As part of our strategy to expand the training OHWA offers to our members, award-winning photography Philip Gostelow led a portrait photography workshop in July.
As oral histories continue to be used for public exhibitions and online sharing, having a photo to go with the audio story has become increasingly important. As experienced story-listeners, we also know the value for our narrators in being seen as well as heard. So who better to help our members develop their visual storytelling skills than OHWA Committee Member Philip Gostelow, who comes to oral history after a successful career as a professional photography.
During the half-day workshop, Philip introduced participants to some of the history of portrait photography, and shared examples from his own work and others. Similar to oral history interviewing, portrait photography works best when there is rapport between the photographer and the person being photographed.
In pairs, participants broke off to take photos of each other, inside the State Library WA and outside around the Cultural Centre. After just a few hours of training, we think these examples of our work are pretty good!
Philips will be offering the workshop again next year, or your can contact him directly via our practitioner register.
