Archives, Found Photographs, and the Long Documentary Project (Online)
- Course Code: 26E001W
- Dates: June 20 – July 11, 2026
- Meets: Wed, Sat from 04:00 PM to 06:00 PM IST
- Location: Online Google Classroom
- Course Tuition: INR 7000
Description
This practical and process-led workshop is for photographers and artists who are already working on a long-term project and want to bring archival material into it with more care and clarity.
Over four weeks, participants will look closely at archival and family photographs, organise their material, write useful notes and captions, and think about what these images show, what they hide, and what they leave uncertain. They will also explore how old photographs can lead to new work. An image might send someone back to a place, a room, an object, a person, a landscape, a route, or a forgotten story. This course is limited to 10 students.
Prerequisite
Advanced: You are comfortable with your camera, whether film or digital, and with your photographic practice. You have already produced or are working on a body of work. You are interested in working on family albums, found photographs, studio portraits, letters, documents, newspaper clippings, community archives, inherited objects, and other kinds of personal or collected material. You may be seeking a clearer way of working with archives inside your project
Fees
INR 7000*
*Scholarship Opportunity Available
Faculty
Akshay Mahajan
Faculty Bio
Akshay Mahajan is an artist deeply invested in utilizing photography as a mirror to culture and collective memory. His practice thoughtfully examines post-colonial cities, landscapes, folklore, and mythologies, meticulously scrutinized to reveal myriad “failed futures.” His work observes how our postcolonial reality is often anchored in a pre-colonial memory, using the camera as a tool to lay bare these connections. With a discerning eye, Mahajan explores how the physical structures and spaces in the non-western world can become emblematic of unfulfilled aspirations and unrealized potentials due to unresolved historiography. Simultaneously, Mahajan contemplates the intricate ways in which individual lives intersect with, and are shaped by, these landscapes..
In 2023, Akshay was the runner-up of the Aperture Portfolio Prize and was named Foam Talent for 2023-24. He is the winner of the Nera Di Verzasca Prize 2024.
Born in India, Akshay’s work has been showcased at venues like the 13th Bamako Encounters, Cairo Biennale, Athens Photo Festival and Encontros da Imagem. Beyond photography, he engages with the visual arts through writing, teaching, and curation.
Class Preparation
During the first class each student should bring one 250 words of project statement mentioning their goal with this long term project. They will also include ‘why’ they will include archival elements into their long term Documentary Practice.
Notes
Courses are subject to minimum enrollment. Please register early, within five days of the start-date, to reduce the likelihood of course cancellation and to ensure you receive all course-related materials in time to prepare for class.