The CAP Prize is the international Prize for Contemporary African Photography awarded annually since 2012 to five photographers whose works were created on the African continent, or which engage with the African diaspora.
The CAP Prize is the international Prize for Contemporary African Photography awarded annually since 2012 to five photographers whose works were created on the African continent, or which engage with the African diaspora.
The CAP Academy offers workshops and coachings for photographic practices in an African context in collaboration with photography initiatives around the globe. It was first launched in 2015 by the CAP Association.
The CAP Academy is an initiative by the CAP Association, which has been fostering photographic practices in an African context since 2012 by executing the CAP Prize for Contemporary African Photography, publishing the Edition POPCAP since 2015 and by organizing the IAF Festival for Contemporary Art since 2012.
The CAP Academy aims to foster photographic practices through mobile and modular teaching and coaching units in collaboration with local organisations engaging in photographic education. The tutors are CAP Prize laureates and international experts from various fields of photography. The offerings are aimed to not just be swift or one time interventions but rather long term commitments by the students and their tutors over the period of three to 12 months. This in order to create sustainable outcome and to build a strong network among the students and tutors.
Eligible students are selected by existing international panels of judges such as for the CAP Prize. Special calls for certain programmes can be thought out. Eligible students must show serious interest in a photographic career and must be able to commit to the course offered to them fully and without exception. They may have previously developed a strong body of work that may lack a certain attention i.e marketing, editing or technique which will be addressed in the matching CAP Academy programme.
The CAP Academy collaborated in with these local partners for its learning experiences:
Thematic workshops can be offered for groups of 6 to 18 students for one or two weeks followed by assignments that are overseen by the tutors over the course of a longer time via regular online meetings. A workshop may also consist of more than one physical meeting depending on i.e. the topic and dependency of technical equipment. There is always a concrete outcome of every workshop for every student workshop like a book, a published photo series, a printed series, a website or a photo story.
Students in discussion at the CAP Academy workshop on story telling the framework of the Uganda Press Photo Award 2019.
Students at work at the CAP Academy workshop on project management in framework of the Sana Sanaa at Brush Tu Studio.
Students in discussion at the CAP Academy workshop on project management in framework of the Sana Sanaa at Brush Tu Studio.
Students at the CAP Academy workshop on project management in framework of the Sana Sanaa at Brush Tu Studio.
Students in discussion at the CAP Academy workshop on project management in framework of the Sana Sanaa at Brush Tu Studio.
Coachings are modules that can either be taught face to face for i.e. a week with regard of special student needs and/or online over a period of three to 12 months. Coaching are custom tailored to a photographer’s needs. The coach will be matched from the pool of CAP Academy tutors. The outcome is always concrete like a book, a published photo series, a printed series, a website or a photo story. Coachings classically address issues a students has with an already started or even developed project and help to come to a satisfying result that teaches how to avoid issues previously encountered. Examples are how to tell a story or how to tell a story with regard of a certain outlet like i.e magazine, exhibition or newspaper.
The CAP Academy tutors are sourced from the CAP Prize winners who are motivated to pass on their knowledge with regard of photography. They will teach whatever they are experts at. Be it photographic techniques, self-marketing, project development or book making. The CAP Academy also invites other extraordinary experts to teach with the workshop and coaching context to join the faculty of tutors.
Since the early 1990s Michael Maria Müller has experimented with digital techniques; modifying them, developing them, and defying trends by sticking to certain tried and trusted techniques rather than using new print methods that do not herald comparably good results. His particular focus has always been on the papers used to print photographs, at times even using papers that others have not yet dared go near.
www.artificialimage.com, www.michaelmariamueller.net
Benjamin Füglister was born in 1978 in Switzerland and is an artist and cultural entrepreneur. He has lived in Berlin, Germany since the conclusion of his studies at the School of Art in Basel, Switzerland and at the School of Art in Utrecht, the Netherlands. In his artistic practice he addresses social conventions and their visual transformation, with a particular focus on photography as an interface for and visualisation of the variation of the human image. Füglister has worked as part of the editorial team at European Photography magazine since 2006 and in 2009 founded piclet.org, a platform for hand-picked photographic portfolios and a directory for photography festivals, magazines and institutes. He is the founder of CAP Prize for Contemporary African Photography, awarded annually since 2012. He is also a nominator for the prestigious Prix Pictet since 2015.
www.capprize.com, www.benjaminfueglister.com
Joana Choumali, born in 1974, is a fine art photographer based in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. She studied Graphic Arts in Casablanca (Morocco) and worked as an Art Director in an advertising agency before embarking on her photography career. She works primarily on conceptual portraiture, mixed media and documentary. She uses her photography to explore her own identity. Much of her work focuses on Africa, and what she, as an African, is learning about the myriad cultures around her. Her work allows her to explore assumptions she has and nourishes her as she expands her conceptions of the world.
