THE EYE OF THE WITNESS
Ages 16-29
Fall 2023, Online
It is easy to notice something happen, but often difficult to be a witness. Simple noticing requires no human connection, no moral judgment, no effort to interfere or take a stand. Truly seeing, becoming a witness, requires something more. As artists, we must not only see, but frame and communicate the meaning of important events. In this online writing and photography workshop, student fellows will explore the artist’s responsibility as witness, and their role in shaping how others understand events. Is something photographed “true”? What about what’s outside the frame? What of context, background information that viewers of a photograph may not know? Where is the line between documentary and personal expressiveness in writing, even when ostensibly recording “facts”? Do we alter reality simply by selecting from it? In this writing and photography workshop, fellows will wrestle with these questions as they witness, and creatively document, events and circumstances in their environments. For inspiration and to broaden their understanding they’ll read the poetry of Carolyn Forché, Terrance Hayes, and Seamus Heaney, and analyze photographs by Baldwin Lee, Gordon Parks, and Amy Touchette. Each fellow will create a portfolio of images and writing. Their work will be shared at a public exhibition and on the program website. Limited to 9 student fellows.
Somer Greer is a writer and photographer who lived in Baltimore for close to a decade, working as a writing instructor at Johns Hopkins University and other schools in the Mid-Atlantic. He now lives on Bayou Vermilion in Lafayette, Louisiana. Currently, he is working on a series of candid photos of Cajun musicians.
Sabi Baibussinov is a first-year graduate student at Johns Hopkins University and a former journalist from Astana, Kazakhstan. He loves travel, tennis, documentary films, hiking, and cooking.
