Dates: March 11, 2027
Meetings: Thursday, 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM CST (1 session)
Location: The Anne Wilkes Tucker Photography Study Center at MFAH
Cost: $98 (HCP members can receive a 10% discount)
Instructor: Howard Bossen
Skill Level: Open to All Levels
Portraits are everywhere. From the first small, jewel-like daguerreotypes made in 1839 to today's monumental digital color portraits, there is always more to a portrait than meets the eye. Who has agency in creating a portrait: the photographer, the subject, or both? How is the subject's identity represented, interpreted, or even constructed?
This workshop explores these questions through a wide range of photographic portraits, from images made without the subject's consent to those shaped entirely by the photographer, created collaboratively, or produced as self-portraits. Through close examination and discussion, students will consider how power, identity, and artistic intention influence photographic representation.
Held at the Anne Wilkes Tucker Photography Study Center at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, this workshop draws on the MFAH's rich photography collection. Students will have the rare opportunity to examine original photographs firsthand, experiencing their actual scale, color, tone, and texture.
Objectives:
Understand how agency, identity, and representation play key roles in the creation of photographic portraits
Explore the different approaches to portraiture, from photographer-directed images to collaborative portraits and self-portraits
Identify key elements of well-conceived photographic portraits
Gain an insider's view of the MFAH's photography collection
Develop a deeper appreciation for photographic portraits in their many forms
Understand how viewing original photographs reveals qualities often lost in digital reproductions
Prerequisites: None
Course Prep:
A shortlist of optional readings will be made available prior to the workshop. A pencil and notebook or laptop for notetaking is optional.
Dates: March 11, 2027
Meetings: Thursday, 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM CST (1 session)
Location: The Anne Wilkes Tucker Photography Study Center at MFAH
Cost: $98 (HCP members can receive a 10% discount)
Instructor: Howard Bossen
Skill Level: Open to All Levels
Portraits are everywhere. From the first small, jewel-like daguerreotypes made in 1839 to today's monumental digital color portraits, there is always more to a portrait than meets the eye. Who has agency in creating a portrait: the photographer, the subject, or both? How is the subject's identity represented, interpreted, or even constructed?
This workshop explores these questions through a wide range of photographic portraits, from images made without the subject's consent to those shaped entirely by the photographer, created collaboratively, or produced as self-portraits. Through close examination and discussion, students will consider how power, identity, and artistic intention influence photographic representation.
Held at the Anne Wilkes Tucker Photography Study Center at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, this workshop draws on the MFAH's rich photography collection. Students will have the rare opportunity to examine original photographs firsthand, experiencing their actual scale, color, tone, and texture.
Objectives:
Understand how agency, identity, and representation play key roles in the creation of photographic portraits
Explore the different approaches to portraiture, from photographer-directed images to collaborative portraits and self-portraits
Identify key elements of well-conceived photographic portraits
Gain an insider's view of the MFAH's photography collection
Develop a deeper appreciation for photographic portraits in their many forms
Understand how viewing original photographs reveals qualities often lost in digital reproductions
Prerequisites: None
Course Prep:
A shortlist of optional readings will be made available prior to the workshop. A pencil and notebook or laptop for notetaking is optional.
Images:
1: Rania Matar, Danielle, Jamaica Plain, MA
2: Meade Brothers, Sam Houston
3: Rania Matar, Maryam 9, Beirut
4: Edward Steichen, J. P. Morgan, From Camera work, Special Steichen Supplement
