Behind the Scenes at Serenbe: A Documentary Approach - with Marilyn Suriani

Marilyn assists students in creating a "day in the life" documentary of Serenbe. Students will photograph food prep in the kitchens of fine restaurants, the organic farm as they prepare for market, livestock care and feeding, horses at the barn, shop owners and thier wares, residents in their homes, home interiors and unique backyard gardens and resident artists and their studios. The emphasis throughout the day will be on composition, the moment and unique perspectives with an eye for detail with natural light or minimal flash. While this is a documentary approach, it will sharpen the skills and eye of every photographer no matter what you like to shoot! 

Schedule:

Friday eve: meet 4:00pm at Serenbe Photograpy Center

Steve Nygren speaks at 5:30, Dinner at Hil restaurant at 6:30pm

Sat: We will meet at 7:00 am for breakfast at The Farmhouse, review shoot list and begin shooting at 7:45 a.m, lunch at noon, then back in the field until 3:00 p.m., then return to the classroom to download images and critique the results.

Student Requirements:

Digital SLR, laptop for viewing and editing work, (card reader or plug in for downloading images), extra cards, tripod, hiking boots, rain gear (if needed), and portfolio of past work in digital files or prints. Photoshop knowledge not necessary but helpful. Please contact Marilyn for more details - marilyn@surianiphoto.com

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Questions?
contact SPC Asst. Dir. Jenna Duffy
office - 770-463-9098

About the Instructor

Marilyn Suriani’s non-stop thirty-year career has produced world class images, stunning documentaries and highly coveted fine art. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of museums, corporations, private individuals and in high profile public spaces including two permanent exhibits at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Marilyn has been awarded numerous grants to produce her many documentary projects, including The Storefront Church project featuring small urban non-denominational congregations. Some of these images are in the permanent collection of the High Museum of Art. The Women’s Prison Project, another grant funded project, focuses on the women and life inside.

Dancing Naked in the Material World, Suriani’s photo documentary of exotic dancers, received unanimous praise by critics nationally, the Philadelphia Inquirer calling it “fine urban anthropology”. The book and a NYC gallery exhibit of the photos resulted in several interviews, including National Public Radio and the New York Press (syndicated) and a show dedicated to the book on the Sally Jesse Raphael TV show. Images from this work were displayed in the “Deep South” Exhibition at the Festival of Arles, France, curated by Gilles Morra, along with other artists including Eudora Welty, William Christenberry, and Bruce Davidson.

Current and on-going studies include “Natural Selections” featuring her popular Water series, Self Portrait, coming to terms with aging and mortality using a conceptual approach, and a thirty year study of South Philadelphia, the city of Marilyn’s roots. “The South” portfolio, recently compiled by Suriani, is a collection of vintage photos beginning in 1978, the majority of which were taken in and around Atlanta and other southern states.

Suriani was also honored as an "artist in residence" at the L’Ecole Nationale de la Photographie in Arles, France and for her “significant contribution to the visual arts” by the Governor of Georgia. She was also faculty member for the Southeastern Center for the Arts and the Senior Photographer for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games
Marilyn was an artist-in-residence at Serenbe from October 13th to October 27th 2010.

See: surianiphoto.com