6-Week Portrait Photography Course

Class 1 — Introduction to Portraiture

In the first session, students are introduced to the foundations of portrait photography and explore what makes a powerful portrait. We will discuss lighting, color, composition, pose, and expression, and how these elements shape the way we see people in photographs. Students will also learn how empathy, curiosity, and observation help create meaningful portraits.

Assignment: Create five portraits that express something about you or your perspective as a photographer. These images should reflect your curiosity, personality, or interests. Students will present their images in the next class as a way to introduce themselves through photography.

Class 2 — Individuality & Expression

Photography is shaped by personal experience and perspective. In this class, students explore how identity, instinct, and life experiences influence the way we photograph people.

Through discussion and review of student work, we will begin identifying themes that naturally appear in each student’s photographs and learn how to trust our creative instincts rather than imitate others.

Assignment: Photograph one person you know and create five different portraits of them. Experiment with different lighting, poses, environments, and moments. The goal is to explore how one subject can be interpreted in many ways.

Class 3 — Breaking the Rules

In this class, we challenge traditional ideas of beauty and explore how portrait photography can reveal the strength and uniqueness in every person. Students will experiment with unusual lighting, movement, unconventional compositions, and unexpected settings to create more expressive portraits.

A key idea of this session is that there are no unphotogenic people—only photographers learning how to see them. Through empathy and creative experimentation, students will learn how to photograph people in ways that highlight their individuality, dignity, and presence.

Assignment: Create five portraits that intentionally break traditional photography rules—through lighting, composition, posing, or setting—while revealing something unique about the person you photograph.

Class 4 — Storytelling Through Photography

Photography has the power to tell stories about people, places, and communities. In this class, students will learn how photographers use images to create narrative and meaning.

Topics include the difference between a single photograph and a series of images, sequencing photos to build a story, and capturing everyday moments in ways that feel meaningful and intentional.

Assignment: Create a 5–8 image photo story about a person, place, or organization. The goal is to use multiple photographs together to tell a narrative.

Class 5 — Adding Emotion to Your Work

This class focuses on how photographers create emotional depth and connection in their work. Students will explore how expression, timing, context, and trust between photographer and subject can transform an image into something powerful.

We will also discuss how photographs can create empathy and how meaning in images can grow over time.

Assignment: Interview a subject and photograph them before and after the conversation. Create six portraits total—three before the interview and three after—to explore how emotional connection changes a portrait.

Class 6 — Presenting Your Work

In the final class, students will present their work and reflect on what they have learned throughout the course. Each student will share their strongest photographs and discuss the ideas, themes, and perspectives that appear in their work.

The session will focus on learning how to talk about photography, recognizing personal patterns in our images, and understanding how our perspective shapes the way we photograph people.

Final Presentation: Present your five strongest photographs from the course and discuss what they reveal about how you see people and the world.