Classes Teachers Books/Zines The Photobook Show Photo_Talks Scholarships

Classes

Winter & Spring Photography Classes

Our live, interactive, and instructor-led photography classes take place online in small groups generally limited to 6 to 8 students. We give each other feedback in real time, with students participating live from around the world.

We offer classes that specialize in storytelling, long-term projects, documentary and street photography, environmental portraits, making photobooks/zines, composition, still life, multimedia, and technical courses in Lightroom, InDesign, Premiere Pro and more.

Daytime Class!

ONLINE COURSE

Shake Up Your Photography!

Kai McBride

Dates: Mondays, March 31–June 2, 2025

Time: 12–2pm (ET)

Sessions: 6 (Class meets on the following dates: March 31; Apr 14, 28; May 12, 19; June 2)

Limited enrollment: 8 students

Fee: $455

Sold Out

This class is sold out — but email us to join the wait list and we’ll let you know of any openings.

This class will have you saying, “I never would have made photographs like these, and I love it!” Kai McBride has designed an all new series of prompts that will get you thinking in a fresh way about how you photograph. Whether you are still trying to find your photographic voice or are years into a large body of work, these assignments will challenge your approach to image-making and are guaranteed to knock you out of a creative rut and shake up your photography. Through group critique, we’ll analyze each student’s responses and we’ll seek inspiration by examining the work of a range of photographers. By the end of this class, you’ll be energized and inspired to expand your photographic vision. All fresh prompts, so this class is suitable for those who have taken one of Kai’s Shake-up classes before.

Kai’s class was the best. Perfect format and class flow.

—Sheila (New Jersey)

I would like to thank you for a great course! It’s really going to help me move my way forward, although I'm not ready yet to be able to publish a whole book. What made this great was the amount of effort, time and thought you put into it, especially given the short duration. I have enjoyed and learnt a lot from the two courses I have taken with you and I will keep my eye open on Studelmedia for other courses you may be giving.

—Brendan (Mexico City)

Kai’s classes were terrific.The group was a good mix of levels of experience. I learned a lot, and realized how much I have yet to learn. I was inspired!

—Bob (New York City)

Kai McBride

Kai McBride is a photographer, musician, teacher, and avid cyclist who recently uprooted from Brooklyn to sunny Santa Fe, New Mexico. He spent the last ten years teaching photography and managing the photo facilities at Columbia University, his alma mater, where he received an MFA in 2008.

Born on the island of Kauai in 1972, by his 18th birthday Kai had lived in California, Oregon, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Texas, Oahu, North Carolina, and Massachusetts. He sharpened his powers of observation while adjusting to life between suburban ranch-style homes, cabins with no running water, and a 20-foot teepee in the field of a commune.

His photographs have been exhibited in museum and gallery exhibitions, and are held in public and private collections. His first monograph, About Face: Picturing Tampa, was published by SPQR Editions in Fall 2016.

Kai teaches black and white photography, photobooks, and more for StrudelmediaLive.

kaimcbride.com

ONLINE COURSE

Developing the Continuity between Your Life and Photography

Carlos de la Sancha

Dates: Thursdays, Apr 3–May 8, 2025

Time: 11am–1pm (ET)

Sessions: 5 (No class on April 17)

Limited enrollment: 6 students

Fee: $450

Sold Out

This class is sold out — but email us to join the wait list and we’ll let you know of any openings.

Imagine a thread that represents the continuity between our lives and the images we create — what can we understand about ourselves through the photos we make? Let’s explore together how the way we live can express itself in our photographic practice. Our beliefs and values affect what we do and how we do it, and by looking closely at our artistic practice we can gain a better understanding about ourselves and our work.

Assignments, exercises, and analysis will be based on observation and self-reflection, with the goal being that the images and texts you create will help you develop a more clear and concise visual language. Through conversation during class, you’ll understand and give meaning to the work you create and practice the tools and methods to communicate your ideas through images. We’ll also examine the work of a variety of artists, including Cristina Kahlo, Hu Bo, Jon Henry, and Francisco Toledo, as well as art by the Pre-Raphaelite Sisters.

