Visual storytelling with Ron Haviv

Visual Storytelling in the Digital Age

Biography

Ron Haviv is an Emmy nominated and award-winning photojournalist and co-founder of the photo agency VII, dedicated to documenting conflict and raising awareness about human rights issues around the globe.

In the last three decades, Haviv has covered more than twenty-five conflicts and worked in over one hundred countries. He has published three critically acclaimed collections of photography, and his work has been featured in numerous museums and galleries, including the Louvre, the United Nations, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Haviv’s photographs are in the collections at The Houston Museum of Fine Arts and George Eastman House amongst others as well as numerous private collections.

Haviv has produced an unflinching record of the injustices of war and his photography has had singular impact. His work in the Balkans, which spanned over a decade of conflict, was used as evidence to indict and convict war criminals at the international tribunal in The Hague. President H.W. George Bush cited Haviv’s chilling photographs documenting paramilitary violence in Panama as one of the reasons for the 1989 American intervention.

His film work has appeared on PBS’s Need to Know and Frontline as well as NBC Nightly News and ABC World News Tonight. He has directed short films for ESPN, People Magazine, Doctors Without Borders, Asia Society and American Photography. Haviv’s music videos have been on the MTV Europe and Sol Musica channels in Spain.

His first photography book, Blood and Honey: A Balkan War Journal, was called “One of the best non-fiction books of the year,” by The Los Angeles Times and “A chilling but vastly important record of a people’s suffering,” by Newsweek. His two other monographs are Afghanistan: The Road to Kabul and Haiti: 12 January 2010.

Haviv has helped create multi-platform projects for Doctors Without Borders’ DR Congo: The Forgotten War and Starved for Attention, Unicef’s Child Alert for Darfur and Sri Lanka and the International Committee of the Red Cross’s World at War.

His commercial clients include Ad Council, American Express, BAE, Canon USA, ESPN, IBM and Volkswagen. Haviv is the central character in six documentary films, including National Geographic Explorer’s Freelance in a World of Risk, in which he speaks about the dangers of combat photography, including his numerous detentions and close calls. He has provided expert analysis and commentary on ABC World News, BBC, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America and The Charlie Rose Show.

Ron Haviv is a member of VII agency . www.ronhaviv.com .

If you want to be kept informed about Ron Haviv, you can go on Facebook, LIKE Eyes in Progress , his agency VII or his own page and add us on your list of interests.

About the European Workshops Series in partnership with VII photos

In 2015, Ed Kashi, Ron Haviv, Marcus Bleasdale, Stefano De Luigi and John Stanmeyer, all members of the prestigious VII Agency will lead photography workshops in 4 different European capitals: Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Berlin, as part of the Eyes in Progress’s workshops programme.

Goal

 Learn and improve how to build a documentary reportage by covering an editorial story. To refine storytelling and story composition by analyzing real-situation problems, images analysis, editing and captions writing. Most of all, the Visual Storytelling Workshops will help you discover your own visual language as well as practical and conceptual know how to confront real situation reportage making. This workshop will also focus on how to gain a new perspective on one’s works and attitude.

European project

This is a great opportunity for story-tellers to develop a specific story during these workshops as they will be located in different European cities i.e. as Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Berlin. Europe is a rich place for finding ideas for research and documentary subjects.

Program

"This year it is said that almost 1 trillion images will be shot. Most of them will be forgotten as soon as they are seen. This is the issue. How does the work that needs to be seen and understood rise to the top.

To succeed as a photographer whether it's your profession or just the love of the craft, the work needs to have the visual voice and authorship intertwined. When people say that photojournalism is over, I say no, that this is the beginning. With all the tools we have to tell stories and reach an audience wider than ever before, it is obvious we are at the start of a new golden age of photography." Ron Haviv (LDV Vision Summit 2014 NYC)

This will be a hands on workshop with shooting sessions, individual assignments, daily group discussion and editing sessions.

You'll be expected to fully immerse yourself, take risks and push your boundaries in order to move forward into another level in your photography.

Day 1:

• Student Introduction.

• Ron Haviv Presentation. Ron Haviv will spend time talking about his own work and the different projects he has worked on. He will share his photographic references with the group and discuss the challenges of being a working photographer.

• Lecture: Presentation of Contemporary Photojournalists.

• In Class Assignment: Write Story Pitch.

• Discussion: Individual stories ideas and brainstorm execution. Each participant will receive and in-depth critique of their work which will also be used as a jumping board for workshop assignments. Participants are highly encouraged to come to the workshop with defined ideas on the subject they want to photograph during the workshop. However, a list of ideas in Berlin will be sent to the participants before the workshop begins, Eyes in Progress is able to help in establishing contacts with local associations and persons.

• Assignment: start shooting story.

Day 2:

• Assignment: Rest of Day Independent Shooting.

Ron is available all day for help.

In case the participant does not have a precise idea on what subject to shoot in Berlin, a list of stories will be provided a few weeks ahead the workshop. Help with directions, contacts and translation in Berlin will be provided by the workshop team if needed. Participants are encouraged to come back and forth at the studio in order to have feedback on the shooting process and recommendations/advices to improve.

Day 3:

• Assignment: All Day Independent Shooting.

• One on One Critiques- Additional Portfolio Critique and Story Critique.

