Divining the Personal at Maine Media Workshops

Learn how photography can help you make sense of your world and reveal personal patterns. We will cover strategies for using your emotions and experiences as a basis for a compelling photographic journey. Whether you shoot portraits of yourself or others, landscapes or still lifes, the most important item in your toolkit is your unique point of view. This class will show you how to translate your interior narratives and passions into concrete photographs, focusing on subject matter, composition, lighting and editing.
We are here to look for the beginning of the story. You don’t have to know the end. Writing exercises will help us discover the unanswered questions about your life that already exist. We will experiment and develop strategies for each student on how best to shoot individual projects.
Once we have potential stories and subject matter in place, we will explore how camera and lighting tools and techniques factor into the process. Shooting exercises and weekly class reviews will help shape your practice. Critiques and edits will delve into the always tricky balance between intention and execution. We will learn to be open to the accidental magic that happens when shooting with purpose and instinct. Reviews of older work will help us understand your path as a photographer. You will leave this class with an action plan for finishing your project, as well as strategies for presenting and placing the work once it is completed.
We all have a story to tell. No one else has loved the people we have loved, hurt the way that we have hurt, or found meaning in the same things that bring us joy daily. Our ordinary lives are endlessly fascinating to other people. This class will help you show your journey in a visual format that will also unearth your own strengths and patterns as a photographer.
Dates: August 21-25
Location: Camden, ME
Enrollment Limit: 12 students
Skill/Experience Level: Open to all levels
Tuition: $1495
Register here.