Students will develop a more clear understanding of their own photographic practice and learn tools to clearly craft a personal language to communicate their own unique ideas through their images — and in the process, understand more about themselves. This class is limited to 6 students only.

The class was a deep dive from our personal images and into ourselves and back again! I loved the class and I think all of the participants in this really incredible group did as well…. Teaching a course that involves individual needs as well as the personal creative process is delicate and really requires a great deal of understanding and flexibility; I thought Carlos was extremely sensitive in his approach, and I felt extremely fulfilled and self-aware by the last week of class.

—Glen (Toronto)

photo by Victoria Manzoli

Carlos de la Sancha

Born in Mexico City and now living in Brooklyn, Carlos works in bookmaking, portraiture, unique chromogenic prints, poetry, and street photography. Carlos earned a BA in psychology at the Universidad Autónoma de México, before transitioning to photography and studying at different institutions in Berlin, New York City, Oaxaca, and Mexico City, where he worked as a printer and production assistant for Cristina Kahlo for over 7 years. He completed his Creative Practices certificate at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York City in 2021. His work has been exhibited at venues including Centro Fotográfico Manuel Alvarez Bravo and Centro de las Artes de San Agustín in Oaxaca, Mexico; Imago Fotokunst (Berlin); and ICP (New York City).

Carlos teaches “Developing the Continuity between Your Life and Photography” for StrudelmediaLive.

carlosdelasancha.org

Mini-Workshop

Beyond Automatic Mode: Creative Camera Controls

Kai McBride

Dates: Sunday, Apr 6, 2025

Time: 1–2pm (ET)

Sessions: 1

Fee: $39

Your digital camera has different modes for shooting to choose from and in this hour-long workshop you’ll learn how to configure your cameras to get the creative results you want. We’ll develop a simple workflow to quickly choose the right settings for the given situation and learn how to avoid common pitfalls. You know that aperture, shutter speed, and ISO affect the look of your photographs — think motion blur, depth of field, and low-light sensitivity — but do you find yourself too often defaulting to fully automatic? Autofocus is fast and accurate, but sometimes focusing on the “wrong” thing is more interesting. Should you be “zone focusing” — whatever that is? This Mini-workshop is appropriate for anyone who would like to get the most out of their digital camera.

Mini-Workshops may have higher enrollment than our other classes.

Kai’s class was the best. Perfect format and class flow.

—Sheila (New Jersey)

—Brendan (Mexico City)

Kai’s classes were terrific.The group was a good mix of levels of experience. I learned a lot, and realized how much I have yet to learn. I was inspired!

—Bob (New York City)

Kai McBride

Kai teaches black and white photography, photobooks, and more for StrudelmediaLive.

kaimcbride.com

ONLINE COURSE

Creating Environmental Portraits That Tell Powerful Stories

Anja Hitzenberger

Dates: Wednesdays, Apr 9–May 14, 2025

Time: 12–2pm (ET)

Sessions: 6

Limited enrollment: 8 students

Fee: $455

Ideally, a portrait should reveal the essence of who a person is — and one of the most effective approaches to making this happen is to photograph your subject in their own environment. In this class you’ll learn how to tell stories about people by photographing them in their own environments — their neighborhood or home, indoors or outdoors — and how to incorporate space to reveal intimate details.

Delve into environmental portraiture and learn ways to make your subjects feel comfortable, so that your images both illuminate their personalities and engage the viewer on a deeper level. We’ll examine the history of the environmental portrait and discuss the importance of collaborating with your subjects. Work by a selection of contemporary photographers, including those who combine environmental portraits with a documentary-style project, will be presented.

Thank you for all your guidance and patience with my project. There were some terrific students/talent in the class and you did a great job getting everyone to participate!

—Gerald (Minneapolis)

I've been enjoying all of the courses that I take through StrudelmediaLive. I find them motivating and fun, and I feel part of a community. You are building something wonderful.

—Cristina (Minneapolis)

Thank you both very much for a great course. I loved watching the movie clips and seeing students' interpretation through your talented guidance. See you again soon!

