How to Talk and Write About Your Work
with Jean Miele
September 9 – September 26, 2025
Course Description
Do you get stuck when people ask you what kind of photography you do? Does the prospect of writing an artist statement fill you with dread? In this online workshop with Jean “Gino” Miele you learn to describe your work in a direct and meaningful way.
As you discover how to avoid the twin pitfalls of literal and technical description, as well as the dreaded “artspeak,” you begin to understand the critical difference between a superficial description of what your photographs depict (what they’re of) and the more subtle—and infinitely more interesting—reasons you have for making them (what they’re about).
We focus on recognizing the underlying themes in your work, separate and distinct from the subject. Conversations, exercises, and portfolio reviews help each participant determine and express what genuinely matters to them. The goal isn’t creating a single piece of writing; it’s training yourself to talk and write about your work powerfully and effectively.
Participants complete the workshop confident in what to say (and not say) when presenting a portfolio, with a body of writing that forms a foundation for artist statements and other documents, plus an array of great responses to the question, “What do you photograph?”
As you deepen your understanding of your own work, you learn to engage people as dynamically with your words as you do with your pictures.
Additional Information
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
Open to photographers interested in this unique program.
Special Notes:
Class will meet 3:00 – 5:00 pm (Mountain Time) on Tuesdays and Fridays starting September 9 and ending September 26 (six online group sessions). Enrollment is limited to 12 participants.
Zoom Video Conferencing software (available for no charge from Zoom.com) will be used to facilitate the class sessions. Further details will be emailed to registrants.
Santa Fe Workshops always aims to produce a high-quality experience for our online attendees. That said, variables including regional and local internet provider speeds, traffic on Zoom's servers, and your own computing hardware can contribute to a less than ideal streaming event. While we do our best to minimize the impact of these variables, they are outside the control of Santa Fe Workshops.
Policies:
View Withdrawal and Transfer Policies for online programs.
For the convenience of participants, recordings of each class session are posted privately for one month after the end of each session. Santa Fe Workshops takes the recordings down after one month to protect the intellectual property of our instructors.
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about
Jean “Gino” Miele’s photographs explore the borderlands between fiction and reality, and reflect his lifelong interest in perception, spirituality, and mysticism. His images remind us that moments of perfection are possible, and that we create our own reality. He believes every photograph is an act of transformation, and that the photographs we make tell us more about ourselves than about what was in front of the lens.
Gino’s photographs have appeared in thousands of publications. His artwork has been exhibited internationally and acquired by collectors worldwide. Gino has taught at Santa Fe Workshops since 2003. His primary goals are to demystify digital technique and empower students to realize their own photographic vision.
Website: jeanmiele.com
Instagram: @jean_miele
