A Beautiful Mess (February 2018)

February 2018, six students came together for a week-long class: Flash! Fiction and Photography. This experience was a collaboration between Flower City Arts Center and Writers & Books. Students created their own fictional stories with a skilled writer and then learned how to create their own black and white photographs with a skilled photographer to illustrate their writing. Throughout the week participants learned how to craft settings, characters, and story arcs. To illustrate their stories they learned how to use a professional lighting studio, learned how to photograph with a 35mm black and white film camera, and created their own photographic prints in a darkroom. A Beautiful Mess is the result of this collaborative experience.

The contents of this book were designed and produced by students Casey Boyack, Madison Harbin, Maya Hatch, Krista Janinek, Verity Nelson, and Kayla Newland. The cover photograph and title were a collaboration among the students.