—Ilene (New York City)

Anja Hitzenberger

Anja Hitzenberger is a photographer, filmmaker, consultant, and educator. She is the founder of StrudelmediaLive, an educational platform that offers live online photography classes and more to people around the world. Anja studied in the Creative Practice full-time program at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York City, and has been on the faculty there since 2009. She is dedicated to working with people from different cultures across the globe.

Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows, film festivals, and on theater stages throughout Europe, the United States, South America, and Asia. Her photography has been published internationally and is a part of both private and institutional collections, including the International Center of Photography. She has received numerous artistic grants and has been awarded residencies in Rome, Paris, Warsaw, Beijing, and Tainan (Taiwan). A focus of her activities has been working with live performance, including producing a multimedia piece that toured in New York City, Austria, and Korea.

Anja has been teaching live online photography classes since 2015, as well as in-person workshops at organizations in New York, Europe, China, and Taiwan, including C/O Berlin, Three Shadows (Beijing), and FJUM (Forum for Journalism and Media – Vienna). Originally from Salzburg, Austria, she divides her time between New York and Vienna.

Anja teaches visual storytelling, environmental portraits, critique groups, and how movies can inspire your photography for StrudelmediaLive.

anjahitzenberger.com

ONLINE COURSE

Create Your Own Zine or Photobook with InDesign

Edward Ratliff

Dates: Tuesdays, Apr 22–May 20, 2025

Time: 1–3pm (ET)

Sessions: 6 (This class has 5 group sessions plus a private 1-on-1 session and meets weekly)

Limited enrollment: 6 students

Fee: $495

Adobe’s InDesign is the most flexible and powerful application to layout and design a photobook or zine. This 6-session class is for students who are new to InDesign and also those who’d like a refresher to work on a project. We’ll discuss developing a visual concept to fit your specific story, and cover step-by-step instructions on workflow, how to best plan and setup a project, how to use the most important InDesign tools, and how to prepare, import, and resize photos.

We’ll discuss working with text, fonts, and typography, and you’ll learn to speak the language of printers and designers. You’ll also get recommendations for where to print your particular project. We’ll look at a variety of zines and photobooks for design inspiration and discuss different design ideas. Students will work on their projects throughout the course, so that by the end (depending on the scope of the project), you could have a layout ready to print. This class is limited to only 6 students to give individual attention to each person’s project. We’ll meet as a group for 5 sessions every week, followed by a private 1-on-1 session to work together on your specific book or zine.

Please note: No prior knowledge of InDesign is required. Students should have a group of images ready to develop into a book or zine, or just to work with. Adobe's InDesign is available by a monthly subscription that can be stopped and started as you like.

Anja and Edward did a great job creating this class. I especially enjoyed the Hong Kong films featured in the class — they were new to me. I must say that the class made me think of films in a different way. It was strange to me that I reacted to the assignments as real challenges that made me quite nervous — a sure sign that the class was a true growth experience. I hope I can take another course with you someday down the road.

—Mike (California)

Thank you both very much for a great course. I loved watching the movie clips and seeing students' interpretation through your talented guidance. See you again soon!

—Ilene (New York City)

I must say that I really, really enjoyed — and benefited from — Edward’s InDesign class! Not only did I learn how to use InDesign, but I also received feedback to help me continue working on my book projects. Over the past year I have learned that participating with other image makers is an essential part of my photography practice. I particularly like the way Strudelmedia classes combine valuable skills with individual attention.

—Grace (New York City)

photo by Anja Hitzenberger

Edward Ratliff

Edward Ratliff is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator. In the visual realm, he’s a graphic designer who works in print and digital media with clients ranging from individual artists to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His film, video, and installation work has been exhibited internationally.

As a composer and multi-instrumentalist, he’s led bands in clubs, theaters, and festivals across New York City and in Europe and Asia, and has received numerous commissions and grants for dance and theater scores. His music has been heard in shows on Netflix, HBO, Nickelodeon, Hulu, PBS, and more — everything from a biography of Dostoyevsky to Real Sex Xtra. He “is best known for making richly cinematic music that captures New York City’s momentum and diversity” (The Wall Street Journal) and has been called “a wonderfully spunky and imperturbable trumpet player” (The New York Times).

