Workshop: Photographic Print Identification

When: October 15-16, 2025

Location: Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Cost: $500

Presenter: Jennifer Jae Gutierrez

Audience: This workshop is intended as an introductory, or refresher course, in the fundamentals of photographic print identification and will be applicable to collections staff responsible for the identification of photographic prints for cataloging, education, exhibition, and additional collections management activities.

Workshop details

The history of photography includes almost 200 years of generating objects that have many similar visual characteristics, but that were made using a wide range of different technologies and materials. When examining a photograph, viewers must evaluate the clues that the physical object itself presents to properly identify the photographic process(es) used to create the photograph. This skill—which is described in shorthand as ‘process identification’—is something that each new generation of scholars and collections stewards must develop for itself. This workshop will teach participants the tools and skills necessary for successful photographic process identification using a structured methodology and controlled vocabulary for organizing visual information, hands-on practice examining nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first century processes from IPI’s study collection, and instruction on how to use www.graphicsatlas.org as a reference resource for identification.

The workshop will be limited to a maximum of 18 attendees. Registration per individual is $500 and participants are responsible for their own travel, meals, and lodging costs. Registration ends October 3, 2025 or when the workshop is full.