Magnum Photos Blog

Magnum Workshops: Fotofestival Mannheim–Ludwigshafen-Heidelberg 

May 30, 2013 
by Chien-Chi Chang 
Magnum Photos is delighted to announce the first Magnum workshop in Heidelberg, an exciting opportunity held as part of Fotofestival Mannheim–Ludwigshafen-Heidelberg’s 5th anniversary celebration. To mark this special occasion, the Fotofestival has invited our legendary agency to be its artistic partner. “Grenzgänge. Magnum: Trans-Territories” will present works that deal with geographic, political, economic and private territories, while circumambulating both physical and symbolic borderlands. Inspired by the specific characteristics of the Fotofestival—with its partner institutions located in three cities and two German federal states—curator Andréa Holzherr will display images illustrating the defense, opening, and intertwining of various territories and regions.

<strong>The Magnum Workshops in Heidelberg</strong>

There will be three Magnum Workshops of 12 students maximum, and each will offer an intensive 4 days practical photography course, led by renowned Magnum photographers: Chien-Chi Chang and Chris Steele-Perkins.

The workshop is aimed at students who already possess a good understanding of photographic practice, and each photographer will lead his or her groups through a daily program of shooting, reviews, group critiques, mentoring, editing sessions and the opportunity to learn amongst peers. Candidates will develop their visual language and photographic identity, along with practical, technical and conceptual skills, and the expertise required to compete in a changing marketplace.

Participants will also be asked to approach a photographic story in Heidelberg and its surrounding area, either relating to previous works or interests, or exploring an opportunity to work under a new discipline. Magnum’s photographers will help students discover how they can improve their own photography and editing, rather than impose their own photographic style.

The environment of the workshop will be conducive to an intimate, creative atmosphere. The location of the workshops in Heidelberg is Hall 02, a cultural off-space in Heidelberg near the train station (<a href='http://www.halle02.de' target='_blank'>www.halle02.de</a>). The workshop will end with a public projection of the work produced during the 4 days and a public talk with the Magnum photographers.

<strong>Conditions</strong>

The workshops will take place at Hall 02, Heidelberg from September 12th to 15th 2013.

Halle 02
Güteramtsstr.2
D-69115 Heidelberg
<a href='http://www.halle02.de' target='_blank'>www.halle02.de</a>

Workshop participants should show a good level of photographic aptitude. Candidates will be expected to arrive comfortable with their equipment and ready to photograph. All students should shoot digitally. Each workshop is limited to 12 participants and photographers will be subject to online applications.

<strong>Tuition fees</strong>

The tuition for the Magnum Workshop is 650€. This does not include photo developing, post-production, travel, accommodations* or meals.
* A list of affordable hotels and travel facilities will be provided for successful applicants.

<em>Magnum Photos reserves the right to change or alter the program advertised.</em>
- If a participant decides to cancel for whatever reason, it must be confirmed in writing:
. Magnum Photos will reimburse all the registration costs except for €100 administrative fee, if the participant informs Magnum Photos of cancellation at least 3 weeks before the first day of the workshop. Beyond this time limit, Magnum Photos will charge the following:
. 50% of the cost if cancelled between 6 and 20 days before the workshop commences.
. 100% of the cost if cancelled less than 5 days before the workshop commences.
. All workshops that are commenced but not completed through the fault of either the contractor/or participant need to be paid in full.
- Magnum Photos is not responsible for reimbursement of travel expenses in case a workshop is cancelled. We recommend that you buy refundable air tickets and/or travel insurance.

<strong>Travel & Accommodation</strong>

Participants are expected to make their own arrangements regarding travel and accommodation; a list of suitable accommodation options will be provided to successful candidates. Please ensure you have the necessary travel documents & relevant visas in order to attend the event. Magnum Photos can provide letters of support when necessary.

<strong>Applications</strong>

<a href="https://magnumphotos.wufoo.com/forms/k7s6w7/" target="_blank">Click here to apply</a>

The first deadline for acceptance is September 5th, and qualified applicants will be selected through a combination of the merit of their work, their personal statement, and the order of their application's receipt. All applications received after September 5th will be reviewed, space permitting.

For queries please contact: <a href="mailto:magnum.mannheim@magnumphotos.com">Elsa Bizet</a>


<strong>The photographers</strong>

<em>Chris Steele-Perkins, British, b. Burma 1947</em>
At the age of two, Chris Steele-Perkins moved to England from Burma with his father, and attended school at Christ's Hospital. At the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, he studied psychology and worked for the student newspaper. After graduating in 1970, he started work as a freelance photographer, and moved to London in 1971.

Apart from a trip to Bangladesh in 1973, he worked mainly in Britain in areas concerned with urban poverty and subcultures. In 1975, he worked with EXIT, a collective dealing with social problems in British cities. This involvement culminated in the book Survival Programmes in 1982. In 1976, he joined the Paris-based Viva agency. His first solo book, The Teds, was published in 1979, and also edited the book for the Arts Council of Great Britain.

Steele-Perkins joined Magnum Photos in 1979 and began working extensively in the developing world, particularly Africa, Central America and Lebanon, but continued photographing in Britain, notably in The Pleasure Principle, which explores Britain in the 1980s. In 1992, he published Afghanistan, the result of four trips over four years. After marrying his second wife, Miyako Yamada, he embarked on a long-term exploration of Japan, publishing Fuji in 2000. A highly personal diary of 2001, Echoes, was published in 2003, and the second of his Japanese books, Tokyo Love Hello was debuted in March 2007. He continues to work in Britain, documenting rural life in Durham County, which was published as Northern Exposures in 2007. In 2009, he published a collection of work from 40 years of photographing England in England, My England. His most recent book, Fading Light, on British centenarians, was published in 2012.

Steele-Perkins has two sons, Cedric, born 16th November 1990, and Cameron, born 18th June 1992. With his marriage to Miyako Yamada he has a stepson, Daisuke and a grand-daughter, Momoe.

<em>Chien-Chi Chang, b. Taiwan 1961</em>
In his work, Chien-Chi Chang manifests the abstract concepts of alienation and connection. “The Chain,” a collection of portraits from a mental asylum in Taiwan, was a sensation when it was shown at La Biennale di Venezia (2001) and the Bienal de Sao Paolo (2002). The life-sized photographs of pairs of patients literally chained together resonate with Chang’s jaundiced look at the less visible bonds of marriage. He has treated marital ties in two books—I do I do I do (2001), a collection of images depicting alienated grooms and brides in Taiwan, and in Double Happiness (2005), a brutal depiction of the business of selling brides in Vietnam.

Familial and cultural ties are also the themes of an ambitious project Chang begun in 1992. For 20 years, he has photographed the bifurcated lives of Chinese immigrants in New York’s Chinatown, along with their wives and families back home in Fujian. A work in progress, “China Town” was hung at the National Museum of Singapore in 2008 as part of a mid-career survey, “Doubleness.” Chang’s investigation of the ties that bind one person to another draws on his own deeply divided immigrant experience. Born in Taiwan in 1961, Chang studied at Soochow University (B.A. 1984) and at Indiana University (M.S. 1990). He joined Magnum in 1995 and became a full member in 2001.

<a href="http://www.fotofestival.info/en/" target="_blank">More Information</a>
<a href="http://www.halle02.de/" target="_blank">Halle 02</a>

<a href="http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_10_VForm&ERID=24KL53ZLJS" target="_blank">Chien-Chi Chang’s portfolio</a>
<a href="http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_10_VForm&ERID=24KL53Z6VT" target="_blank">Chris Steele Perkins’ portfolio</a>