Don Werthmann is a Professional Photography Faculty member in the Digital Media Arts Department at Washtenaw Community College, in Ann Arbor. While teaching a wide range of courses for over two decades, among his favorites are the project and portfolio development classes, because it’s when students organize large collections of work for the first time and realize that their images are not just objects; they are ideas. Don is the recipient of the 2024 TRENDS in Occupational Education, Outstanding Faculty Award.

Don’s passion and appreciation for various forms of visual art and art history emerged when he was a teenager, that eventually led him to earn BFA and MA degrees in Photography from Wayne State University, in Detroit. His forty-year career spans across commercial, editorial, photo education, film and digital eras, web design, studio and location lighting, and most recently handbound bookmaking.

Before launching a twenty-five-year college teaching career, Don arrived at Santa Fe Workshops as a participant in 1991. He returned in 1994 for five years as their Operations Manager and a workshop instructor. This is Don’s sixth year teaching at SFW, and he is thrilled to return for this online experience.

As a practitioner in the genre of lyric documentary, Don’s images are infused with curiosity, the lyricism of everyday life, and a naturally unfolding tapestry of events presented to the camera. He recently self-published a handbound book entitled, To Think Outloud: The Collection of Visual Poems for Visual Literacy. One iteration or another of the Quatrain Project is visible by following a link noted below.