Visual Ethnography with Drew Leventhal

Santa Fe Workshops’ free online event series, Creativity Continues, features a special conversation with photographer Drew Leventhal about his ongoing body of work, Yosh, a posthumous history inspired by a family friend’s life and death in colonial Belize.

For the past five years, Drew has examined the (im)possible history of Yosh, a colonial officer in 1950s British Honduras who left post-war England at the age of twenty-six to reinvent his life in Central America. Drew’s project retraces his steps, visually imagining his journey through faith, family, and geography. Created collaboratively with Yosh’s grandson Eddie, the images gesture to Yosh’s divided loyalties as a British colonizer turned Belizean citizen. The project resides at the intersection point of history and imagination, in the liminal space between what is known and what might have been. In his large-format images, Drew balances an idealized requiem with the hidden tensions at play in Yosh’s story.

During this lecture, Drew shares the origins of this project and his own deep connections to the country of Belize. He will unpack his methodology of researching, photographing, and editing, focusing on points of friction that arise in the development of any project. He discusses image sequencing and whether images operate under the framework of a visual grammar. Finally, he explores how artists can simultaneously address the beauty of human connection and intergenerational relationships within the context of complex historical narratives.

Drew Leventhal is a photographer and anthropologist from Philadelphia, PA. He attended Vassar College, the International Center of Photography, and the Rhode Island School of Design. His work focuses on themes of colonial history, family, and the way memory shapes identity. He was the winner of the 2022 Lenscratch Student Prize and was a finalist for the 2023 Aperture Portfolio prize and the 2023 PHMusem prize.

Drew ends his conversation with a lively Q&A session with the webinar audience. Even if you cannot make the live event, a recording of it will be available for all those registered.

Creativity Continues is a program that collectively develops creative voices by offering connection and encouraging expression. Because the goal is to engage all within our creative community, we encourage you to extend invitations and share Santa Fe Workshops Creativity Continues events with anyone who expresses an interest.

Event Recording

Many thanks to everyone who joined us live. View the recorded program below: