Seeing Family: A Creative Approach to Telling the Story

Though it can take many different forms, family is something we all experience, a universal aspect of our shared humanity. How can we explore this topic and express it in imagery that goes beyond the documentary portrait?

Heather Evans Smith has been chronicling the subject of family for years through photo-based work that reflects her experience as a woman, a mother, and a native Southerner, as well as her memories of growing up in a rural town as an only child, reliant on her whimsical imagination. Her photographic images employ conceptual settings to explore memory, loss, and family, and over the course of five days, she shares her techniques and strategies with participants, discussing the in-depth process that brings her ideas to fruition.

Family is beautiful, tender, complicated, and often hard. At times an old photo, memento, or song can evoke a memory or relationship, resulting in a still life that tells a story or sparks an insight. With these connections in mind, participants are given weekly assignments that encourage them to think about family from new and creative perspectives.

Under Heather’s guidance, we discover unique ways of using photography to explore the complexity and nuance of family. Join her and discover fresh approaches for delving deeply into this multifaceted subject.