The Palm Springs Photo Festival is pleased to offer a unique workshop by National Geographic photographer Lynn Johnson entitled THE PASSIONATE, PERSONAL DOCUMENTARY PROJECT.
Lynn will offer a workshop for those driven by a passion for their subject or photography itself. Mission driven photographers and storytellers face a particular set of challenges that are often misunderstood, not easily managed and if not anticipated can destroy valuable and meaningful projects. This important workshop will address what it takes to get a mission based photographic project from your heart and eye to the page, screen or monitor so it can impact viewers lives in terms of vision, planning, energy, fortitude and follow through.
This is different than the supposedly “objective” work of the photojournalist or documentary photographer. Here we give ourselves permission to be advocates with a camera, though both our ethics and aesthetics may be anchored in those traditions. This will be a 3-day shooting workshop. Each day will begin with looking at the images of the previous day, followed by 4-5 hours of shooting. There will be a 2-hour wrap up session on the morning of the fourth day. Over the course of 3 1/2 days, a sense of what it takes to bring a project alive will become apparent.
Students are invited to come with their own ideas that reflect their individual areas of interest and sense of mission. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of a class community and the value of the students being resources for each other. The class will go as deeply into personal intention, motivation, balance of personal and professional lives and creative/storytelling process as possible. This can be a life-changing experience for those with a desire to chart their own courses and make a difference.
This is a unique opportunity for attendees of the Palm Springs Photo Festival. Spend three days with Lynn Johnson and come away with insights that will help show the way for you to tell important stories.
Photojournalist Lynn Johnson is known for her intense and sensitive work. Over the years she had divided her time between assignments for LIFE, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated and various foundations. Johnson has traveled from Siberia to Zambia and with her Leicas, climbed the radio antenna atop Chicago’s Hancock Tower and dangled from helicopters in Antarctica. Though she has photographed notables from Tiger Woods to the entire Supreme Court, her favorite assignments are emotionally demanding stories about ordinary people.
After 30 years of practicing photography, she sees her personal work moving from that of an observer to advocate. As a Knight Fellow in the School of Visual Communications at Ohio University, Johnson completed a rigorous program that included her Masters thesis, an exhibit about the impact of hate crimes on American society, Hate Kills. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of her fellowship was the teaching component that allowed her to share her passion and commitment with other students in the Visual Studies Program, helping to develop the talents and ethics of a new generation of photographers.
Johnson first earned a B.A. in Photographic Illustration and Photojournalism at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1975. After graduating, she was a Staff Photographer at The Pittsburgh Press for seven years before beginning her freelance career as a contract photographer for Black Star then Aurora Photos. She is currently represented by the National Geographic Image Collection.
Awards
Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Coverage of the Disadvantaged
World Press Awards
University of Missouri School of Journalism Pictures of the Year Awards
Clients
National Geographic
Life Magazine
Smithsonian
Sports Illustrated
Alcoa Foundation
Ford Foundation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Geo Magazine
Books
Men’s Lives,
Power to Heal,
Women in the Material World,
Women Photographers at National Geographic,
Nature’s Medicines: Plants that Heal,
John Muir: Nature’s Visionary,
Edward Curtis: Coming to
Light,
Through the Lens: National Geographic Greatest Photographs