
Thursday 12 September 2024, 6.30–8.30 pm — Photo Walk (Exteriors)
Thursday 19 September 2024, 6.30–8.30 pm — Photo Walk (Interiors)
Part Two: Workshop Evenings
Thursday 3 October 2024, 6.30–8.30 pm — Introduction to Bookmaking
Thursday 10 October 2024, 6.30–8.30 pm — Sequencing + Book Construction
Thursday 17 October 2024, 6.30–8.30 pm — Book Construction + Finalisation
November's Photo Book Club takes place on Wednesday 6th.
Price and Availability
$125 to participate in the entire workshop series, subsidised by Creative NZ. 10 spaces are available, subject to availability. Of these, 2 half-price tickets are available for those who can otherwise not afford to attend this workshop. Contact hello@photosynthesis.nz for a discount code to get 50% off the ticket price.