Edward teaches movies as inspiration and using InDesign to create zines and books for StrudelmediaLive.

strudelmediadesign.com

edwardratliff.com

StrudelmediaLive Community Weekend in New York City

On the Waterfront: In‑Person Weekend Workshop NYC

Anja Hitzenberger

Dates: Apr 25–27, 2025

Time: 10am–5pm (ET)

Sessions: 4 (Friday, April 25 (afternoon), Saturday/Sunday, April 26–27, 10am–5pm (ET), with a follow-up online critique session on Sunday, May 4, 12–3pm (ET))

Limited enrollment: 12 students

Fee: $650

Join us for a weekend-long photographic exploration of the waterfront of New York City — discover the unexpected in a small group! There will be something new to experience for everyone!

Fri, April 25: 2-4pm (ET)

A special curated gallery tour with the StrudelmediaLive community, followed by a social get-together.

Sat/Sun, April 26/27: 10am–5pm (ET)

Over two days, you’ll discover the fascinating and varied waterfronts of New York City, including DUMBO, Red Hook, and more. Join us as we explore NYC’s iconic watery realms — by ferry, subway, and foot!

Activities on both days will be held outdoors as much as possible.

Sun, May 4: 12–3pm (ET)

The following Sunday, we’ll meet online to discuss and critique your fresh NYC photographs.

Please note: Make sure to wear good shoes because we'll be walking a good amount.

Thank you for all your guidance and patience with my project. There were some terrific students/talent in the class and you did a great job getting everyone to participate!

—Gerald (Minneapolis)

I've been enjoying all of the courses that I take through StrudelmediaLive. I find them motivating and fun, and I feel part of a community. You are building something wonderful.

—Cristina (Minneapolis)

Thank you both very much for a great course. I loved watching the movie clips and seeing students' interpretation through your talented guidance. See you again soon!

—Ilene (New York City)

Anja Hitzenberger

Anja teaches visual storytelling, environmental portraits, critique groups, and how movies can inspire your photography for StrudelmediaLive.

anjahitzenberger.com

ONLINE COURSE

The Shape of Shapes

Stefan Frank

Dates: Thursdays, May 8–June 26, 2025

Time: 1–3pm (ET)

Sessions: 6 (No class on May 29 and June 19)

Limited enrollment: 8 students

Fee: $455

Only 2 spots left

In 2020, American artist Amy Sillman curated an exhibition for the Museum of Modern Art in New York City that drew from their vast collection. That exhibition didn’t actually happen due to COVID, but a virtual catalog was made for the show which, Instead of a central concept, looked at different artworks and how they dealt with shape. Sillman wrote that “basically everything in the world is a shape. It’s so mundane and so ubiquitous: every edge, corner, blob, form, silhouette, or negative space is something you have to navigate to get through a room. If you think of shape as figure/ground, then every shape is a figure and the ground is the whole world.”

We’ll focus on how different photographers — Lee Friedlander, Jan Groover, Thomas Ruff, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and others — use and work with shape. We’ll also examine shapes under different aspects like “the shadow,” “machines for seeing,” “eccentric abstraction,” and more, drawing from theoretical concepts like Gestalt Theory and Josef Albers’s Interaction of Color. Weekly photography exercises, accompanied by detailed analysis of your pictures, will help you see these principles at work. For those familiar with Stefan’s Gestalt class, this course will be a slightly looser and more playful way to explore different aspects of how shapes shape photography.

Thank you for guiding us down the Surrealism path. I had fun and enjoyed the course — I will be revisiting the “tool box” to feel more comfortable with Surrealism! I look forward to taking another class with you in the future.

—Alan (Minnesota)

Thank you for this interesting course — Stefan certainly gave us a lot of information and a lot to think about. I wish the course was even longer!

—Suzette (New York)

This course was excellent, and I would/will recommend it to friends…. What I've liked about all of the three classes I've taken through StrudelmediaLive is that they are well-structured and organized. Stefan was exceptionally well-prepared for each session — it was all about teaching the material and he made an enormous amount of material available to the class.

