Develop Your Voice Within Your Own Community
This intensive program spans a full calendar year (January - December), blending guided online classroom study with independent fieldwork focused on creating a long-form documentary project. Participants will gain a deep understanding of developing and constructing a visual narrative, enriched by dialogue with a global community of photographers. Students are encouraged to explore both local and global perspectives in their storytelling.
Header image by Nina Kostamo Descha (DOC Online ’22)
Image by Fabeha Monir (DOC Online '22)
Meet the Chair
Karen Marshall
Chair of the Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism Program
Karen Marshall, chair of the Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism Program is a documentary photographer whose work focuses on the psychological lives of her subjects within the social landscape. Her seminal project Between Girls, that articulates the coming of age of a group of urban middle class teenagers, following them from high school into adulthood 30 years later was published by Kehrer Verlag in 2021. Read More
Program Highlights
The Documentary Practice and Visual Storytelling Online program offers a unique opportunity for students and professionals worldwide to engage in a rigorous, year-long journey tailored for the online environment. This intensive program spans a full calendar year (January 2026 - December 2026), blending guided classroom study with independent fieldwork focused on creating a long-form documentary project.
Participants will gain a deep understanding of developing and constructing a visual narrative, enriched by dialogue with a global community of photographers. Students are encouraged to explore both local and global perspectives in their storytelling.
Program Structure
- Term 1 (January-May): Introduces visual literacy, ethics, and research fundamentals with an emphasis on story development to build a solid groundwork for the documentary project.
- Term 2 (June-August): Dedicated exclusively on independent fieldwork, students develop their long-term projects under mentor guidance, with no classes scheduled.
- Term 3 (September-December): Students refine and contextualize their projects through collaboration with peers and international faculty, resulting in a cohesive body of work.
Class Structure
- Class Schedule: Live classes are held weekday mornings (9 AM – 1 PM EST) for approximately 8-10 hours per week via Zoom.
- Program Commitment: Expect an immersive experience, averaging 11-17 hours per week, including live sessions, assignments, and independent fieldwork.
Key Areas of Study: Course List
- The Core Seminar: Critiques, lectures, reading, research, visual literacy, photography assignments, story development, sequencing, editing, and contextualizing of work.
- Reading The Light: The basics of On Camera Flash
- Old Media, New Media: Archives and the Documentarian
- The Visual Artifact: Evidence and Inspiration
- The Loom: Weaving Media
- History of Visual Storytelling
- Reappropriating the Narrative
- Documenting Vulnerable Communities: Exploring Ethics and Partnerships
- Looking In: The Conversation Between Our Images and Ourselves
- Stories On The Web: Crafting a Narrative Beyond The Still Image
- Story and Process
- Play With Fanzines! - Ideas Landing on Paper
- Digital Workflow Intensive
- Environmental Portraits on The Street
- Photographing What Is Familiar
- Writing for the Photographer
- Ruminations on Community
- Realms On The Field Lecture series
- Inside Photo Editing
- Individual mentorship