WORKSHOP: MAKING AN IMPACT WITH VISUAL STORYTELLING

A workshop by World Press Photo, in association with Proof: Media for Social Justice

The workshop

As the market for visual journalism in the editorial world continues to decline, photographers have to

find creative new ways of engaging an audience. New opportunities are emerging for collaboration

with NGOs and advocacy groups. World Press Photo has a long track record in training photographers

in practical photojournalistic skills. Now World Press Photo is joining forces with Proof: Media for

Social Justice to explore newly emerging opportunities for photography as an advocacy tool, and to

examine how to make compelling visual stories, while successfully maintaining a balance between the

aims of advocacy and journalistic ethics.

Testimonies combined with photography can be used for different purposes. They can be used in

journalistic accounts; for testimony in an international court; in assisting NGOs with policy research

and academic articles; to teach, to preserve history, or simply tell a compelling story. Testimonies

have also helped stimulate and shape social change, and can be an effective tool for policy change

and social transformation.

How can photographs and testimonies work together to promote change? This workshop combines

photography and testimonies to introduce ways of using your photographic project as advocacy tool.

Participants will learn methods and ethics of testimony-taking, and will examine the uses and

importance of testimonies.

In the workshop we will focus on participants’ current projects, and explore creative and

unconventional approaches to visual storytelling. The aim is to help participants draw the attention of

viewers, and to encourage an audience to engage with the issues being tackled. We will also give

advice to participants on how to promote and publish their work.

Method

Learning through example, personal presentations, group exercises, discussions, role play, field trips,

and meet & greets.

Program

The program will run for three days, 18-20 June 2015. The daytime schedule is 9:00—18:00. In the

evenings, participants can join arranged field trips and continue talking over informal dinners.

Day 1, 18 June:

Day 1 combines personal presentations by the photographers on current projects, and/ or ideas for

upcoming projects. Through examples, group exercises, and discussion, the photographers will be

given advice on how to make their projects stand out, and how to get the audience engaged.

- Introduction to the ethics of testimonies.

- Project presentations by participants.

- Brainstorm on human-rights concepts.

- Methods of testimony taking.

- Meet & Greet: Ron Haviv - how to use your personal projects for good.

Day 2, 19 June:

Day 2 combines role play on testimony-taking and discussions. Participants are also given advice on

how to promote and publish their work.

- Role Play: Taking testimonies from each other and staging photo shoots, in a group exercise to

explore the ethics of testimony-taking and photography.

- How to promote and publish work.

- Meet & Greet: Tom Hennes from Thinc design, focusing on photographic productions.

Day 3, 20 June:

Day 3 is focused on how to create an advocacy plan. Participants will create their own visual advocacy

plan using photos and testimonies, in a group exercise. Participants will research topics, and use their

own photos (or alternatively be provided with photos) to learn how to write a concept note. At the end

of the exercise, participants will present their advocacy plan.

- Creating an advocacy plan.

- Final presentations & discussions.

- Visit to Aperture.

Optional: Human-rights film festival at the Lincoln Center.

Themes

- Photography as an advocacy tool: how to make compelling stories.

- Testimonies: how to take and use them, the ethics of the process.

- How to engage your audience (how to promote and publish your work, and draw an audience in).

Payment & Cancellation Policy

Participants will be announced around 20 May, upon which those who have been selected will be sent

an invoice for the payment of US$975. Payment should be made at least three weeks prior to the

workshop.

For help or further questions, please contact World Press Photo at rebecca@worldpressphoto.org.