Course Dates: Thursdays, October 9, 16, & 23, 6-7:30 pm

Location: Room 210 (The Board Room)

Registration Fee: $25

Course Description

Learn to tell visual stories with acclaimed photographer Arthur Nager. This three-part workshop helps photographers at all levels develop a cohesive body of work based on visual or conceptual themes. Participants will study past and contemporary photographers to understand visual and narrative strategies and apply these insights to their own projects. The course emphasizes presenting and critiquing work in digital or print formats, with some discussion of technique and camera skills for both camera phones and traditional digital and film cameras.

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollees should submit a brief description of their photographic experience, five low-res photographs (not to exceed five megabytes), and links to websites or social media featuring their work if applicable to jconnon@westportlibrary.org to help shape the course content. (Participants may submit five photographic prints in lieu of digital images, but please bring these to the first class session and remember to send the email requested above.)

About the Instructor

Arthur Nager is a photographer, curator, and educator whose work explores the American social landscape. He holds an MFA in photography from Visual Studies Workshop and a BA in history and psychology from the University of Rochester. He began his career at George Eastman House under Harold Jones and was influenced by Nathan Lyons and Syl Labrot.

Nager later taught in Colorado before becoming Director of the Photography Program at the University of Bridgeport, where he built a nationally recognized curriculum and lecture series that brought some of photography’s most iconic figures to campus.

His work has been widely exhibited in the U.S. and abroad, including recent shows in Rome, New York City, and the Mattatuck Museum in Connecticut. His photographs are held in the permanent collections of the George Eastman House, South Street Seaport Museum, and Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History.

He has received numerous grants and fellowships, including a National Endowment for the Humanities award for his research on photography’s influence on 19th-century impressionism.

Nager continues to photograph, write, and teach between Connecticut and New York City. His current projects focus on urban change, public spaces, and overlooked areas of the built environment. His photography exhibit Every Picture Tells a Story will be on display in the Library’s Sheffer Gallery October 8 through December 15.

Important Information About Verso University

• Classes are usually structured as a consecutive series.
• Class size is often limited.
• Each series has a one-time fee registration fee covering all classes in the series.
• Registration is mandatory.
• The Westport Library wants to ensure that all interested students are able to participate in Verso University courses. If the registration fee is a barrier to entry for you, please contact JConnon@westportlibrary.org.

Verso University is the Library’s lifelong learning and education initiative, serving up year-round offerings of classes, workshops, and lectures designed to further education and learning. Offerings run the gamut of educational opportunities, ranging from one-time lectures to ongoing courses to classes that meet weekly or perhaps monthly.

Verso University programs are made possible by the generous support of the Nancy J. Beard Lifelong Learning and Education Fund.

Photography
Visual Arts Collection