—Barbara (New York City)

Stefan Frank

Stefan Frank is a photographer and writer, working from Heidelberg, Germany. Way before he came to photography, he studied mathematics and philosophy at Ruhr Universität Bochum and worked as an IT specialist. He studied at Atelier Smedsby with JH Engström and Margot Wallard in Paris in 2017, before he eventually began studying photography at Ostkreuzschule, Berlin, with Peter Bialobrzeski. He graduated in 2023 with the work Irgendwo (“Anywhere”), a project dealing with politically motivated crime and the terror-spree of the far right in Germany. He has been teaching with StrudelmediaLive since 2020, giving courses on surrealism, poetics of space, gestalt theory for photographers, and more. His work has been exhibited in Heidelberg, Frankfurt, and Berlin.

Stefan teaches the poetics of space, nighttime photography, and much more (including presenting The Photobook Show) for StrudelmediaLive.

vierundsechzig.de/f64/

ONLINE COURSE

Delicious Photography

Néstor Pérez-Molière

Dates: Thursdays, May 13–July 8, 2025

Time: 12–2pm (ET)

Sessions: 8 (No class on July 1)

Limited enrollment: 8 students

Fee: $550

Do you have a passion for both the culinary arts and photography? Bring both together in a single practice and discover how food photography can activate the senses. In this course, students will learn all the ins and outs of food photography in order to make viewers salivate. Through weekly shooting assignments, students will experiment with different types of foods as well as different moments in the process of preparing these delicacies. We will look at the work of professional masters of food photography and discuss what makes it look scrumptious. This course will also dive in on a do-it-yourself approach to lighting to make your plated food shine and glisten.

Throughout the course, students will develop a final project in which they photograph their family or personal recipes to develop into their own cookbook. We will discuss a variety of photographic moments in the process of building a cookbook, from step-by-step photography, mise en place, plated food, and environmental shots.

Please note: This class is intended for photographers who cook or have a cook who would like to collaborate with them during the class.

It has been such an inspiring process taking classes with Samantha and Néstor. They’re such dedicated and talented teachers — I owe you both a lot of gratitude.

—MG (Brooklyn)

Néstor’s class was amazing. His presentations thoroughly captured the range of styles of still life photography and I think he was incredibly thoughtful with his critiques. I really enjoyed the class and am inspired to keep going!

—Jyoti (California)

Thank you Nestor, for a fun and illuminating DIY lighting class. I loved your combined free-wheeling “go for it” approach with the gentle but rigorous critiques. I learned a lot about intentionally “sculpting” with light to create mood and content. I also appreciate your willingness to be vulnerable in showing and talking about your personal work, which meant a lot to me. You created a mini-community of sharing and learning. Muchas gracias!

—Irene (Pennsylvania)

Néstor Pérez-Molière

Néstor Pérez-Molière was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and currently resides in the Bronx, New York. His art entails a process of self-discovery; a series of confessionals revealing private conflicts; hoping towards catharsis. Through this cathartic process he hopes to connect with the viewer’s struggles and depathologize negative feelings so that they can be seen as a source for political action rather than its antithesis. Néstor exposes mental health issues like depression, dysmorphia, food addictions, and loneliness: describing their mechanisms, scrutinizing their origins, and illuminating the impossibility of fixing them. His practice mainly takes place in the realm of photography but has also incorporated performance, drawing, video, installation, and intaglio techniques into his works.

He received an MFA from Hunter College and holds a BSc in Botany. He was part of EmergeNYC 2023, Artist in the Marketplace 2017, and Creative Capital’s Taller 2019 mentorship programs, and was included in The Bronx Museum of the Arts Fourth Biennial. He has exhibited at the Museo de las Américas, the Clemente Soto Vélez, Bronx Art Space, Longwood Gallery, and the Liga de Estudiantes de Artes de San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 2023 he was a resident at Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Governors Island Arts Center and Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts residencies. Interested in becoming an educator, he teaches, and has taught, digital and darkroom photography, as well as media literacy at the International Center of Photography, Parsons School of Design, Art Academy of Cincinnati, Fairleigh Dickinson University, The Point CDC, and StrudelmediaLive.

