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How to Read an American Photograph
A two-day creative writing workshop with Paul Hendrickson
Weekend of July 12 - 13 | 9:00 am - 3:30 pmInformal Welcome Reception | July 11 | 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm901 4th St NW, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20001
“Every great photograph has a secret.” — Mark Stevens
Photographs capture stories. This workshop teaches you how to find them and how to tell them. Led by award-winning author and journalist Paul Hendrickson, this immersive weekend workshop invites you to “walk back in” to moments captured in photography and discover the strange, evocative storytelling universes sealed inside the four rectangular walls of an image.
Through writing, discussion, and exploration, you’ll learn to look more deeply––to notice more intensely––and uncover the emotional and narrative truths hidden in plain sight.
Whether it's a news photo from yesterday’s paper or a curling black-and-white snapshot from your family album, every photograph holds a story, and this is your invitation to discover it. All are welcome to participate!
What to Expect
Over the course of two full days, you’ll learn alongside a small, curious group experiencing a blend of classroom sessions, workshops, and site visits to local museums and institutions.
Activities include:
- Deep reading of photographs, from iconic historical images to your own personal photo
- Facilitated creative writing exercises sparked by visual storytelling
- A visit to a major D.C. exhibition, where each participant will select and present (“docent”) an image to the group
- Workshops to share and explore your personal photograph, with support from Paul Hendrickson and peers
Your Instructor
Paul Hendrickson is a revered nonfiction author and journalist, celebrated for Hemingway’s Boat and the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning Sons of Mississippi. He spent nearly 25 years at The Washington Post and taught for over two decades at the University of Pennsylvania, where his course “The Hungry Eye: Telling Stories Out of Photographs” became a student favorite. Paul also wrote Fighting the Night and was featured in William & Mary's Writers of Washington series.
Hendrickson’s poetic, immersive style reveals how images can launch, deepen, or transform a story. His approach is collaborative, warm, and driven by a belief in storytelling as both a craft and a calling.
What to Bring
- One personal or family photograph (original or a digital copy of the photo on your smartphone/tablet/laptop—whatever is accessible and speaks to you)
- An openness to look closely and share freely
- Your curiosity and insight
Why Attend
Leave with new tools for seeing and storytelling, and a fresh appreciation for the poetic possibilities inside every photograph. No prior experience required-just a willingness to look closely and share.
- Learn to “see” photographs as narrative springboards
- Practice storytelling techniques that translate images into prose
- Connect your personal history to the broader American story
- Leave with new tools—and a paragraph or two of your own writing to inspire future work
No prior experience needed. Just a willingness to be thoughtful and have fun.
| SCHEDULE |
Informal Reception: Friday evening, July 11, 2025
5:20 pm - 8:00 pm |
Workshop Dates: Saturday - Sunday, July 12–13, 2025
9:00 am – 3:30 pm (with lunch break) |
Registration required. Space is limited to 20 participants.
Questions? Contact the D.C. events team at dcevents@wm.edu
Consent to Use Photographic Images
Registration, attendance, or participation in W&M Washington Center meetings, events, and activities constitutes an agreement by which attendees consent to W&M's use and distribution (now and in the future) of the attendee’s image and voice in photographs, audio, video, and digital reproductions of such events and activities.