Michelle
L. Woodward
Photo Editor / Photographer / Researcher
Baltimore, MD
email: michelle(at)mwoodward.com
website: www.mwoodward.com
blog: www.photobeirut.typepad.com
Education
2000-2002: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Master of Science Degree, Comparative Media Studies Program,
Thesis: "The construction of photojournalism: Visual style and branding
in the Magnum Photos Agency"
1992: Washington School of Photography, Bethesda, Maryland
Professional-level classes in black-and-white and color photography
1989-90: The American University of Cairo, Egypt
Junior Year Abroad Program from UC Santa Cruz
1987-91: University of California, Santa Cruz, California
BA Degree in Anthropology, with a focus on the Middle East
Employment
September 2008: Instructor, Odyssey, Liberal Arts Programs for Adults, Johns Hopkins University
Teaching a fall course in taking better photos through learning photography history and how to analyze photographic meaning.
September 2007 – present: Instructor, The Compelling Image
Teaching an online course for advanced beginner to intermediate photographers,
“Developing a
Photographer’s Eye”
October 2002 - present: Photo Editor, Middle East Report magazine, published
by MERIP, Washington, D.C.
October 2002 – present: Picture Researcher and Independent Scholar/Writer/Photographer
Research clients have included individual academics, Palgrave Macmillan and the International Labour Organization
August 2004 - September 2006: Media Coordinator, Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), Washington, D.C.
November 2002 -
March 2004: Photo Researcher for Holy Land: Common Ground
A documentary film by Edward Gaffney and
Alicia Dwyer. Work included two trips to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
September - December
2000: Instructor, The Media and Technology Charter High School (MATCH), Boston, MA
Co-taught
ninth-graders digital video production
January 1999 - August 2000: Staff Assistant and Editor, The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, MIT, Cambridge, MA
November 1997 - August 1998: Stringer Photographer, Agence France Presse (AFP), Amman, Jordan
October 1996 -
July 1997: Photo Editor Assistant, TCS Publishing Partners, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
International photo/editorial agency
September 1993
- December 1994: Photo Assistant & Office Manager, Images Only by Lauren, Moraga, CA
Professional wedding photographer
April - September 1993: Writer, editor, and researcher for Prof. Albert Aghazarian, Bir Zeit University, West Bank
March - September
1993: Photographer with Photofile, Jerusalem
Photography agency
October 1991 - December 1992: Editorial Intern & Administrative Assistant, Middle East Report magazine, Washington, D.C.
Published Writing
2007
"War of Opinion", Photographs and interviews with Lebanese history
teachers, Vice magazine, Italy (Anno 3, Numero 6)
“Walls of Beirut,” photo essay and text, Sowar:
Journalistic and Documentary Photography (#00, Vol. 1, June 2007)
“Photographic Style and the Depiction of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” Jerusalem Quarterly (Issue 31, Summer 2007)
2006
"Not All Black and White,"
Middle East Report 240, Fall 2006. (Review of photography books about
Palestine.)
"Hurting Peace, Not Hamas," TomPaine.com, April 14, 2006.
"Sharon Legacy Needs Undoing," Newspaper op-ed distributed by Minuteman
Media and published in Topeka Capital-Journal (1/14/06), Garden
City Telegram (1/14/06), Northwest Arkansas Times (1/15/06), and
Aventura News (1/18-24/06).
2005
“For Arab World Peace, More Voices Need Attention,” Newspaper op-ed
co-authored with Waleed Hazbun for Minuteman Media. Published in Topeka
Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS, 4/15/05), The Brinkley Argus (Brinkley,
AR, 4/13/05), Journal of Turkish Weekly (Ankara, Turkey 5/3/05), Daily
Corinthian (Corinth, MS, 4/21/05), Arts and Letters Magazine (Summer
2005).
2003
"Between Orientalist Clichés
and Images of Modernization: Photographic Practice in the Late Ottoman Era,"
History of
Photography, Winter 2003, Vol. 27, No. 4.
1995
Review of photography books on Palestine published in Middle East Report
194/195, May-June/July-August 1995.
Presentations
2007
“Indigenous Photography of the Middle East and Contemporary Uses of the
Archive,” presented at Global Photographies conference, Dun Laoghaire
Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Ireland, June 27, 2007.
2005
"Trends in Photographic Style and the Depiction of Israeli- Palestinian
Conflicts, 1948-2004," presented at University of Maryland politics lecture
series, May 11, 2005. Invited by Prof. Jillian Schwedler.
2004
"Trends in Photographic Style and the Depiction of Israeli- Palestinian
Conflicts, 1948-2004," presented at Middle East Studies Association Conference,
San Francisco, November 2004.
"Portraits of Community and Identity in Ottoman Photography," presented
at Ege University 9th Annual Cultural Studies International Symposium, Izmir,
Turkey, May 7, 2004.
"Style and Politics in the Construction of Photojournalism," lecture
to "Understanding Politics 1" at Goucher College, Towson, MD, April
29, 2004. Invited by Prof. Jane Bennett.
"Between Orientalist Tropes and Images of Modernization: Photographing
the Ottoman Empire," presented at Society for Photographic Education annual
conference, Newport, Rhode Island, March 26, 2004.
2002
"Between Orientalist Tropes and Images of Modernization: Photographic Practice
in the Late Ottoman Era," paper presented at Middle East Studies Association
Conference, Washington, D.C., November, 2002.
2001
"Competing Discourses on Photography as a Social Practice: The Situation
of Amateurs and Women, 1880 - 1910," guest lecture for the class "Photography
and Truth" taught by Susan Slyomovics, MIT.
Photographic Exhibits / Awards
2005: Photography exhibit, Baltimore Gallery, January 14 - February 10.
2004: Exhibited in group shows at the Creative Alliance, Baltimore and Maryland
Art Place, Baltimore.
2002: Photography exhibit "Cemetery Portraits: A Documentary Project"
at the Photographic Resource Center, Members Project Room, Boston University.
1999: Awarded Special Commendation in Portrait Category for the photograph "Boys
Take a Break on the Street Called Straight, Damascus, Syria", in the annual
juried exhibition at The Arthur Griffin Center for Photographic Art, Winchester,
MA.
1998: Photography exhibit of images of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, at the Middle
East Studies Association Conference, Chicago.
1997: Photography exhibit of images of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, in Rialto Cinema
Cafe, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
1990: Photography exhibit of images of Egypt and Turkey at Cowell Coffee Shop,
UC Santa Cruz.
Published Photography
(in addition to agency work, not a comprehensive list, portfolio available for
review)
Rough Guides, London, UK: Cover and inside photos in guidebooks to Jordan, Syria,
Israel/West Bank, and New England
Middle East Report magazine (MERIP), Washington, DC
Boston Review, Cambridge, MA
Islam: Art and Architecture (Tandem Verlag, 2006)
Sowar: Journalistic and Documentary Photography magazine (Beirut, Lebanon)
Vice magazine, Italy
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs magazine, Washington, DC
Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Covers and inside photos
in books on Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon in the Landreeks series
Tyche Tours travel brochure, Amman, Jordan
Hayat Pharmaceutical Company 1999 calendars, Amman, Jordan
The Website of King Hussein of Jordan
Jordan Diary 2000, published by the International Press Office of the Royal
Hashemite Court, Amman, Jordan