Portrait Photography Workshop with Donald E. Camp

Donald E. Camp joins us at Maja Park to lead attendees through a portrait photography workshop. Using thermal printing cameras, Donald will lead guests through the stages of portrait photography, and guests will get to take their work home with them. Audience members should plan to arrive at 5:30 and stay for the entirety of the workshop, as Donald will be leading guests through a step by step process.

Donald E. Camp is one of the photographers featured in the InLiquid Exhibition, Revelations: An Evolution of Introspection. On view from August 8th – September 27th at the InLiquid Gallery at 1400 N American St. Learn more here.

About the Exhibition:

Twenty years ago, New Orleans underestimated the impact that Hurricane Katrina would have. Once Katrina hit land, aging infrastructure failed, and an entire city was thrown into an unimaginable hellscape of flooding waters and crumbling humanity. The United States Government proved institutional neglect and systemic inequalities were, and are still, very much a part of the American way of life – especially for people of color. Donald E. Camp and Clarence Williams, two acclaimed Black photojournalists with Philly roots, who experienced the devastation first-hand, alongside poet and spoken word artist, Ursula Rucker, reflect on that history in Revelations: An Evolution of Introspection. The exhibition curated by accomplished artist/photographer and cultural activist Lonnie Graham recounts, photographically and poetically, the experiences of those who endured Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. 

Revelations: An Evolution of Introspection includes a haunting series of images captured by Clarence Williams in the days and weeks immediately following Hurricane Katrina’s landfall and the subsequent failure of levees. His photos highlight the sheer chaos of the time for those seeking shelter among the bodies of the deceased who were abandoned. In a more subtle approach, Donald E. Camp uses mud washed inland from the event for his non-traditional photographic techniques, using the residue of the disaster to create his photographic portraits. Williams’ and Camp’s different approaches illustrate how artists understand and contextualize the world around them to communicate their ideas. Finally, Ursula Rucker lends her words in a series of poems, originally published in her and Clarence Williams’ book “Drown the Devil,” to convey the anguish of those who experienced Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

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This workshop is part of the Parkway to Park Festival. Learn more about their summer programming here: https://www.parkwaytoparkfestival.org/