Living Archives: Photography, Memory and the Right to Look - Fall 2026

The archive is alive. In this class, we will think about how photographs, objects, family records, institutional collections, and lived memory continue to move through time. Together, we will consider how artists transform historical material into work that speaks to absence, inheritance, survival, and the complicated ways images shape what we know and remember. Alongside photographic inquiry, the course will consider Indigenous approaches to storytelling and visual sovereignty that challenge singular or institutional narratives. This course is ideal for photographers who have an archive they want to explore, as well as those curious about how archival research and historical materials can inform contemporary photographic practice.

Through lectures, readings, short exercises, and group critiques, students will look at artists who work with archives to question official histories, untold narratives, museum display, family memory, and cultural inheritance. We will also think carefully about the ethics of working with archival material: what it means to witness, to withhold, to reframe, and to care for difficult histories through image-making.

The course will emphasize ethical research, visual literacy, material experimentation, and the relationship between image, object, context, and viewer. Students will leave with a stronger understanding of how to build a project from archival material.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Identify how archives and photographs construct, preserve, obscure, or challenge historical narratives.
• Develop an ethically grounded approach to working with found, family, institutional, or community materials.
• Create a small cohesive photographic project using archival research or archival thinking.
• Participate in critique to discuss image, sequence, material, context, and display.
• Present a final project with a short written artist statement or project reflection.

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR STUDENTS

• Weekly attendance is vital to student success in PCNW courses. We require that students attend the first meeting in order to retain their spot in the class. A waiver may be granted if permission is given by, and subsequent arrangements made with, both the PCNW Registrar and Faculty. Please see our Education Policies for details about attendance policies and academic expectations.
• PCNW adheres to a strict payment, cancellation and refund policy. Please review our Payment & Refund Policies prior to registration.
• Intermediate and advanced courses have prerequisites which students must satisfy prior to enrollment. Prerequisites may be waived based on experience or prior courses taken through other institutions. To verify that you meet the prerequisite(s) for a course, contact Jennifer Brendicke, Registrar at jbrendicke@pcnw.org.
• Students are required to provide their own camera, unless otherwise noted in the course description. If you have questions about camera equipment or resources, contact us at pcnw@pcnw.org.
• The Materials Fee for the course includes costs associated with in-class demonstrations and use of studio equipment and materials such as backdrops, gels and other modifiers.
• Additional materials and supplies, not covered by a materials fee for a course, are the responsibility of the student. Students may need to rent or purchase additional equipment based on personal preference and projects, but primary lighting equipment and accessories are included with studio rental at PCNW (see Facilities section below) for completion of assignments outside of class. Detailed information about course expectations, required texts and materials will be provided at the start of the quarter.
• Students should prepare to spend several hours per week completing assignments outside of class, which may require use of the PCNW facilities; view our Rental Rates for details about additional fees. Rental fees for use of PCNW Facilities are a separate cost from tuition.

Image © Lilly Everett, PCNW Staff