Folio 2020/21 Online Masterclass On Photobook

Masterclass Works Final Presentation

An unprecedented opportunity

Under the guidance of Witty Books publisher Tommaso Parrillo, designer Federico Barbon and PhMuseum curator Rocco Venezia, 10 photographers will be followed through the advanced phase of their projects with the goal of concluding the work and having it ready for publishing. At the end of the 6-month masterclass, all participants will be ready to present their work to an international audience in the form of a dummy or a photobook. Furthermore, Witty Books will select one of the participants’ work to be published as a 500-edition photobook as part of its catalogue. Production will be fully financed by Witty Books, with a contribution from PhMuseum.

The program will be conducted online, with one final gathering at an international festival where photobooks and dummies will be shown.

Applications are now closed. A new edition is coming soon, subscribe to our newsletter and get notified.

When From October 2020 to March 2021
Language English
Positions 9 seats + 1 scholarship
Dedication 50+ Hours
Contacts If you have any questions you can reach us at edu@phmuseum.com

How it works

Group Classes

During 3 online 5-hour group classes Tommaso Parrillo and Federico Barbon will give you a general grounding in the contemporary photobook world, editing strategies and design technique to develop your project into a photobook.
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One-to-one Mentoring

With these 2 online 60-min individual sessions you will have the time to engage in specific discussions aimed at working on your ideas and improving your method.
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Studio Visits

To grant you a further insight we have also organized 5 interactive studio visits’ with guest artists, curators and gallerists to let you know about their practice and get a better understanding of their approach and role in the photography industry. More info below.
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Final meeting + work published

At the end of the program, all the dummies produced by the participants will be presented and displayed at an international photo festival. Witty Books will select one work to be published in the form of a book. All participants will still benefit from dissemination opportunities through PhMuseum editorial initiatives and its network.
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Head professor

Federico Barbon

Federico Barbon is a graphic designer focusing on web and editorial design. He studied at Bauer school in Milan, Italy (2013) and graduated from ECAL in 2019. He worked at Studiopaola (Milan), Navone Associati (Milan) and Lamm & Kirch (Leipzig). He's now working as a book designer for a number of publishers (Witty Books, Humboldt, Yoffy Press, Skinnerboox) and collaborates with ECAL.

Head professor

Rocco Venezia

Rocco Venezia (1991, Italy) is a visual artist and works as a curator for PhMuseum. Venezia has exhibited his personal work in solo shows at VOID and JEST, while he was displayed in group exhibitions at Fondazione Fabbri, Capa Photography Center, ISSP Gallery and Gallery Image. His monograph Nekyia was published by Witty Books in 2017. In 2018 he has been one of the emerging artists of Parallel Platform. He has been nominated by VOID as one of the Futures Talents of 2021. Next to his personal practice, Venezia works as a curator and producer for PhMuseum since 2017 where he develops educational programs, the editorial line and the curatorial activities of the online community. Lately, he has worked on the concept and editing of the two books by PhMuseum - Familiar Stranger (2020) and Inside (2021) and has been the curator of photography during the PhMuseum Days 2021 International Photo Festival. He is one of the 3 co-founders of PhMuseum Lab.

Head professor

Tommaso Parrillo

Tommaso Parrillo is an Italian publisher and founder of Witty Books, a publishing house founded with the name of Witty Kiwi in 2012, that aims to promote photography and visual arts. Since 2016 he is also co-founder of JEST, an independent space dedicated to enhancing culture and photography in Turin. He also teaches photography in institutions as IED Torino, private school and workshops.

Timeline

October 2020
- Session 1 Welcome and Presentation
- Session 2 Publisher Group Tutoring (5 hour)
November
- Session 3 One-to-One Mentoring with Publisher
- Session 4 Studio visit with Lisa Barnard
December
- Session 5 Studio visit with Vasantha Yogananthan
- Session 6 Participants’ Work Presentation
- Session 7 PhMuseum Group Session
January 2021
- Session 8 Publisher & Designer Group Tutoring (5 hour)
- Session 9 Studio visit with Natasha Christia
February
- Session 10 One-to-One Mentoring with Publisher & Designer
- Session 11 Studio visit with Niccolò Fano
March
- Session 12 Studio visit with Jörg M. Colberg
- Session 13 Publisher & Designer Group Tutoring (5 hour)
- Session 14 Participants’ Work Presentation

Studio visits

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Jörg M. Colberg is a writer and educator. Since 2002 he is the founder and editor of Conscientious, a blog dedicated to contemporary photography.

Jörg M. Colberg
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Lisa Barnard (1967) is a British photographic artist and educator based in Cardiff.

Lisa Barnard
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Natasha Christia (Athens, 1976) is an unaffiliated curator, writer and educator based in Barcelona.

Natasha Christia
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Niccolò Fano (Rome,1985) - founder and director of Matèria.

Niccolò Fano
Vasantha Yogananthan

Why participate?

Get published

This masterclass offers you the concrete and unprecedented opportunity to have the work of 1 participant published and fully founded. All the participants will also see their project become a ready-to-print dummy.
Expand your network

Engage with a selected group of peers and professionals from around the world, who can become a resource also for your future. Take advantage of PhMuseum and Witty Books international networks.
Learn practical skills

This program grants you a first-hand experience encompassing both a theoretical and practical approach to photography, editing and design with the specific goal of a photobook in mind.
Flexible program

In this unstable period you can engage in a program that will happen no matter what having the chance to learn from home while working or studying.
Competitive price

Enjoy a high end program at our launching price, one of the most competitive on the market. If you don’t have the resources, you can also apply for 1 fully-funded scholarship.

Our alumni

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Amit Elkayam is an Israeli photographer based in Tel Aviv and New York City.

Amit Elkayam

Folio Class 2020/21
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Ann explores the limits of the photographic medium in a quest to show the unseen and what lies behind the surface. She uses a vast array of creative techniques such as bleaching, rotting, cutting...

Ann Massal

Folio Class 2020/21
Emilio Nasser

Folio Class 2020/21
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Photographer from Argentina

Monty Kaplan

Folio Class 2020/21
Greta Pettinari

Folio Class 2020/21
Marisol Mendez

Folio Class 2020/21
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Nikola (1989) is a photographer and filmmaker based in Milan. His work merges open-ended narratives with a subjective documentary approach.

Nikola Lorenzin

Folio Class 2020/21
Riccardo Svelto

Folio Class 2020/21
Wenkai Wang

Folio Class 2020/21
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Yshao works with artist books, photography, new media arts and installation. His works investigate issues in migration, sense of belonging and cultural negotiation under modernization.

Yshao Lin

Folio Class 2020/21