Adolphus Opara´s work is induced by encounters with people and their daily effort to exist amidst obstacles that define and situate their individual locality. He uses visual story telling with the aid of pictures and audio recordings to better understand as well as to show his connection to the issues that confronts him daily. Opara is the winner of World Environment Day photography competition 2007, Life in my City Art competition 2009, First Photo Africa contest, Spain 2008, Piclet Award for Photography 2012. He is a two-time nominee of World Press Photo Joop Swart Master class in documentary Photography, was nominated for the National Geographic All Roads Master class, a two-time nominee of the Prix Pictet Prize and also a two-time nominee of the Magnum EMERGENCY FUND. Opara has facilitated photography workshops for UNICEF on Child right reporting and he is also the co-initiator of The Silent Majority Project.
www.adolphusopara.com
Léonard Pongo graduated from Maastricht University with a BA in Social Sciences. During and after a training in documentary photography, Pongo worked in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and is currently focusing on South-East Asia and Congo DR. His long term project “The Uncanny” started in Congo DR in 2011 has earned him several awards and international recognition. His work is featured in the Guardian, CNN, and several online publications. Pongo is also a tutor at Obscura festival.
www.lpongo.eu
Subject: Design
Duration: 1 to 5 days
Target group: The workshop is aimed at professional photographers (journalism, advertising, fashion, art) as well as print service providers who wish to provide their clients with a more reliable and consistent product in line with international standards.
Number of participants: max. 8
Tutors: Michael Maria Müller, Léonard Pongo
Abstract: Modern cameras take much away from photographers, often leaving the impression that they provide a substitute for technical knowledge and ability, and that the photographer need therefore only compose and take the photo. This misconception means that a lot of photographers fail to properly engage with the technical aspects of photography. When the image is made, the file is transmitted into the digital workflow, and the photographer misses the opportunity to consciously influence the photographic process. Print service providers face similar challenges.
Subject: Management
Duration: 2 days / 3 days
Target group: photographers who want to learn basic management skills to be more successful with their projects
Number of participants: max. 8
Tutors: Benjamin Füglister
Abstract: If you are not happy with what your photo projects turn out like or how successful they are, you may want to look into how your project was structured or managed from the idea to the sales it translated to. Which steps did you take? Which stakeholders and shareholders doos your projects have? Participants will learn to evaluate their projects and to strategically plan future projects working on a practical example form their own field of work.
Subject: Design
Duration: 1 day / 2 days
Target group: photographers and designers keen to learn more about how they properly edit and sequence their project for particular outlets.
Number of participants: max. 8
Tutors: Benjamin Füglister, Calin Kruse
Abstract: Once a project is alegedly concluded the part many photographers struggle wit, just starts. Which photogrphs do I include in my sotry/sequence? Which of my babies do I have to kill. How do I decide myself withut beeing blided by emotions.
Subject: Design
Duration: 4 days
Target group: photographers and designers keen to learn more about creative (self) publishing.
Number of participants: max. 12
Tutors: Calin Kruse
Abstract: Calin Kruse will talk about his work and approach to designing and editing, with special emphasis on the importance of the materials in the production of photo books. Furthermore, the participants will have the opportunity to design a book dummy from their own photo projects during the four-day workshop. Calin will give theoretical and practical inputs, special emphasis will be put on design (size, paper, material and shape), image selection and order. The attendants will work with materials available on location. Visits to markets and shops are expected.
Subject: Marketing
Duration: 1 day / 2 days
Target group: photographers and designers keen to learn more about creative (self) publishing.
Number of participants: max. 8
Tutors: Benjamin Füglister
Abstract: Finalizing your long-term photography project or portfolio can often present a challenge. If you’re struggling with editing and sequencing your photo essays, writing compelling introductions and good captions for your photographs or knowing how to get that story published, then this one day training is for you! Participants will get an understanding of how to prepare a portfolio or a photo essay to submit to international media and photography competitions and reviews.
We are very happy to answer any inquiry regarding the CAP Academy and are open to suggestions. Please use this form to be in touch, we will get back to you shortly.
