Visual Voice: Cultivating Authenticity in Imagery
with Caroline Jensen
5 WEEK WORKSHOP
$300 Full Participation | $150 Study Along
Everyone has a unique and authentic voice, but its purest form may often be marred by fear or the influence of others. This course will help you nurture your visual voice and express your true creativity in your images.
Your visual voice is as unique as your fingerprint, and it transcends where you live and even the subjects you shoot. Join Caroline Jensen as she walks through the keys to developing a distinctive voice, techniques for analyzing your own work critically, and guidance for swimming through the sea of influences competing for your attention. From recognizing the impact of our photographer crushes to managing the mountains of advice available online, Caroline will give you a concrete path that will help distractions fall away and leave you feeling refreshed and ready to create images unique to you. This course is not genre specific and all photographic interests are welcome.
PREREQUISITES
This course is beneficial for both new and experienced photographers. You can deepen your understanding of your voice and style at any place in your creative journey.
what you’ll get
WEEKLY LESSONS
130 page book
DAILY INSTRUCTOR-LED Q&A
Full participation students engage in instructor-led discussion and Q&A for daily interaction and support. Study along students have full viewing access.
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT FEEDBACK & CRITIQUE
Full Participation students receive extensive personal audio critiques of weekly assignment submissions.
Study Along Students have full viewing access.
VIDEOS
10+ Videos
AUDIO MESSAGES
Weekly audio messages
ADDITIONAL VIDEOS
Links to supplemental videos for discussion purposes
syllabus
Lesson One
LEARN ABOUT
Read chapter one. Begin to broaden your understanding of what voice is and how it differs and relates to style. Participants will learn to define and apply voice principles in the study of their own work and the work of others.
ASSIGNMENT
Curate a small collection of three images that represent your current work. Use these images to answer specific questions as guided by the instructor.
Lesson Two
LEARN ABOUT
Read chapter two. Learn a method for decoding your voice and learning how to deal with the issues of copying and photographer crushes. Learn a method for finding your voice within the work of others.
ASSIGNMENT
Complete assignments within the chapter and work to create one image that challenges a fear you identified.
Lesson Two Continued: Independent Work Week
Lesson Three
LEARN ABOUT
Read chapter three. Learn a method for decoding your voice and learning how to deal with the issues of copying and photographer crushes. Learn a method for finding your voice within the work of others.
ASSIGNMENT
The Assignment is due at the end of the fourth week. Complete the step by step directions in chapter three and create one image that demonstrates your growth over the past two weeks. Create simple descriptors that hone in on the essence of your voice.
Lesson Four
LEARN ABOUT
Read chapter four and learn steps for ongoing voice development.
ASSIGNMENT
Create one image based on the text of chapter four and collaborate with two to three other participants to refine your voice elements in that one image. Choose a private and public personal project for ongoing voice development and join the alumni forum for ongoing discussion.
"If you want an amazing, in-depth course that challenges you every step of the way, this is it! "
- KRISTIN
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about your instructor
Caroline Jensen, A Sony Artisan of Imagery, is a photographic artist living on the prairie. Her favorite things include cozy nights in front of her natural wood fireplace, camping in her Airstream, and read alouds with her children. Photography is her expressive outlet and features emotive black and white portraiture, unique macro work, colorful landscapes, and food photography. Her gear includes her Sony mirrorless cameras and lenses, as well as vintage lenses and Lensbaby lenses that express her photographic voice perfectly. She has been featured in many publications including: Dreamer Journal, Sony Alpha Universe, Pro Photo Daily, and numerous times in Click magazine as well as on the packaging of the Lensbaby Sweet 50, Velvet , and Burnside lenses. She teaches four popular workshops at Click Photo School where she encourages creativity and development of visual voice. View Caroline’s work here.
how it works
Full Participation students engage in an interactive online classroom experience that includes instructor-led group discussions and detailed, personalized guidance for the duration of the workshop. Full participation students post their assignments in the workshop and receive critique each week.
Study Along students have access to all materials and are able to view all content and conversation in the main workshop. Study along students will not be able to ask the instructor questions or request instructor feedback on their assignments, but they can follow along with instructor critiques of the Full Participation assignments.
This is the very best workshop I have ever taken. Caroline is an exceptional teacher and this class really helped work through a lot of creative blocks and clearly see my visual voice. Everyone should take this workshop.
Visual Voice was the very first CM workshop I invested in and I am so glad I did! Before I began, I was kind of feeling all over the place with my work, not 100% sure what I was doing or why, really, but Caroline was the perfect guide to help me sort it all out! I rediscovered the joy of picking up my camera daily and I have a better understanding now of why and how I shoot what I do. It’s kind of hard to explain, but it was a vital turning point for me in gaining confidence and connecting with my images on a much more personal level.
Overall, Caroline was an amazing instructor, full of encouragement, ideas, and very interactive with her students. At one point I referred to her as my “photographer therapist” and I really feel that was true! I have only positive things to say about her and our TA, Leah. I promise you will not regret signing up for this class. It’s a game changer, for sure!
