WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
This workshop will be about finding your own unique vision of the southern Mexican city of Oaxaca by using the camera to explore the region in a direct, spontaneous way. Open to both serious amateurs and professionals alike, from fine art photographers to documentary photographers, from college students to seasoned photographers, it is a workshop that will emphasize the development of your own personal way of seeing photographically. This workshop will also be about learning how to edit your work intuitively, and will include discussions about how to take your photography to the next level.
This is a workshop for photographers who collaborate with the world, not for those who dramatically alter their photographs digitally.
There are two main components of this class: the spontaneous act of photographing and intuitive editing. The workshop will begin with Alex and Rebecca, who will critique each participant’s past work as a starting point for a larger discussion about various photographic issues. By that first afternoon, participants will be working on their first assignment, which they will choose themselves. It may be an individual, a family, or even a specific street. It may be about a nearby village or Lenten celebrations in a community, but it must be something that you’re passionate enough to return to every day to photograph.
For the rest of the workshop, we will meet in the mornings and critique as a group each student’s ongoing work. Throughout the workshop, we will try to build a coherent set of images for each photographer that will begin to represent his or her photographic stance or attitude toward Oaxaca, Mexico. We will view this work as a group slideshow at the end of the workshop.
Besides photographing and editing each day, there will also be print and book demonstrations and an editing exercise. We will touch on a variety of topics, including the process of photographing spontaneously and intuitively; how to photograph in cultures other than one’s own; the relationship between images (such as the sequencing and juxtaposition of photographs); how to edit photographs intuitively; an introduction on being on press with a book; how to work with a designer on a book; the practical realities of the magazine and art worlds; the emotional and psychological implications of working in color vs. black and white; the difference between images in a book and images on the wall; and how long-term projects can evolve into books and exhibitions.
Please bring lots of questions to the workshop. The ultimate direction of the class will be influenced by the kinds of questions that you pose.
Workshop staff will arrange small group field trips to local events. Staff can also connect participants with local individuals and families to photograph. These field trips and independent guided excursions requiere an extra expense not included in the workshop fee, to cover transportation, and fixer / translator compensation. These field trips are optional and designed to offer a range of immersion experiences for students’ interests. There are plenty of opportunities to photograph Oaxaca on your own. Workshop staff will work with each student to suggest potential paths for independent work.
