Maine Media Workshops

Master Cinematographer Walter Lassally with students during a recent Master's Week at the Workshops

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:13:35 0000

From Rockport to Right Hand Drive (or why being laid off might be good for you!)

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:34:16 0000

If you’re a bit of a geek, and if you don’t mind ever seeing your work actually used, and if you like being in a grey cube all day, then being a software guy in Northern Virginia is the perfect job.

After 13 years of this torture I began looking enviously at the Workshops brochure, the beautiful coastline of Maine and these pictures of potential filmmakers actually practicing making films. The fact that students were actually running the camera, pushing the dolly and producing stuff was very attractive. In fact, even most of the class titles made me salivate!!

If I had been 21 it would have been an easy choice, but I was double that with 3 kids in tow. But the thought of doing nothing but making films for 3 months was overwhelming. I had my eye on the professional filmmakers certificate program, 3 months in the fall and 3 months in the spring, culminating with making your own short film. Pretty cool! Except that I thought I could only excuse my self from my job for 3 months.

So, in August of 2000 I packed up my family and we all moved up to a cottage on the Maine coast.

Alumni Update: Jordana Zeldin

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 11:16:01 0000

Jordana Zeldin grew up in a theatrical family and spent a lot of her childhood and teen years studying acting, fully expecting to follow a career in the theatre. Meanwhile, she also maintained a strong, but background, interest in photography.

Not long ago she concluded that acting was not for her, and began work at a corporate job. It was then that photography moved into the foreground. A friend’s comments on her work, and suggestion that she enter an image into a competition, made her consider a photography career. She immersed herself in the subject and starting doing street photography, leading to a solo show late last year. She also began doing head shots and other theatrical jobs, assisted in a fashion shoot, and worked at the ICP in New York.

Workshops Launches First Annual Appeal

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 10:18:21 0000

Our new non-profit status now makes it possible for friends, businesses, and foundations to provide needed support for the school.

Just a few weeks ago we sent out the very first Maine Media Workshops annual appeal. Even in these uncertain economic times, the response has been positive and immediate. Generous alumni, faculty, and other friends are showing their support for our programs. In fact, we’ve already reached 60% of our goal – but we still have a ways to go and need your help!

With tax-deductible gifts from these individuals and public funders such as the Davis Family Foundation, Bangor Savings Bank, and the Quimby Family Foundations, we’re able to make much-needed campus improvements, keep our technologies state-of-the-art, and build a scholarship endowment so that talented individuals who would not otherwise be able to, participate in our Workshops and Maine Media College programs.

If you’ve already received your 2008 annual appeal letter, we appreciate your consideration of a gift. For your convenience, and for readers who have not received an appeal letter in the mail but would like to make a gift, please visit our website and make a secure gift online.

Many thanks go out to our generous donors on behalf of the Workshops staff here in Rockport, our 35,000 alumni through the world, and the next students to arrive for their first Workshops experience.

It is through the shared commitment of the Workshops community that we keep the magic in motion.

PhotoPlus Highlights

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 10:17:54 0000

The 25th annual PhotoPlus Expo hosted thousands of photographers last week in New York’s Jacob Javits Center.

As always, the Maine Media Workshops’ booth was the busy home base for our staff, former staffers, alumni, and faculty to touch base, visit with one another, and talk to potential students. Not a show just for still photographers, we were delighted to receive a visit from cinematography instructor, Steve Fierberg, ASC, who came to PhotoPlus to check out the latest technology.

October is the perfect time of year for us to visit with sponsors and thank them for their support throughout the year. It’s also a time to make plans for the 2009 season and introduce potential new industry partners to our programs.

This year we partnered with B&H to offer portfolio reviews in their Manhattan store Event Space. Forty-eight photographers signed up to meet one-on-one with Workshops faculty to get a fresh perspective on their work. We want to thank those instructors Arlene Collins, Jean Miele, Stephen Johnson, Sean Harris, Jill Enfield, Karen Marshall, Kate Izor, Yvonne Gomez, and Sean Kernan for being so generous with their time, and Jennifer Diamond and David Brommer at B&H for coordinating the event. We’ve gotten positive feedback from everyone involved and hope to offer more of these events during the year.