For the last 2 years, I’ve taking many CM workshops and breakouts and my photography skills have bloomed. Now it was time for me to take a step back, look at my body of work, and consider who “I” was as a photographer. This class was exactly what I needed. It provided the exercises, the prompts, the suggestions, the feedback, and even more wonderfully…the TIME to dive deep and ask myself introspective questions.
Thanks to this class, I came away with 3 perfect words describing what I want my photos to say, an artist statement that I go back to every time approach a photo, and most importantly, a confident joy of creating again knowing that the voice comes from a place that is uniquely mine. I no longer ask myself, “Well, I like both dark and moody and light and airy; it depends on the photo. What do I do?”
I know what to do. Thank you, Caroline.
I always thought I knew what I liked about my own photography, but after this class, I really learned what it was – and it wasn’t what I expected! Over the course of five weeks, Caroline will take you on a journey to uncover what makes photography special to you, and how to capture it in your images. I have long struggled with voice in my own work, what I like and why, but after this course, I know what I am looking for and am better prepared to find it. This class is a must take for anyone looking to go deeper with their photography.
Caroline’s guidance throughout the class is generous and inspirational; even with many photographers of different genres coming together during our run, she was able to pull out our true selves, no matter how different from each other we were and she encourages people to stay true to their path. There is no right or wrong way in this class, only your own way.
I highly recommend this class.
This workshop is ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. If you only ever do one workshop at CM, this one should be it. Finding your voice is crucial – you need it like we need the air to breath. Caroline steps you through methodical exercises in order to isolate your visual elements and what you are drawn to. She is incredibly perceptive and has such deep insight into the work of her students. I honestly found this course to be a pivotal course for me. I absolutely wouldn’t have gotten to where I am without Caroline. Run and sign up to this course as soon as you can!
I loved, loved Caroline Jensen’s class, “The Visual Voice.” The PDF (and the accompanying videos) were gorgeous and clearly written with beautifully illustrated lessons that build on each other. It if often difficult and frustrating to tease out our photographic voice but Caroline made sure that by the end of the class every one was clear and confident about theirs. Through examples of her own as well as practical shooting and writing exercises she led the discovery of our own voice and style. This was the best class on self-critique, reflection, and visual voice that I have ever taken and I have taken many workshops. Highly recommended to anyone who is searching to define their photographic voice, regardless of where they are on their photographic journey. It applies both to beginners who are not yet sure of their voice and also to more advanced photographers who are in the process of curating a cohesive portfolio. Caroline’s teaching style is wonderful: she is not only an amazing artist but also a kind, knowledgeable and a generous guide. This class will inspire you to trust in your own voice and you will gain confidence as you move forward on your journey. Highly recommended!
I loved this workshop for so many reasons. First, Caroline is a wonderful teacher: she is such a creative and knowledgeable photographer, insightful and articulate in her feedback, and gently nudging yet always uplifting in her guidance. Finding your voice requires a good amount of soul-searching and being vulnerable, and I couldn’t imagine a better guide than Caroline to do this with. She created a wonderful atmosphere in the workshop, and was very active and thoughtful in all her responses and suggestions.
The materials are truly beautiful and the process and exercises Caroline lays out to pinpoint what your voice is worked really well for me. I went from collecting lots of influences and inspirations to really drilling down into what the common denominator among them is, really the essence of what is present in all my authentic images. It was tough – and lots of fun! :-)
It has been six months since the workshop, and I have loved shooting ever since. I get a lot more keepers because I now just know what makes me love certain images and others not so much. I shoot with intention, incorporating techniques and elements that I know will “look like me”, I edit more consistently (and more boldly) and I find it easier to evaluate my own imagery and direct my photography learning going forward. I finally feel like I know what I need to do to get where I want to go. It’s wonderful and liberating!
I can only give Visual Voice and Caroline my warmest and highest recommendation.
Visual Voice came at the perfect time for me, in the perfect package
I have been following Caroline’s work for a while; her work is so inspiring with so much personality and creativity. Since I have had a glimpse of Caroline’s brand new workshop in Seattle, during Click Away, I knew I wanted to take the class.
To be honest, I was very intimidated after seeing all the amazing Click Pro photographers in my run of this workshop; many of them I admire and follow. However, I should not have been worried, because we all want to create images that speak from our heart. Moreover, we want to create images that say “me” as an artist.
The material Caroline prepared and her guidance through the process ‘finding’ our voice, is beyond amazing. Every page of the PDF has so much beauty; you can see her heart all over it. Caroline’s presence during this workshop, answering questions, was marvelous. Even though this was a full class, she took time to respond to us quickly.
You see, we all have a voice; however it needs to be unearthed and brought to light. Although this is a 5 week workshop, there is so much more to be discovered after the fact. I know that I will go through the material time and time again.
Thank you Caroline, and amazing TA’s Sally, Jan, and Jessica for making this workshop such an invaluable experience. I now know what I want to say and how to say it with my images as my journey as an artist continues.