• Absolute Beginners
  • Digital Arts

This 6-week ONLINE class examines a range of photographic genres including still life, portraiture, interiors and street photography in local neighbourhoods. Students develop their own photographic language by attempting to reveal the characteristics of their surroundings by exploring their home environment, walking, strolling and becoming a 'flaneur' in their neighbourhoods and by staying closer to home and examining their immediate surroundings.

This class is a combination of weekly photography assignments, group discussions and critques designed to enhance photographic confidence and knowlege, screenings and lectures that draw on a variety of artistic practices from artists such as Richard Long, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Jen Davis, Jan Groover and Do Ho Suh etc.

Participants will also take inspiration from everyday experiences and places to continue to make artwork during the quarantine.

Prerequisites: Basic computer fluency is required. 


Winter 2021: 6 Weeks: Tuition: $275 

TSA will deliver this course using ZOOM. Prior to the course session, you will receive an invitation for the session(s) via email. You'll need a laptop, desktop or tablet, internet connection with good bandwidth and headset (either wired or wireless). We recommend that you set up a free ZOOM account and be familiar with ZOOM prior to the class beginning.  Here is a link to help you get started: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697

Notes: Instructor Jessica Thalmann has been teaching at TSA since Spring 2018. She is an artist, curator and educator currently based in Toronto and New York City. She received a MFA in Advanced Photographic Studies from ICP-Bard College and a BFA in Visual Arts from York University and has worked at numerous galleries in Canada and the US. Thalmann has taught at the International Centre for Photography, Akin Collective, MacLaren Art Centre, Toronto School of Art, Gallery 44 and City College of New York. She has shown at various venues in Toronto, Vancouver and New York City including the Art Gallery of Mississauga, Flash Forward Festival, Gallery TPW, Angell Gallery, Art Spin, Hashtag Gallery, Whippersnapper Gallery, Nuit Blanche, the Artist Project, VIVO Media Arts Center, Aperture Foundation, International Centre of Photography, Photoville, Camera Club of New York and Printed Matter’s New York Art Book Fair.
* This course is not currently open for registration

What you will learn

  • Through the lens of today's COVID-19 environment, discover your neighbourhood through photography
  • Develop your own photographic language
  • Learn and discover through critiques, lectures, screenings and weekly assignments

Materials to Bring

Some form of camera and basic image editing software is required.