Students will learn how to produce powerful visual narratives that give voice to people and situations that deserve to be seen and heard, as well as the technical and logistical skills necessary for ethical journalism and documentary-style photography. We will work from conception of a story idea, through execution, to getting your story published.

Students will spend eight weeks (each class is 3 hours) developing a personal project that has resonance with larger social matters. The class will incorporate photo critiques on student’s weekly assignments designed for real world learning. These assignments allow students to pursue individual learning opportunities that are unique to their interests through field practice.

Instructor bio:
Avery White is a multimedia storyteller and journalist based in Bushwick, Brooklyn. She covers resistance movements around climate change, social justice, and immigration.

Stories she has covered include Statue of Liberty Climber Patricia Okoumou, Syrian Refugees in the Deep South, Indigenous Science, Cannabis Agriculture, and the Sex Worker Rights Movement in New Orleans. In Spring of 2017, she spent two months covering “Border Angels,” Pro-Trump Militia, Mural artists, Undocumented Immigrants, Borderland Residents, Environmentalists, and Activists at the United States-Mexico Border. In the winter of 2016 she spent three months taking photos and conducting interviews under extreme conditions at the Standing Rock protests. She traveled there as a freelance photojournalist to highlight the Water Protectors’ diverse experiences, and report on rising tensions as police brutality increased. While there, she slept in a tent in below freezing temperatures and produced pieces for Vice, Al Jazeera, Daily Beast, Buzzfeed, Rolling Stone and AfroPunk.

***As part of our mission to make our courses accessible to working class people of color, we have designed the sliding-scale rate options above. Other criteria that is part of the low tier includes the following 1) Are not able to afford the full class contribution of $120; 2) Identify as any of the following: Latinx/Black/Native/person of color, working class, long-term NYC resident, LGBTQI+ folks and 3) Come from or work directly with frontline communities. This course has only 20 spots available.

Syllabus here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z20v39th0PsGTdapNm4enbPWCY8ORqyR39sc3OnUqBI/edit?usp=sharing

More about Avery here: https://www.averyleighwhite.com