• Group Edit.

Day 4:

• Morning Assignment: Finish Shooting.

• Final Edit. Each participant will work on a large edit of his images, then they are printed and laid down on a table (10x15 format). The final editing is made during a one-to-one session with Ron Haviv, the other participants are encouraged to attend the sessions of the others. Once the final edit is done, the participants may work on the post-process and are then allowed to make A4 and/or A3 prints of their best images. They are then to write a personal statement on the work, which will be send to the reviewer of their choice.

• Lecture: Find support in order to make your project happen. Marketing for Photojournalists.

• Final Questions

Final projections

Teaching language: English.

Workshop hours: 9h30 to 18h30.

May 20 - May 23, 2015
4 days in Berlin - 950 €

DONE

PARTICIPANTS’
WORKS

Conditions

- Only 9 students will be admitted for each session. Students will be granted admission to the workshop based on a review of a selection of 10 of their photographs.

- The 950€ fee does not include transport, accommodation nor on the ground expenses. For participants coming from outside the European Union, please be aware that there is a bank fee when making the payments via bank transfer.

- In order to confirm your application, an advance payment of €100 is advised. Once the application is completed, we will send an email via PayPal to the participant in order to settle the payment. If the candidate is accepted, this amount will be deducted from the overall cost of the workshop.

- In case the participation is not confirmed, he will get a full pay back of the 100€ fee.

- If accepted, the participant will receive a course contract confirming the success of his application by email.

- To confirm registration, the participant must return this contract to us, signed, within ten days, along with payment of 30% of the cost of the workshop.

- The rest of the fee must be paid by the first day of the workshop at the latest. The participant will then receive a receipt.

- A dossier in order to get prepared for the workshop will be sent to the participant at least two weeks before the course begins.

- If you're willing to participate in more than one workshop, we do offer a 10% discount on the following workshops' price.

Pre-requisite

- Successful candidates will be expected to arrive comfortable with their equipment and ready to photograph.

- Participants working digitally should bring their own laptops, and everything needed for digital editing.

- Participants working on film can use external laboratories services to develop their films but at their own expense and within the given time. Eyes in Progress will provide a list of laboratories and prices and the workshop team will be able, whenever possible, to bring the films to the lab and back once they're developed.

- Participants are required to find their own accommodation in Paris. However Eyes in Progress will provide you with a list of affordable places.

Education material

- Photo books

- Projector and screen

- 1 MAC with photo editing software

- Professional A3 printer

- Negative scanner

- Photo paper

A technical assistant will be present during the workshop.

After the workshop

- The portfolios produced by each participant will be published on the site of Eyes in Progress.

- An evaluation committee comprised of professional photo editors, journalists, creative directors and gallery curators will then critique these portfolios. It will be published on the student's page on Eyes in Progress.

- In case the participant does not want a portfolio review after the workshop, the workshop price will be reduced of 70€.

- Video interviews in which the students discuss their work, their motivation as photographers, as well as what they learned during the masterclass will also be posted on the site. In case the participant is not willing to have his video online, we won't publish it, however, we do encourage to record the video anyways as a practical exercise on how to orally express himself as a photographer.

- Social media modules will be available in order to share the page with friends and contacts.

- Each participant will be awarded a certificate of completion of the course.

- The participants will be required to evaluate the course when it has been completed, to show their level of overall satisfaction and the extent of their acquisition of new skills. These evaluations will help us to improve our courses.

- If the participant is not willing to have his profile online (portfolio, review, video), we will of course respect his decision and will not publish it.

Deadlines

- There will be two rounds of applications review

It is possible that the workshop is completed with the first round of applications, in that case, the second round of applications will not be processed.

- In case the participant comes from far away and needs to make early travel arrangements regarding the workshop's date, we will study his request to review his application ahead of the official deadlines.

- Eyes in Progress reserves the right to cancel groups with less than 7 participants. Students will be given either a full refund or offered a place with an alternative photographer. In the event of a cancellation, students will be given at least 3 weeks advance notice. Eyes in Progress reserves the right to change or alter the program advertised.

- If a participant decides to cancel for whatever reason, this must be confirmed in writing:

. Eyes in Progress will reimburse all the registration costs except for the €100 administrative fee, if the participant informs Eyes in Progress of cancellation at least 3 weeks before the first day of the workshop. Beyond this time limit, Eyes in Progress will charge the following:

. 50% of the cost if cancelled between 6 and 20 days before the workshop commences.

. 100% of the cost if cancelled less than 5 days before the workshop commences.

. All workshops that are commenced but not completed through the fault of the participant need to be paid in full.

- Eyes in Progress is not responsible for reimbursement of travel expenses in case a workshop is cancelled. We recommend that you buy refundable air tickets and/or travel insurance.

SPECIAL NEED ACCESS

Eyes in Progress is committed to using all possible means to enable beneficiaries with disabilities to participate in the workshops. For this, the director of Eyes in Progress will assess all required adaptations and implement them.

Visual storytelling with Ron Haviv

Visual Storytelling in the Digital Age

Biography

About the European Workshops Series in partnership with VII photos

Goal

European project

Specific topics

The organization

Program

Conditions

Pre-requisite

Education material

After the workshop

Deadlines

SPECIAL NEED ACCESS