POSITIVE INFLUENCE: SPEAKING THROUGH PUBLIC ART
Ages 16-29
Spring 2023, JHU-MICA Film Centre
In this photography and design workshop, student fellows will work collaboratively to create a public art poster campaign to promote and reflect on values and causes they find meaningful. As a group, they’ll identify common interests, from the personal to the political, the spiritual to the practical; then within agreed upon parameters, create individual portfolios of images exploring these shared themes. They might take on anything from art to family to social justice to climate change. And they might try out nature and street photography, candid and posed portraits, experimental images, and more, as they seek effective ways to communicate visually. Then, in collaboration with the instructor, they'll make selections from their portfolios to create large-scale posters for display in public settings. Selected images will be accompanied by short written text, a phrase or even a single word, designed to enhance or complicate image content, to surprise and engage viewers, provoke fresh thought. The posters will be exhibited in public spaces in Baltimore, and on BYFA’s Instagram, Dateline Baltimore. Fellows may also share their editorial series on their own social media platforms. They'll hone both aesthetic and technical skills in photography, and gain experience with the design platform Canva. Final projects will also be shared on the program website and at a public exhibition. Limited to 9 student fellows.
André Chung is an award-winning photojournalist and portrait photographer. He has created images for a wide range of publications, and was one of a select group of photojournalists chosen in 2009 and 2013 to work on Barack Obama: The Official Inaugural Book. His photographs are part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Alisha Mona'e Coates graduated from Morgan State University with a B.S. in Multi-Platform Media Production. A BYFA participant since 2016, she started her photography career at Edmondson Westside, and hopes to eventually open an art/photography studio.
