Workshop CREATIVE STRATEGIES: THE GAZE, THE GUEST, AND THE IMAGE: Photography as Transcultural Practice by Christina Dimitriadis
General Course Description
Photography today functions increasingly as a language — a way of communicating and connecting across cultures, generations, and linguistic boundaries. We share images daily, often because visual expression can reach where words fall short.
This 2-day workshop invites participants to explore how photography reflects identity, presence, and perception across personal and social spaces. Starting from the notion of the gaze and moving towards the guest, the sessions combine short introductions, collective exercises, and hands-on photographic practice.
Participants will experiment with how images can express belonging, hospitality, and distance — from self-observation to the encounter with the other.
Open to artists from all disciplines. Participants should bring their own cameras or smartphones.
Duration: Coming soon
Hours: Each day from 10 AM – 12:30 PM
Seats: Max. 20 | Language: English
Fees: The participation fee is €90 per person including material (without accommodation).
The fee is VAT-exempt by the Governing Mayor of Berlin – Senate Chancellery Higher Education and Research pursuant to Paragraph 4 No. (21) (a)(bb) UStG (German Value Added Tax Act).
Learning outcomes
By the end of the workshop, participants will:
– Explore photography as a visual language for transcultural communication.
– Develop sensitivity to gaze, presence, and reciprocity in image-making.
– Create and present a small photographic portfolio reflecting personal and social identity.
– Gain experience in articulating and receiving feedback within a collective viewing process.By the end of the workshop, participants will:
- Explore photography as a visual language for transcultural communication.
- Develop sensitivity to gaze, presence, and reciprocity in image-making.
- Create and present a small photographic portfolio reflecting personal and social identity.
- Gain experience in articulating and receiving feedback within a collective viewing process.
Program Structure with Daily Lesson Plan
Day 1 — The Gaze, The Guest
10.00 – 10.15 Welcome & Introduction
Short introduction to the workshop themes — the gaze, the guest, and the image.
10.15 – 10.45 Exercise 1: Temporary Shelter
Each participant photographs their immediate environment, focusing on architecture, reflections, or traces of themselves in space. The exercise encourages quiet observation and a first encounter with space, light, and presence.
10.45 – 10.50 Transition / Impulse
Brief gathering to share quick impressions from the first exercise and introduce the next one.
10.50 – 11.20 Exercise 2: The Other
In pairs, participants photograph each other, selecting a location that best fits their idea of portraying the other. The exercise examines how we perceive and represent another person through the camera.
11.20 – 12.00 Individual Work
Participants select and prepare the images they wish to present from both photo sessions. The instructor offers one-to-one feedback and guidance during this process.
12.00 – 12.30 Group Sharing
Images are projected from participants’ devices on the beamer for a short collective review and discussion.
Day 2 — The Guest and the Image
10.00 – 10.15 Warm-up & Introduction
Short gathering and reflection on Day 1. Participants share first impressions and images taken on their way to class for the assignment Neue Heimat.
10.15 – 10.45 Exercise 1: Neue Heimat
Participants present photographs made on their way to the workshop — capturing impressions of transition, arrival, or temporary belonging. Discussion on how movement through the city and first encounters can form a visual sense of “home.”
10.45 – 11.15 Exercise 2: My Portrait as a Stranger (Adapting)
Each participant creates a self-portrait responding to the idea of being a stranger or adapting to a new place. They choose a setting, object, or gesture that reflects the feeling of in-between identities.
11.15 – 12.00 Individual Work
Participants edit and select their images from both assignments with guidance from the instructor. They focus on sequencing and connecting the four photographic assignments into a visual dialogue. Each participant completes their selection and adds a title or a word that intuitively binds the four photographic assignments together.
12.00 – 12.30 Group Review & Reflection
Presentation of selected works on the beamer or as prints. Final discussion: How can photography act as a bridge between self, other, and place?
Your Workshop Instructor
Christina Dimitriadis is a Berlin-based artist, photographer, and lecturer. She studied at the New School for Social Research – Parsons School of Design in New York. Her work has been exhibited internatonally at institutions such as the Berlinische Galerie, MEP Paris, Istanbul Modern, mumok Vienna, EMST Athens, and at major biennials and including Istanbul, Moscow, Thessaloniki and Auckland Triennial. Dimitriadis has extensive internatonal teaching experience at the Salzburg International Summer Academy of Fine Arts, Freie Universität Berlin, Universität der Künste Berlin, Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig, Kanazawa College of Art, Kunstuniversität Linz, and New York University in Berlin.
More information on the Christina Dimitriadis Website.
