The Narrative Portrait: A Hands-On Workshop in Visual Storytelling with Julia Cumes and Lipe Borges

Saturday, August 23, and Sunday, August 24, 2025, from 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm.

This two-session photography workshop invites participants to explore portraiture as a powerful tool for storytelling. Together, we’ll develop a deeper understanding of how to visually express identity, emotion, and personal history through thoughtful composition, lighting, color, props, and connection.

What to bring: Participants should bring their cameras and any lenses they have. Cell phone cameras are fine if preferred. Laptops are not mandatory, but would be helpful for those who want to do some post-production work during the session.

We have scholarships! The Cape Cod Museum of Art is committed to making Art accessible to everyone in the Cape Cod Community. The Museum School Scholarship Fund provides tuition assistance to qualified, year-round Cape Cod residents ages 6 and up. Click here to apply.

Julia Cumes is a South African-born photographer based on Cape Cod since 2001. Her work explores themes of identity, belonging, and women’s stories across the globe. With a background in photojournalism, she brings a storytelling lens to every project—whether documenting public health, environmental resilience, and gender equity, or creating narrative portraiture that explores the human stories shaping communities from East Africa to South Asia to coastal New England.

Julia has worked extensively with nonprofits and editorial publications, and her images have appeared in The New York Times and The Boston Globe, among others. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. In 2024, she was named “Artist of the Year” by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod. She believes in photography’s power to foster empathy and reveal lives that might otherwise remain unseen. 

You can view more of Julia's work at JuliaCumes.com or on Instagram @juliacumes.

Lipe Borges is a Brazilian artist who has chosen the camera as his tool for connection and storytelling. With a focus on portrait and documentary photography, Lipe uses his lens to explore and celebrate the individuality that exists in every person. His camera has served as a passport into prisons, favelas, disaster zones, and a vulnerable community in one of the poorest regions of Peru. Lipe’s art is shaped by the rhythm and resilience of Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian art form that blends 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.

You can find more of Lipe’s work at CuriousLipe.com or on Instagram @olipecurioso.

Photo by Julia Cumes, in collaboration with Lipe Borges.

Cancellation policy: CCMoA must be notified 1 week prior for refund.