Join The Myth of the Real masterclass instructor Eli Durst on Tuesday, April 28, between 6:00-7:00 pm CST as he presents his personal work and discusses contemporary approaches to documentary photography.
Registration is required using this link.
Eli Durst’s work examines how group identity and social norms shape everyday life, particularly in suburban America. Blending documentary observation with staged elements, he challenges the idea of photographic truth and highlights the performative nature of social behavior. In series like The Children’s Melody, Durst uses subtle manipulation and lighting to blur the line between reality and fiction, creating images that feel both familiar and unsettling.
In this presentation, Durst will share his personal work and review strategies that transcend traditional modes of documentary image making. The presentation will be followed with a conversation about contemporary approaches to documentary photography and a Q&A session.
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Eli Durst lives and works in Austin, Texas, where he teaches at the University of Texas College of Fine Arts. His photographs have been exhibited internationally and have been featured in Aperture, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Vogue, and The Atlantic among others. Durst has received numerous prizes, including the 2016 Aperture Portfolio Prize, a 2017 Aaron Siskind Individual Photographer’s Fellowship Grant, and a 2025 Guggenheim Fellowship.
Eli Durst’s HCP masterclass The Myth of the Real will take place on Saturday & Sunday, May 16 - 17, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.