Néstor teaches lighting for still life, Lightroom, and more for StrudelmediaLive.

ndpmoliere.com

Mini-Workshop

Using Fill Flash to Tame High Contrast and Harsh Lighting

Kai McBride

Dates: Sunday, May 18, 2025

Time: 1–2pm (ET)

Sessions: 1

Fee: $39

Why would you want to use your flash on a bright and sunny day? The answer is fill flash, the powerful yet simple technique of having the flash fill in the shadows and tame harsh lighting conditions. In this workshop, learn the theory, the ratios, and easy techniques of fill flash. We’ll cover how to set up your camera and flash to create balanced lighting despite strong backlighting and high contrast, for example for outdoor portraits. Whether you are looking to use the built-in flash on your camera or carry around a remotely triggered off-camera flash, this Mini-workshop will answer your questions and get you started.

Mini-Workshops may have higher enrollment than our other classes.

Kai’s class was the best. Perfect format and class flow.

—Sheila (New Jersey)

—Brendan (Mexico City)

Kai’s classes were terrific.The group was a good mix of levels of experience. I learned a lot, and realized how much I have yet to learn. I was inspired!

—Bob (New York City)

Kai McBride

Kai teaches black and white photography, photobooks, and more for StrudelmediaLive.

kaimcbride.com

ONLINE COURSE

Cyanotype: Techniques and Experimental Applications

Daura Campos & Samanta Ortega

Dates: Wednesdays, May 21–June 25, 2025

Time: 11am–1pm (ET)

Sessions: 6

Limited enrollment: 8 students

Fee: $455

Cyanotype printing and its magical qualities — developed almost 200 years ago — has come back into the spotlight in recent years. Known for its distinct blue tones, this process is one of the most diverse photographic techniques, accessible to both beginners and devoted enthusiasts. In this comprehensive course designed for photographers and artists eager to explore this process, we’ll dive into the world of cyanotypes with a focus on paper and fabric materials. You’ll learn the skills for working with chemicals, materials, exposure, choosing photographs, and composing prints — as well as post-production and intervention experiments that make each piece of work unique. We will provide a solid understanding of the foundations, and then introduce a collection of alternative possibilities for expanding on your work with techniques such as toning with plant extractions, collage, and painting. Each session brings an assignment for students to practice with, followed by feedback, culminating in a final project. By the end, you’ll have a broader perception of the possibilities of cyanotype and a portfolio showcasing your work.

Please note: A list of materials you'll need will be provided before the class starts.

I was happy to have discovered StrudelmediaLive and the Cameraless Photography class with Daura and Samanta! Thank you both for the enthusiasm, knowledge, and hard work you put into the class. I appreciated the materials you put together for each lesson — they were really thorough and looked wonderful — and that you posted them quickly. Thank you also for your observations and insights that you shared with each of us based on our individual styles and concepts. I was happy to have been in the class and expand on my knowledge of cameraless processes. You make a good team! If you teach another class or have exhibitions, please let me know.

—Marta (US)

Daura and Samantha have mastered the not-so-easy task of teaching a class in craft processes very well. They were a good team and guided us through the different processes of cameraless photography with a lot of enthusiasm, youthful drive, and excitement. The documents we received were excellent. Both of them were also very helpful and guided our first steps in a benevolent manner. I really enjoyed the course, I had a lot of fun trying out the different methods, and the results are impressive.

—Barbara (Zurich)

Daura and Samanta were a winning tag team combination of enthusiasm, encouragement about everyone’s work, brainstorming the outcomes of assignments and providing real-time solutions, superb materials, and being well-organized in their presentation. I could go on and on, but I can offer no higher compliment than that they are pros at teaching and sharing.

—Kevin (New Jersey)

Daura Campos

Daura Campos is a visual artist and photographer based in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. In her practice, she investigates social issues through experimental photographic techniques, pushing against expectations of representation and exploring what is often left unseen. Her process allows analog film to exist as a reactive being beyond a medium of choice and aims to ignite discourse about our relationship with photography and society.

