Workshops & teachers
1. Beyond reportage: PARANORMAL PHENOMENON
Lecturer: Ivars Grāvlejs (Latvia, Czech Republic, Germany)
The aim of the workshop is to support young photographers’ individual creative skills. The emphasis of the workshop will be put on intellectual ability to reflect, interpret and analyze the paranormal and to focus on events and appearances that are beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding (telekineses, UFO, and clairvoyance as examples). This topic is open for experimentation. The workshop will consist of lectures, individual consultations and group discussions.
Requirements/technique: There is no technical or formal limitations for participants.
Ivars Grāvlejs was born in Riga in 1979. He has graduated Still Photography department at FAMU, Prague. Ivars is an artist using the medium of photography in a very wide angle. He also has an experience of photo-journalism, producing reportage for daily newspapers “Spogulis” (1998 – 1999) and “NRA” (2000), as well as “Kultūras forums”. Starting from 2004 he has had more than 10 solo exhibitions and participated in over 20 group exhibitions around the world. The main inspiration for his works comes from every day life where there are a lot of curiosities. Ivars has taught photo-history in the film school in Riga. Currently, he is starting off with an on-line teaching project “E-artacademy” http://e-artacademy.org/?page_id=77
2. Conceptual art and photography: HIJACKING THE IMAGE
Lecturer: Nicolas Villegas (Colombia, Canada, Poland)
“In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.” /Sol Le Witt/
The workshop will be an exploration of the “conceptual photography”. Is all photography “conceptual”? How do we look at photographs, what is it that we see? How do we make them?… We shall think about Sol Le Witt’s words critically and explore what happens before we take a snapshot or document the world around us. We will look into the work of artists who have used photography to understand themselves, to make fun of the world and its mechanisms, to make visual poetry, or simply to document their work. Through practical examples, discussions, fieldtrips, and our own work, we shall explore the ways in which ideas drive our practice. Different concerns about the medium and its role in our lives will be discussed, by looking into ready-mades, performance, installations, land art, identity, language, etc. The aim is to make a step further in understanding photography in its various forms, but most particularly as an answer to our own personal questions.
Requirements/technique: This workshop is open to people of all levels and backgrounds and will allow us to use traditional (black and white, color, 35mm, medium format, Polaroid, etc.) as well as digital and collage.
Nicolas Villegas is a photographer and filmmaker and globetrotter originally from Colombia and now living in Poland. For many years he has been working in photography, video and film as a means to document, comment and understand his personal environments, his relationships and to better express the stories and thoughts that are in his head. He has a BFA in Interdisciplinary Studies in Fine Arts from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, an is now completing an MA in direction of photography for Film and Television in the Polish National Film School in Lodz, Poland. In his free time he works as a freelance film maker and photographer.
3. Free topic: BEHIND THE FORM
Lecturer: Michael Buehler (Zurich, Switzerland)
This workshop will not focus on the improvement of your technical skills or your knowledge on composition. It demands more of an intuitive than intellectual approach to your work. We will talk about the beauty and the ugliness of things and how anyone can express this through a personal style in photography. Behind the form is a living energy. The key to get connected to it is the heart, which communicates with the invisible. To participate in this workshop you need a real interest in philosophical and spiritual questions, an open mind and ability to be part of a creative process, as well as the will to concentrate on small things with passion.
Requirements/technique: B/W or colour; there is no technical limitation.
Keep the technical part as simple as possible. A mechanical camera with one fix lense (50mm) can be enough.
Michael Buehler was born in Switzerland and grew up in a small village in the mountains. After three years working as a teacher he studied at the university in Zurich until the moment photography has taken his time completely. For twenty years he has been working as a photographer in different countries. Most of his time he works for private projects and exhibitions. For Michael, teaching is about the inspiration coming out of the exchange of the experiences of the group and every single person. He likes to look and listen through the eyes of the other and to share the ideas that are coming up in the process.
4. Black and white for beginners: PORTRAIT - THE PERSONAL LEVEL
Lecturer: Kanako Sasaki (Japan, UK)
With the present abundance of modern high-tech, we would like to encourage the return to the basics – the classical black and white photography. With very few places to learn and practice black-and-white presently in Latvia, last year we have observed an interest and demand among the young photographers to discover both basic and more advanced features of the B/W technique. Therefore, this year a specific workshop will be fully dedicated to black and white.
The course will explore the image making with people as main objects, including self-portrait. The students will be introduced to work of various artists, such as Cindy Sherman, Francesca Woodman, Richard Avedon, as well as to the basic technique, usage of B/W darkroom, light, and color. The goal is to produce an original image and understad the fine art aspects of the process. The workshop will consists of the lecture-discussions, the assignment, and the printing/processing/darkroom work and possibly easy digital manipulation.
Requirements/technique: This workshop is open for all those fullfilling the basic ISSP requirements but wishing to aquire or perfect their black-and-white technique.
Kanako Sasaki was born in Sendai, Japan, and studied journalism and photography in New York School of Visual Arts. During the past couple of years, Kanako has been living in Europe, traveling and producing her own work as artist in residencies. She has been teaching photography classes at the New York State Summer Art and Media camps. She draws inspiration from traditional Japanese culture and her own childhood memories. Sasaki’s imaginative work creates a world where, as she describes, the ordinary life becomes extraordinarily focused.
5. Documentary photography: I SEE WHAT NOBODY ELSE SEES
Lecturer: Jens Klein (Leipzig, Germany)
Together we would like to study a special place in and around Ludza. Every participant will have a possibility to visualise this special place with all possible ingredients and aspects of photography. In this workshop we would like to investigate the inhabitants, the architecture, the garbage or obscure things.
The path we shall follow can be an intuitive, documentary, coveragable, subjective or initiating one. During the workshop we shall present the results to each other and discuss the chosen approach. Fundamental aspects of photography and technique can be part of our dicussions. Further on, we shall discuss the possibilities and limits of photography using our results as input.
Requirements/technique: please, bring a 35 mm-camera with you. Also you have the opportunity to work with a digital camera. Possibility to work in B/W or colour!
The participants of the workshop are asked to bring some pictures (10-20, not bigger than 20×30 cm) of their own in order to explain in which area of photography they are interested.