Instructors: Julia Cumes & Lipe Borges
Monday - Friday
August 24 - 28
9am - 12pm
5 sessions
This portrait photography workshop focuses on the creation of thoughtful, story-driven portraits grounded in attention, presence, and the considered use of light. Led by photographers Julia Cumes and Lipe Borges, the course explores how portraits are shaped not only by technical choices, but by the quality of engagement between photographer and subject. Through a combination of discussion, demonstrations, and hands-on photographing, participants will learn how to photograph people in real environments, respond to available light, and create lighting intentionally to support mood, meaning, and narrative. Emphasis is placed on observing closely, working with intention, and allowing meaning to emerge through the photographic process.
The workshop includes guided portrait sessions and group critiques, offering students the opportunity to refine both their visual approach and their ability to articulate intent.
Open to photographers of all levels and camera systems (excluding mobile phones), this course is well suited to those interested in portraiture, documentary practice, and visual storytelling.
Add a donation for an individual membership, family membership, or pay it forward to contribute to our scholarship program.
Julia Cumes is a South African–born photographer based on Cape Cod. With a background in photojournalism, her work centers on narrative portraiture and long-form storytelling, exploring themes of identity, belonging, and community across cultures. Her projects span public health, environmental resilience, and women’s stories, from East Africa and South Asia to coastal New England. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and other publications, and has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Her ongoing collaborative project, Invisible Threads: Portraits and Stories of Our Global Neighbors, developed with Lipe Borges, was exhibited at the Cape Cod Museum of Art and will be published in expanded form by Daylight Books. In 2024, she was named Artist of the Year by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod. She is currently a Boston University Community Impact Fellow for the 2025–26 academic year.
More of her work can be found at JuliaCumes.com and on Instagram @juliacumes
Lipe Borges is a Brazilian artist whose work focuses on portrait and documentary photography. Using the camera as a tool for storytelling and attention, his photographs explore individuality, resilience, and human presence. His camera has served as a passport into prisons, favelas, disaster zones, and vulnerable communities, including work in one of the poorest regions of Peru. His artistic approach is shaped by the rhythm and resilience of Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian art form blending dance, music, and martial arts. Based on Cape Cod since 2020, Lipe is a recipient of the 2023 Creative Futures Fellowship and the 2024 Teaching Artist Development Fellowship, both awarded by The Cordial Eye. He was also selected for the 2024 Creative Exchange Cohort by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.
More of his work can be found at CuriousLipe.com and on Instagram @lipeborges.photo