Join us for a hands-on cyanotype (sunprint) photography workshop led by Marina Dawn Wells, PhD, curator of the exhibition “Look pleasant, please”: Early Portrait Photography in New Bedford on view at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. This workshop invites participants to engage with historic photographic processes that echo themes of representation and image-making explored in the exhibition.

Using a modern cyanotype process—an historic photographic technique that produces distinctive blue-and-white prints through exposure to sunlight—participants will create their own compositions using arranged objects and materials. The workshop offers an accessible, creative introduction to photographic experimentation while connecting to the exhibition’s broader inquiry into how images are constructed and understood.

Check-in at 4:30 PM at the admissions desk, and the workshop will begin promptly at 4:45 PM in Cuffe Park. Participants will create prints on site during the session and will also have the opportunity to walk through the “Look pleasant, please” exhibition, with the curator available for them to ask questions.

This program will take place outdoors, weather permitting. All materials will be provided, though participants are invited to bring small objects to incorporate into their designs. These may be leaves or flowers, but they also could be additional trinkets, two-dimensional forms, or three-dimensional keepsakes with or without sentimental value—with an eye to how they could become silhouetted shapes and textures.

The sunprint drying process will depend on weather conditions and individual timing, but participants will bring their creations right home from the program.

After the workshop, participants are invited to stay for a music performance by the Toe Jam Puppet Band in Cuffe Park. The performance is free of charge, as part of the AHA! Night New Bedford.

Workshop Tickets: $12.50 for Museum members | $25 for non-members

Capacity is limited. Advance registration is required.