PhotoPlus is an incredibly busy and productive time for Workshops staff and we’re not able to spend much time in the booth talking to potential students. A huge thanks goes out to the amazing volunteer team who helped us with everything from set-up to break down, and many hours of booth time in between. We would not have had such a successful show without you: Ethan Jones, Grady O'Connor, Sarah Szwajkos, Mat Thorne, Deanna Witman, Trelawney O’Brien, Tommy Galloway. It’s good so many of you moved to New York from Maine!

Celebrating a Successful Season

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 10:17:16 0000

Our 2008 workshop season soon draws to a close, and what an amazing year!

We’ve welcomed close to 2,100 students to campus, from 48 states and 49 countries. Our thanks go out to our industry sponsors, many of whom increased their support this year; to our world-class instructors so giving of their time, talents, and of themselves; to our tireless and talented summer staff for giving 150% in support of their classes; and of course to our students for whom the school exists and who make each season, each workshop, each day on campus one of inspiration and learning.

We hope to see you back in Rockport for our 36th season in 2009!

MMW instructors Karen Marshall (far left) and Yvonne Gomez review portfolios at the B&H Event Space during PhotoPlus last week.

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:17:54 0000

Workshops Team at PhotoPlus, October 23-25

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:56:54 0000

Next week, Maine Media staff head for the “Big Apple” and the PDN PhotoPlus Expo.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of PhotoPlus. Hosted by Workshops sponsor PDN, the event draws thousands to the Jacob Javits Center to view the very latest in imaging technology at hundreds of exhibitor booths, and to access more than 100 industry seminars.

We’ll be meeting with sponsors and faculty and making plans for the Workshops’ 2009 season. Registrar Kerry Curren will be on hand in our booth (#755) to greet alumni and to answer questions of potential and returning students, with plenty of copies of the new Winter & Spring 2009 workshops brochure available.

Our thanks to all those of you who signed up for the Workshop’s PhotoPlus portfolio review sessions at B&H’s Event Space. We’re happy to report the event is fully booked. If you didn’t get a chance to reserve a spot this year, not to worry, we’re hoping to make this an annual event.

If you’re planning to attend the Expo – we look forward to seeing you at booth 755.

Student Image Graces Brochure Cover

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:55:25 0000

It’s always an exciting challenge to decide on the cover image for the Workshops’ catalogs.

With each publication, we try to find a photograph that captures both who we are and what we do. With our world-renowned faculty and talented students, you might think the decision would easily present itself, but such a wealth of options makes it difficult to choose!

For this year’s Winter & Spring brochure, we are pleased to announce that a student image is featured on the cover. Kelly Joy Morrill, a photography student at the Art Institute of Colorado, came to Rockport this season to take Brenda Tharp’s Capturing Summer Light workshop in order further develop her eye for landscape photography. We were looking for an image that would represent our beautiful locale at any time of year. The striking rock formations and amazing blue waters of Kelly’s photograph capture the beauty and drama of Maine’s coastline in all seasons.

Our thanks to Kelly for assisting with us in the production of another quintessential Workshops cover.

Two Summer Staffers On A Cross-Country Quest for "Green"

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:53:44 0000

When Morrigan “Mo” McCarthy and Alan Winslow met in 2007 as members of the Workshops’ summer staff, neither imagined that one year later, they would set out on a cross-country bike ride in search of “green” stories.

“Project Tandem” is the creation of these two passionate photojournalists – and avid cyclists – who want to find, record, and tell the stories of everyday Americans working in small ways to make significant changes in the way we care for our planet.

Through photographs and audio recordings, Mo and Alan are capturing the faces and voices of people from all walks of life who are having a positive impact on the environment.

Along the way, they’re blogging about the people, places, and ideas they’re introduced to. A Google© map on their website tracks their progress as they ride from town to town. Mo and Alan are also working with schools throughout their journey so that students can watch their progress, participate, and learn about ways they too can make a difference.

“We’ve found that approaching people on a bicycle with a camera is quite different from climbing out of a car with a camera,” says Mo about their trip so far, “The bicycle breaks the ice and gives us a reason to explain our photography project in detail. The kindness we've been shown by complete strangers has been overwhelming and very moving.”

After completing their 11,000-mile trek, the Tandem team plan to compile these stories and produce a traveling show and multimedia piece for the web. By celebrating even small efforts on behalf of the environment, they hope to bringing attention to the issue of global warming in a new way.

Their friends here in Rockport and across the country wish them a safe and inspiring journey.

Read more about Alan and Mo's project at www.projecttandem.org