Photography meets creative writing

In her work, Carrie Mae Weems explores how pictures write history, shape memory and decide who is seen and who remains invisible. In doing so, she deals with questions of identity, belonging, relationships and social roles and combines personal perspectives with larger historical and social contexts.

In this workshop, we approach her pictures by writing — attentively, groping, personally. With short impulses from creative writing, participants combine what they have seen with their own biography. Whether writing skills or at the very beginning: The exercises open up spaces for memories and give space for words that are often hidden. Like a photograph, a text can also be preserved, captured and retrieved. Inspired by Carrie Mae Weems' vision, participants explore themselves — not with the camera, but with language. Through the joint exchange of texts, it becomes apparent that personal stories are interconnected and biographies can be expanded in dialogue.

Please bring along what you need to write.

Jesse Falzoi has a Master in Literature and an MFA in Creative Writing and teaches writing at a secondary school as well as at Volkshochschule Mitte and Charlottenburg. She has published four novels in German, two short story collections in English and a book about the craft of writing. She lives and writes in Berlin and Sardinia.