Daura has exhibited at the CICA Museum (South Korea), MK Gallery (England), Rotterdam Photo (Netherlands), Pinakothek der Moderne (Germany), Museum of Art of Pereira (Colombia), Gallery 44 (Canada), and Open Eye Gallery (England), among others. Her work has been recognized by the IPA – The International Photo Awards — with an Official Selection Prize (2024), Analog Sparks Awards with second place in the Technique category (2024), a high commendation from The JUST Art Award (2023), and others.

Daura teaches alternative processes for StrudelmediaLive.

dauracampos.com

Samanta Ortega

Samanta Ortega is a laboratory scientist, photographer, and art educator based in São Paulo, Brazil. Integrating the past, present, and future of the history of photographic processes, she is dedicated to exploring and sharing research on plant-based photographic developers in an experimental approach to film manipulation and studies within photochemistry. By valuing analog photography that is based on the reuse of materials and simplification of processes, she addresses accessible alternatives in spaces with different infrastructures and audiences of a wide age range and levels of knowledge. She has taught at institutions including SESC (Brazil), Pinacoteca de São Bernardo do Campo, and at analog photography festivals and independent cultural spaces focused on film photography throughout Brazil.

Samanta teaches alternative processes for StrudelmediaLive.

alquimiafotografica.co

ONLINE COURSE

Learn to Create Photo Collages and Composites with Photoshop

Lavonne Hall

Dates: Thursdays, May 29–June 26, 2025

Time: 2–4pm (ET)

Sessions: 5

Limited enrollment: 8 students

Fee: $405

Making photo collages (combining parts of multiple images into one) and composites (think diptychs and triptychs) can be an exciting way to extend your creative practice, but some of this you can’t do with Lightroom. With Photoshop, we’ll explore tools you’ll need to combine multiple images into one — including layers, different ways to select and cut parts of images, masking for hiding and revealing, how to resize and transform, and some retouching tools to enhance your images. Weekly assignments will help you feel comfortable navigating Photoshop and using the tools you need for your creative workflow. This class will begin with an overview of the Photoshop interface and settings, and is designed for those who are new to Photoshop, as well as students who want a refresher in these processes.

Please note: Students should be familiar with Adobe Lightroom for this class.

I loved Lavonne's class on mastering color. She is a selfless, inventive, and no-drama teacher whom I truly appreciated. I have taken many classes in the past and the teacher often wants to be the star … but Lavonne’s approach is to extend to the student a different way of looking at photos via color and, of course, light.

—Pat (Northern New Jersey)

Lavonne Hall

Lavonne Hall is a native New Yorker and has been extremely active in the photography and film communities for more than 25 years. She is a fine art photographer, a live-streaming influencer, and a social butterfly. She teaches at the International Center of Photography and the School of Visual Arts, where she received her Masters in Digital Photography (and for whom she developed two iPad apps). She presents Lightroom demos for Adobe and Wacom, has worked with Pentax, Fuji Film, B&H, KelbyOne, and Adorama among others, and is the coordinator of the NY Photo Salon. One of her passions is getting people out and about to experience life through photography.

Lavonne teaches color theory for StrudelmediaLive.

digital-lavonne.com

Mini-Workshop

Still and Moving Images

Kat Shannon

Dates: Sunday, June 1, 2025

Time: 1–2pm (ET)

Sessions: 1

Fee: $39

Photography and cinema, though distinctive as mediums, are inextricably linked and intertwined. To thoughtfully engage in a practice with one is practically impossible without the influence of the other. As photographers, how can our practice of examining the still image influence our experience with the moving one? Does our construction of narrative, time, and attention shift when we engage with an image that’s frozen as opposed to one in motion? In this one-hour workshop, we’ll consider these questions and more as we dig into an abridged history of the still versus moving image and look at artists who probe the unique intersection of the two mediums in tandem or apart.

Mini-Workshops may have higher enrollment than our other classes.

Many thanks to all of you who have accompanied me on my photographic journey with your great knowledge and empathy in the StrudelmediaLive workshops this year — embroidery with Jolanda Drukker Murray, cyanotype with Claudia Cortínez, the class about joy and pathos of everyday life with Allen Frame, and also photography as a pilgrimage with Kat Shannon.

