Course Description
What happens when you face the camera? You open up a dialogue. A portrait is never just about appearance. It is about presence, vulnerability, memory, performance, and the desire to be seen. Sometimes we photograph ourselves to reclaim visibility; other times we photograph others to offer care, attention, or agency. This course explores portraiture as a way of building connection and thinking through representation, identity, and community. Working through photography, conversation, and collaborative image-making, students will create portraits that move beyond documentation and into storytelling, emotion, and lived experience.
Together we will look at how artists and photographers have used portraiture to question stereotypes, navigate personal histories, and create space for overlooked narratives. Students will experiment with light, composition, environment, gesture, text, and personal archives while developing their own visual language and approach to portrait-making. Chicago will become part of the classroom, its people, neighborhoods, and layered histories offering inspiration for how images can reflect intimacy, distance, belonging, and change. Classes will include image critiques, discussions, hands-on assignments, and collaborative exercises in a welcoming and supportive environment.
Instructor
Lali Khalid is a Fulbright Scholar and 2025–2026 Diane Dammeyer Fellow at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, and an interdisciplinary artist born in Lahore, Pakistan and based in Chicago. Working in photography, video, and text, her practice explores diaspora, identity, memory, and migration. She is a Distinguished Fellow for Penland School of Craft's 2026 Winter Residency, has published two monographs, and currently serves as Visiting Artist in Photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
DEtails
1821 W Hubbard St, Suite 207. Chicago, IL 60622
September 13th - November 18th
Wednesday Nights
6:00 - 9:00 PM
Requirements
Digital DSLR
Laptop