Resource Center: Lectures

Center for Creative Photography, Tucson 
Part of the University of Arizona, the CCP manages one of the largest photo collections on the continent. Emphasizing North-American photographers, the Center opens its collections to the public, offering print viewing for the general public and consultations of the archives and collections by appointment. The collections are also the base for the CCP educational mandate, which features lectures, seminars, free public education programs, research fellowships and internships.

Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY 
The Center for Photography at Woodstock’s stated intention is “to build audiences, enhance dialogue, and encourage inquiry about contemporary photography and related media.” Their busy web site testifies to the diversity of ways in which they go about achieving their mission: workshops and lectures series, exhibitions in their gallery space, publishing Photography Quarterly, holding auctions, offering artists residencies and internships, as well as the Photographer’s Fellowship Fund. These people are active! 

FotoFusion 
Organized by the Palm Beach Photographic Centre, this general conference is designed to appeal to photographers of all levels and specializations, with an emphasis on the technical side of photography and photo imaging. The schedule of events is a mix of corporate-sponsored workshops on new imaging software; visits to local points of interest; and lectures by specialists such as photojournalists, landscape and fine art photographers. There are previews of the latest in photo gear, portfolio reviews and even photo appraisals. The other aim of the conference, networking, is provided for in the nightly “Fuse and Schmooze” parties.

Fotoweek. D.C. 
A week-long celebration of photography in America’s capital city, Fotoweek D.C. includes a variety of events that consider the many facets of the practice of photography. Exhibitions, lectures, talks, workshops and projections are packed into the week-long schedule, many taking place in some of Washington’s inventory of storied venues, including the Smithsonian and the National Geographic Headquarters.

ICP Lecture Series
New York’s International Center for Photography has been running its high-profile lecture series for forty years and continues bring in some of the most recognized masters of photography, across all genres. In these talks, photographers reveal their histories, artistic and technical processes, influences and personal experiences, and if the lecture series presents fascinating speakers, it also attracts knowledgeable and inquisitive audiences that help to open up the conversation.

International Center for Photography, New York 
In its elegant digs on New York’s Avenue of the Americas, the International Center for Photography’s museum exhibits challenging new work while reconsidering the meaning and resonance of historical work. Its substantial photography collections reflect changes in the medium since its inception and is replete with documentary and reportage photography. The museum and collection round out the Center’s comprehensive mission as a school and center for photographers.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art – Lectures on Photography 
Although not as well known as the encyclopedic international art collections (or the famous fossils of the neighboring La Brea tar pits), the LACMA has a strong contemporary photography collection that merits attention. The semi-annual Ralph M. Parsons Lectures on Photography series, which features talks by internationally recognized writers, critics and curators, was likely initiated to help explore the Museum’s largely post-1940 collection. It ranges from honored names such as Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and Berenice Abbott to mid-century trouble-makers such as Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander and Robert Frank - and let us not forget the unsung photographic work of author William S. Burroughs (!) The Museum collects the work of established international photographers as well as those known and emerging on the L.A. scene. Lecture information is posted on the site’s Education calendar. 

Lucid Art Foundation 
The museum’s collection and exhibition schedule highlight modern and contemporary work which deals with social and historical issues. Its other, complimentary, strength is a commitment to public outreach and public education programs, through lectures, workshops and after-school programs. 

Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego 
The museum’s collection and exhibition schedule highlight modern and contemporary work which deals with social and historical issues. Its other, complimentary, strength is a commitment to public outreach and public education programs, through lectures, workshops and after-school programs. 

Photographic Resource Center, Boston University - Lectures 
Photographic Resource Center, Boston’s vigorous and independent photo non-profit, fulfills part of its wide-ranging mandate by offering an ongoing series lectures by photographers, curators and others. Detailed background information, dates and places are laid out on the Center’s site. The PRC’s many other activities are designed to engage a broad public with the art and ideas of photography. Located on the campus of Boston University, the PRC offers its members and the wider public up to eight annual gallery exhibitions, research resources based in the PRC’s Aaron Siskind Library and other unique events. If that were not enough, the PRC also hosts a web-based photo discussion forum, publishes In the Loupe, its stylish newsletter, and offers the annual Leopold Godowsky Jr. Color Photography Awards. Vigorous indeed! 

SF Camerawork 
Camerawork This is the online resource center for SF Camerawork, the San Francisco based community-minded organization that fosters the work of emerging and mid-career photographers. Exhibitions in the online and physical gallery spaces, a lecture series, workshops and the journal Camerawork: A Journal of Photographic Arts are there to engage the wider world on photography’s aesthetic and social concerns. The organization’s mentoring program invites photographers to act locally and teach the craft to youth at risk.

Society of Publication Designers
Founded 1965, SPD’s site proclaims that it is still the only organization that specifically addresses the concerns of trade, corporate, institutional, newspaper and consumer editorial art directors. The Society provides programs that foster the collaborative work of the best illustrators, photographers and typographers, while examining “the real impact of evolving technologies.” Guidance is provided by a board of directors composed of top editorial art directors and allied professionals. 

Ted Talk: David Griffin
National Geographic photo director David Griffin weaves together personal anecdotes and memorable Geographic photos in order prove the point that photographs, now more than ever, are the vital links that connect us to our own stories and those of the world. Of Course, Griffin talks about the iconic images that have captured the world’s attention, such as Steve McCurry’s famous portrait of the green-eyed Afghan refugee girl, Sharbat Gula, but he also examines what constitutes the story-telling genius of master photojournalists like Nick Nichols, Jonas Bendiksen, and James Nachtwey. A talk that re-affirms the real value of storytelling in photojournalism.

Ted Talk: Sebastiao Salgado
This is a candid and deeply personal history of a life in photography, told by one of the most important photographers of our times. Sebastiao Salgado is famous for his years-long investigations into the human underpinnings of the global economy, famine, forced migrations and war. His photographs are an unflinching witness to misery and dignity, and his total immersion into these difficult projects eventually led to a personal crisis: a loss of faith in humanity, a soul sickness that took years and an extended hiatus from photography to recover from. This recovery came by way of a deep reconnection his with family land in Brazil, and a return to photography. Unusual for a TED Talk, Salgado allows many moments of silence where he allows his piercing photographs to speak for themselves, and when he does speak, it is to make a passionate case for the protection of habitats, animals and peoples that may be on the margins of the global economy, but are all the more precious for it. This is the subject of the multi-year project called Genesis, unveiled in 2013, an exploration of the places where people and their habitats are still in equilibrium and the lessons they offer the rest of us.