—Barbara (Zurich)

I loved Kat’s class on photography as a pilgrimage. This is one of the most thoughtfully planned and presented classes I’ve ever taken. Kat brings a rich depth of materials, unique assignments, and thoughtful discussions to the classroom, and is exceptional at making conceptual ideas tangible. Kat is a fantastic teacher. She is thoughtful, articulate and poetic. I’ll take anything she teaches.

—Melissa (Chicago)

Kat Shannon did a superb job. She is an excellent photography instructor. She is thoroughly prepared and is creative in her content and assignments/prompts. She has considerable depth in her photography knowledge and is articulate and stimulating. She is kind. I will definitely consider another class with Kat.

—June (New Jersey)

Kat Shannon

Kat Shannon is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, and educator working in photography, text, and video, currently based between São Paulo, Brazil, and Orlando, Florida. Her work examines notions of intimacy, human connection, gender, community, and culture. She holds degrees in photography from Savannah College of Art and Design (BFA) as well as Bard College (MFA).

Kat has held teaching positions at Yeshiva University, Brookdale College, Stetson University, Middlesex College, and ICP, and previously worked for three years as the head curator at an art consultancy in New York. In 2017 Kat co-founded the collaborative artist collective Memory Foam through which she curates exhibitions, publishes and collects artists' books and zines, and produces an artist interview series called “Artists Eat Ice Cream.”

Kat teaches Ways of Seeing, Photography as Pilgrimage, and other personal vision classes for StrudelmediaLive.

katshannon.com

ONLINE COURSE

Storytelling with Photo Embroidery and Mixed Media

Jolanda Drukker Murray

Dates: Saturdays, June 14–July 19, 2025

Time: 11am–1pm (ET)

Sessions: 5 (No class on July 5)

Limited enrollment: 8 students

Fee: $405

Most of our images exist on either a digital display or as a mostly two-dimensional print. In this class, you’ll take your photos into the third dimension by incorporating embroidery and mixed media, expanding the depth and richness of their meaning and storytelling. Using a variety of creative methods — cutting, glueing, embroidery, photo transfer on fabric, letter embroidery, and more — you can create an intimate and unique object that better tells your individual, personal story. By exploring the surface of a print with different techniques and materials, a new story will arise. Through discussion, we’ll examine the process of deciding when and how to hide, change, or emphasize the story of a picture. You’ll be introduced to different techniques using relatively simple tools like scissors, glue, needle and thread, a printer, some fabric — no embroidery skills are necessary.

I really enjoyed the class! I've been wanting to do embroidery for a while but haven't known where to start. Jolanda did a great job showing us a wide range of techniques and inspirations, and challenged us to create every week. I honestly thought the class was perfect. I plan to continue doing embroidery work on my photos.

—Drew (Minneapolis)

I wanted to let you know how much I’m enjoying Jolanda’s class. She’s a wonderful teacher and I love getting the notes and images she references in class. Looking forward to the photo transfer to fabric process!

—Kathy (New Jersey)

Just a short message to say thank you so much for an amazing class! It was lovely and exactly what I needed at this stage of my projects.

—Martyna (Poland)

Jolanda Drukker Murray

Jolanda Drukker Murray is a contemporary sculptor and textile artist based in Utrecht (The Netherlands). She studied art history at Leiden University and attended a program at Artibus Art School Utrecht with a focus on ceramics and bronze. She began collecting fabrics and creating wall hangings which were exhibited in several shows. She also created a “Circle of Life in 10 Kimonos” for the Kröller-Müller Museum. Jolanda specializes in “documentary embroidery”: telling stories using embroidery as well as mixed media techniques on photos and pictures from magazines. Her latest textile installation Stonehenge is a combination of photo embroidery, embroidery. and stitch work. She is currently working on Dialogue between Photography and Embroidery, an artbook in which she is embroidering on photos by the Dutch photographer Milja Markies.

Jolanda teaches embroidery and mixed media techniques for StrudelmediaLive.

jolandadrukker.com

Previous Classes

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