Chiabella James, movie set photographer, is in the air photographing on set. Contributed photo

ROCKPORT — Backed with support from Camden National Bank, Maine Media Workshops + College plans to offer its weekly Alumni Lecture Series online from Thursday, Jan. 6 through May 2022, featuring conversations on topics in photography, filmmaking, book arts and design, and writing.

Participation is free and requires registration at mainemedia.edu/lectures.

Speakers in the series are chosen from Maine Media’s faculty, as well as from experts in the fields of media arts and art history who make guest appearances.

Maine Media’s faculty include master fine art photographers, photojournalists, Oscar and Emmy Award-winning cinematographers, directors, editors, screenwriters, and sound engineers, as well as teachers in book arts, design, and writing.

“The Alumni Lecture Series allows everyone in Maine and elsewhere to gain access to talented artists and film industry professionals from areas like Los Angeles and New York,” said Michael Mansfield, president of Maine Media Workshops + College, according to a news release from the institution.

The first lecture of the series, to be held at 1 p.m. Jan. 6, will feature movie set photographer Chiabella James, who provides a behind-the-scenes peek at her work on the sets of “Dune,” “King Richard,” “Star Wars” and “Mission Impossible.”

The second lecture of the series, to be held at 5 p.m. Jan. 13, will feature conceptual photographer Aline Smithson, who is based in Los Angeles and best known for her portraiture that uses humor and pathos. The conversation is hosted by Cig Harvey, an international artist based in Midcoast Maine.

Smithson will talk about her new book, “Fugue State,” that reflects on the permanence of photographs and how both digital and analog images can be destroyed by time.

Sponsors for the lecture series also include WERU Community Radio FM89.9, Eaton Peabody Attorneys at Law, Allen Insurance and Financial, B&H Photo and Video, Page Gallery, Two Ponds Press, and Cedar Crest Inn.