Tell the Stories You Need to Tell
The Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism program focuses specifically on the investigative skills and technical knowledge necessary for students to advance in the complex and constantly changing world of visual storytelling. ICP’s long-standing commitment to documentary practice ensures that this program engages faculty whose members are among the foremost practitioners in the field today. Visiting photographers discuss best practices, methodologies, and innovative media, as well as political, ethical, and social concerns.
Our student-centered curriculum emphasizes class discussions and critiques in a supportive learning atmosphere. Participants explore the history of visual journalism; develop new and challenging technical skills in still photography, and related media; learn strategies for publication; and create long-term documentary projects that examine the human experience.
Program Structure
- Two Semesters: Fall (Aug-Dec) and Spring (Jan-May), 15 week/ semester
- Class Hours: A minimum of 18 hours per week required
- Full-Time Commitment: Approximately 40 hours per week, including class hours
- Personalized Registration: One-on-one course registration with the Program Chair based on digital skill assessment; individual schedules vary from student to student
- Course Offerings: Required courses, electives, and weekend and January workshops
Meet the Chair
Karen Marshall
Chair of the Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism Program
Profile
Program Highlights
At ICP, students study with a diverse faculty of top practitioners and professionals in the field. Full-time students have access to ICP’s state-of-the-art facilities including digital media labs, analog black-and-white and color darkrooms, and lighting studios. There is also a wide range of equipment that can be checked out of the Equipment Room. Over the course of the program term, students develop their personal vision, and have the opportunity to work with ICP's museum, library, collection, and public programming to broaden their imagemaking knowledge while connecting with ICP's international photography community.
The year culminates in an end-of-year exhibition in ICP's museum and 1:1 portfolio reviews with key professionals in the field, including photo editors at major publications.
Documentary Practice Courses
Required Courses
- Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism Seminar
- Digital Workflows
- Photoshop and Printing
- History of Visual Storytelling
- Short Stories Made on Assignment
- Lighting with Flash: Creating a Personal Vision with Handheld Flash Photography
- Technical Seminar in Colour Photography
- Technical Seminar in Black and White Photography
- Digital Production Seminar
- Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism Seminar
- Inside Photo Editing
- Writing for Photojournalist
Weekend Workshops
- Learning Multimedia
- Large-Format Portraiture on the Street
- Environmental Portraiture on the Street: Intention and Improvisation
- Pre (Occupied) Landscapes
- Development of the Long-Term Visual Story
- The Art of the Interview
- What Is the Story?
- Journalism, Democracy, and Visual Literacy
- On The Wall: Exhibition Practices and Techniques
- How to Make Friends & Use the Internet
- Book Making 2.0
- Photo Zines as a DIY Narrative Platform
- The Editor's Perspective
- Photographing the Invisible
- Photographing Near and Far for The Book and Beyond
- Looking In: The Conversation Between Our Images and Ourselves
Electives
- Technical Seminar in Black-and-White Photography
- Technical Seminar in Color Photography
- A Study in Strobes
- Old Media, New Media: Archives and the Documentarian
- The Loom: Weaving Media
- Portrayal
- Ruminations on Community
- The Conservation Lens
- Locating the Thread
- Images and Ideas
- Intro to Modern Documentary
- Sequencing and Finding Narratives
- Editorial Concepts Across Media Platforms
- On Assignment: Still Working on Time
- Large - Format Photography
- Fact to Fiction
- Mixed Media Playbook
- Intro to Modern Documentary Part 2
- Photographers Writing Lab
- Image Strategies for Human Rights
- A Study in Strobes
- Realms of The Field
- Light and Shadow
- Stories on the Web: Crafting a Narrative Beyond the Still Image
- Inside Photo Editing
- On Speaking Nearby
