Workshops

Discover the art of visual story-telling with toy photography and see the world in a different way. 

Our 60 minute workshop invites children to look at the world in a different way. Conducted in two parts, it features a visually rich, interactive presentation during which we share our ‘paper movie’ process. Pierre-Jacques and Jules reveal how film making methods bring their books to life, and how photography and design can draw drama and emotion from little plastic figures. By then, the students are ready to try toy photography with a miniature set that has been constructed especially for the day. 

Enquiries are also welcome about a book-making project to work on in class that includes a teacher’s guide plus a full day, hands on workshop with PJ and Jules. Suitable for Grades 5 and 6. 

Philosophers tell us that nothing is great or small other than by comparison. In our creative practice, we explore how small scales give us new perspectives and, in unexpected ways, let us see the world in a whole new light. We bring things down to size to understand and appreciate them. Something too big to visualise at full scale, a building, a crowd, climate change or a war, may be rendered comprehensible in miniature because it encourages greater scrutiny and deeper participation.

At a time when creation with AI is all the buzz, sharing the value of the artistic process has never been more important. We have found that children are fascinated by the time it takes us to complete our stories in miniature. In our workshops, we encourage them to explore the satisfaction and joy that comes not only with the result, but more importantly with the ‘doing’. There’s so much fun to be had, and so much to learn, in the process of creating.

How do we respond to the curriculum?

Our workshops are designed to enable students to decode, interpret, create, question, challenge, and evaluate visual images and literary texts. They are focused on enabling students to achieve the ‘Respond and Interpret’ learning outcomes of Media Arts, Visual Communication Design, and Visual Arts. In short, the workshops privilege upper primary and lower secondary students’ need to become confident in responding to the crafting of a visual artistic language.

As visual and media artists, we understand the importance of crafting sophisticated stories for young audiences and readers. We understand that understanding is not achieved through a superficial response but a sharing of the detail of artistic practice. Consequently, we offer an exploration of creative techniques in visual storytelling within the context of subjects such as Media Studies, Visual Communication Design and Visual Arts. 

For Media Students:

Middle school students are given the opportunity to view and respond to our unique use of photography and filmmaking processes. These enable students to view a multi-arts experience through the creation of our published books. 

For Visual Communications & Design Students:

We take enormous care in foregrounding the design elements of our work.  We are able to demonstrate our design principles in an inspiring account of exacting creative decision making. Over decades of experimentation, we can show students the end-to-end process we undertake to complete the design of our many publications.

For Visual Arts Students:

Our storybooks offer middle school students multiple opportunities to learn the elements of the visual arts. Our aim is to demonstrate to students our methods of enquiry of visual arts techniques, materials, processes and technologies. We do so by sharing how we participate with different cultures.  Ultimately, we believe we have a responsibility as practising artists to share with young people our curiosity, enjoyment and personal aesthetic when making our art works.