Narrative in Photography - Fall 2025

Discover how images tell a story of their own and venture out to capture a story with a visual message at its core. Photography has always wrestled with the idea of truth; explore the limits of fiction and reality as you work on weekly assignments. This online class, taught by acclaimed photographer Jenny Riffle, will focus on the power of story telling in photography throughout its history with lectures about the work of Lewis Carroll and Julia Margaret Cameron to LaToya Ruby Frazier and Alec Soth. You will be creating your own photo stories; doing research on a chosen topic and organizing your creative process to present a final project.

A good story is based on a strong idea and can be developed in many different ways, it does not have to be linear with a beginning, middle and end but it should have a strong central idea. In this class we will be exploring different forms of narrative in photography, some will be carried out in a series or photo essay and other narratives will be contained in one single image.

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.
• Additional materials and supplies, not covered by a materials fee for a course, are the responsibility of the student. 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.

Images © Jenny Riffle