Susan Richman

Richman’s residency bridges historical and contemporary women’s photographic practices, inviting participants to engage directly in artmaking. Through workshops in portraiture, ecological observation, and layering techniques, participants explore how photography and mixed media can serve as tools for memory, empathy, and coexistence—ways of holding onto the ephemeral while acknowledging our shared impermanence.

Modern Women / Modern Vision celebrates artists who have transformed photography through experimentation, social engagement, and new ways of seeing. Richman’s practice extends this lineage, examining the traces humans leave on the world and the life that persists, adapts, or fades within altered environments.

“Through this residency, I hope to deepen the conversation between human and ecological narratives, fostering a space where creative expression, environmental awareness, and community engagement intersect. My goal is to inspire participants to see themselves as part of a larger continuum of life—both creators and caretakers within the natural and cultural world.”

Susan Richman is a photographer based in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, with degrees from George Washington University and Art Center College of Design. After a career as a commercial photographer in Manhattan, she transitioned to fine art and later taught at the International Center of Photography. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Hudson River Museum, Arkell Museum, Center for Fine Art Photography, and Silvermine Galleries, and is held in numerous private collections.

Public Art Workshops

Led by Teaching Artist-in-Residence Susan Richman

Dissolving Boundaries: A Multimedia Photography Workshop
Saturday, February 21, 1:30–3:30pm
Paint, layer, and photograph translucent materials to reflect movement, change, and environmental transformation in this multimedia workshop, creating images that capture fleeting moments and delicate transitions. Led by Teaching Artist-in-Residence Susan Richman, and inspired by works in Modern Women / Modern Vision by Barbara Morgan and Imogen Cunningham, as well as Richman’s own Dissolving Boundaries series that documents the changing environment. Recommended for ages 12+.

Staged Portraits: A Photography Workshop
Sunday, March 22, 1:30–3:30pm
Explore identity, storytelling, and coexistence in a photography workshop led by Teaching Artist-in-Residence Susan Richman. Create self-portraits and ecological portraits using costumes, props, staging, and collected natural materials, inspired by the work of Cindy Sherman, Sharon Lockhart, and Imogen Cunningham, on view in Modern Women / Modern Vision. Recommended for ages 12+.

For Teens: Tracing Space
Sunday, April 12, 1:30–3:30pm
Calling all teens! Use your digital camera or smartphone to explore the Museum and its surroundings, documenting patterns, textures, and traces of transformation through photography and sketching. Work with Teaching Artist-in-Residence Susan Richman to examine how spaces reveal human presence and environmental change, inspired by photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnston, Berenice Abbott, and Dorothea Lange on view in Modern Women / Modern Vision, as well as Richman’s own series Trespass. Recommended and free for teens only.

Layered Stories: Collage and Photomontage Workshop
Saturday, May 2, 1:30–3:30pm
Experiment with translucent materials—tissue, wax, acetate—and layering techniques to explore memory, transformation, and environmental narratives. Guided by Teaching Artist-in-Residence Susan Richman, create compositions that reflect your own overlapping stories, then photograph your layered works using different angles and lighting. Draw inspiration from Barbara Morgan’s experimental photography, Imogen Cunningham’s botanical studies, and Grete Stern’s surreal photomontages in Modern Women / Modern Vision, alongside Richman’s own layered still lifes and ecological portraits. Recommended for ages 12+.

Family Art Workshops

Led by Junior Docents

Frame the Everyday
Saturdays & Sundays in February, 12–4pm
Saturdays & Sundays, May 2–10, 12–4pm
Decorate picture frames, or “windows,” with materials such as pebbles, paper, leaves, and recycled scraps, to explore memory and the environment. Each board becomes a lens for seeing the world in new ways, inspired by photographers like Ruth Orkin, featured in Modern Women / Modern Vision. Recommended for ages 4+.

Drawing with Light
Saturdays & Sundays in March, 12–4pm
Explore how light shapes form and emotion using flashlights and translucent materials to create layered shadow drawings that play with transparency and movement. This workshop is inspired by Imogen Cunningham’s masterful use of light and shadow in her botanical photographs on view in Modern Women / Modern Vision. Recommended for ages 5+.

Reimagining Nature Through Collage
Saturdays & Sundays in April, 12–4pm (except Saturday, April 11)
Create imaginative hybrid “plants” by combining drawings, magazine cutouts, and found textures in this hands-on workshop. Practice observation, invention, and reflection through poetic engagement with nature, inspired by Flor Garduño’s photographs on view in Modern Women / Modern Vision and Richman’s layered compositions that merge natural and constructed forms to explore environmental transformation. Recommended for ages 4+.