Sketchbook Practices for Photographers
with Kelly Lee Webeck
January 16 – February 20, 2027
Course Description
A sketchbook is a valuable tool for studio practice: a vessel to help artists preserve their thoughts, process their ideas, and grow as makers. For photographers, a sketchbook can be a place to write down exposure records, keep notes during courses or lectures, display exhibition postcards, preserve test prints (and scraps that may otherwise be destined for the trash), and more. Because everyone approaches the practice in a different way, no two sketchbooks look the same.
Kelly Webeck introduces various ways that the sketchbook can be used as a tool for a photographer’s studio practice. Together we look at examples of sketchbooks from contemporary photographers, both established and emerging, to see how the written word is combined with visuals to support a developing body of work. These examples are shared alongside images of finished bodies of work (and, when available, installation photographs), so we can discuss the connections between the sketchbook process and the final pieces.
Through guided visual and written assignments, participants are given the opportunity to work with their own sketchbooks over the course of the workshop, and we share our ongoing progress in the second half of each group session. As you get comfortable writing with courage and conviction, you discover how a sketchbook practice can substantially influence your image-making.
Additional Information
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
Special Notes:
Class will meet 10:00 am – 12:00 pm (Mountain Time) on Saturdays starting January 16 and ending on February 20 (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.
These live online sessions take place in the standard Zoom meeting format. Students can use their microphone and camera, see and hear the instructor and other students, and participate in live discussion and interaction throughout the sessions.
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.
Recording class sessions using personal devices or third-party tools is not permitted. Session recordings are provided by Santa Fe Workshops and are available to enrolled students for two months after the class. This policy helps protect the intellectual property and privacy of both instructors and students.
about
Kelly Lee Webeck is a photographer and visual arts educator based in Berlin, Germany. She received her BFA in visual art studies from the University of Texas at Austin and her MFA in photography from Indiana University, Bloomington. Her photographic research is about Holocaust history, memory, and education. During her graduate studies, she spent one year on fellowship at Freie Universität Berlin to research Holocaust landscapes and memorial sites. During this time, she photographed the city and beyond, falling in love with the quality of light, the energy, the grit, and the thriving photographic community. She connects deeply with Berlin and is thrilled to share the city as an immersive, energetic backdrop to teach in.
As an artist, she is interested in bookbinding, analogue photography, and the use of vernacular photography in contemporary practices. She teaches visual arts at an international school in Berlin and teaches courses online related to contemporary photographic practices as well as Sketchbook Practices for Photographers. She has maintained a sketchbook practice that supports her photography for more than 15 years.
Instagram: @rocketfacedweeb
