Classic North Yorkshire - Single Day Photography Workshop
Developing visual storytelling & project based photography
Price: £165 per person (including pre & post workshop online sessions)
On Location Dates: 1st October 2023
Times: 7am - 4pm
Classic North Yorkshire Workshop
The North York Moors is a stunning area of North Yorkshire located north of York between the Yorkshire Dales and the coast. Much of it is designated a National Park and is the largest expanse of heather moorland in England and Wales. Stone crosses and way-markers punctuate the heather, providing landmarks for travellers and marking boundaries from centuries past.
The North Yorkshire Heritage Coast runs the entire length of the scenic North York Moors National Park, from Filey up to the Victorian seaside resort town of Saltburn The coastline is a dramatic, with its high rugged cliffs dotted and small characterful fishing villages.
Everyone knows the well photographed locations across the moors and coast that are so iconic amongst landscape photographers the world over, but what this workshop offers is a unique perspective of familiar places where we will make pictures with an intention of taking a project / storytelling approach to our photography that will give us a new toolkit to approach any location with. Each date we will extensively work three locations from our roster of locations, each offering a variety and difference of landscape / coast elements for us to explore and piece together our visual stories of these inspiring places.
Our locations will be chosen to account for tide times, sunrise / set and the weather conditions forecast the week ahead of the workshop. We will visit three different locations from the following roster of places: Saltwick Bay, Whitby, Staithes, Rosedale Bank, Westerdale, Thomason Foss and Sutton Banks . The moorland and coastal areas are rich in heritage from Neolithic stones, drovers' roads, roman roads, ancient crosses, historic harbours, the birthplace of modern geology and ancient woodlands.
Across the day we will explore a visual storytelling approach to our locations as we aim to develop our own personal visual interpretations of these unique places and piece them together to convey a compelling story through our mini projects.
Those who wish to join us for the sunrise option can do, but we appreciate not everyone likes such an early start so have a secondary meetup time option at our primary starting location. Even if you don't wish to make sunrise we have specifically chosen the locations that will offer lots of photography opportunities throughout the morning to start and build your days project.
All locations will be discussed in depth in the pre-workshop online group session, including meeting locations (we'll give you a postcode and a What 3 Words reference for our meeting points)
WHAT IS A PROJECT?
“A piece of planned work or an activity that is finished over a period of time and
intended to achieve a particular purpose”. Cambridge Dictionary
What Are Our Objectives?
1. To produce a finished photographic mini project within the workshop timescale
2. To make, rather than to take, photographic pictures
3. To think conceptually about your aims and outcomes
“In photography of serious ambition, the photographer’s subject is almost never
simply the subject matter”. Peter Fraser
Classic North Yorkshire - Developing Compelling Visual Storytelling
We will be exploring some of the ideas and approaches to help develop personal strategies for producing
photographic projects. As photographers we are all accustomed to the producing images, but many of us are
less familiar, and may find hard to rationalise, the concept of a photographic project. The project is in
essence an extended, but connected, body of work, where we are able to shape the possibilities of why and
how we can develop a series of photographs.
A project can feel somewhat nebulous and abstract, without a firm idea of the what, why and how. Many
photographers are often left scratching around for project ideas that can sometimes fail to materialise. Our locations are complex, quiet, small and evocative locations that will ask use to focus our attention on developing a coherent visual story through the piecing together of our work rather than purely focusing on single images.
Our day brief essentially asks that we, ‘playfully’, develop a given concept from inception through to
completion. From our pre workshop online session through the days practical picture making to the post workshop online session; we will explore, reflect and refine our practical work throughout the workshop, by beginning
to recognise how some key practitioners throughout the history of photography, have developed their
photographic picture-making and project objectives. Most importantly, ‘The Project’ will be practice based,
that is, pictures made. It will be an opportunity to do as Todd Hido suggests, which is; “Slow down and think
about your craft”. The photographer John Blakemore eloquently reflects the ethos of the workshop;
“At the conclusion of any extended piece of work, one inevitably questions
the results. What have I learned during this journey? What has this intense period
of activity been about?”
THE WHAT?
The workshop will help develop your understanding, ability and confidence to conceive of and to make, a
series/set of photographs that are bound by the explorative nature of your project. You will learn to
understand better the intentions of your body of work. It will also ask of you to consider how a picture ‘looks’,
that is, the possibilities of framing, what photographer Larry Fink describes as “that little instantaneous
nuance and movement”. Photographing is the art of selection and arrangement combined.
“You can’t wait until you have a great idea, because it’s not a great idea until you get into it.” John Szarkowski
THE WHO?
The workshop is for anyone working digitally or analogue, with a camera or with a smartphone. It is for
anyone who wants to consider and to understand better how to develop their creative photographic potential.
The workshop is for anyone who wishes to explore and reconnect with their passion for making photographs,
and to help develop personal creativity through defining and working on a photographic project.
This workshop is for anyone who works with the medium using any process or combination of processes.
Essentially, it is about the possibility of the photographic picture and personal commitment. This is also for
anyone who might work, in video, audio or the written word. This introduction to photographic based projects
will allow you to bring your work together, and to reflect upon your picture-making and visual story telling as
you shape your own photographic project around this unique location.
THE HOW?
The workshop will be practical in its main focus but also utilise different models of learning including:
• Scheduled pre online group session to understand the nature of project working.
• A full extended day dedicated practical on location in North Yorkshire (our locations will be confirmed in the pre workshop online session the week before) creating our projects.
• Group online video/audio discussions sessions led by Rob where we will discuss your personal
approaches to project development.
• Live discussion in the post session to collaborate and learn from tutors, but importantly for peers to consider
alternative viewpoints and potential outputs for our work.
• Structured feedback both group based and individually throughout.
• Collaborative working to further develop ideas around your project-based work.
THE COMPLETION
On completion of the workshop each participant will receive a summary of their development. Each
participant can (if requested) be issued with a digital credential to demonstrate workshop participation which
can then be added to and shown on digital cv's, social media and on the learners LinkedIn profile, for
example, if they have one.
On Completion You will be able to:
1. Acknowledge some ideas related to photographic projects.
2. Recognise some key photographers and their approaches to the series or project.
3. Explore strategic approaches to working in a project manner.
4. Apply knowledge and strategies in creating personal photographic projects.
5. Demonstrate an explorative mindset around a project and alternative viewpoints.
6. To reflect, explain and critique your own images and project ideas.
7. Embrace a playful approach to developing projects.
8. Critically reflect on your final project body of work.
9. Reflect on the impact of working with attention over a given period and how this has effected
creative understanding and development.
Our final output from the workshop will be to present a 'portfolio site' of our mini project with accompanying words and any additional media we choose to embellish our project with.
This new and exciting workshop is a practical on location single day workshop with the addition of the pre and post online components that will be delivered via our
dedicated online learning platform, video live group sessions and innovative collaboration tools where we will facilitate an engaging, positive and challenging learning environment for all participants.
“One cannot photograph experience, but to have lived it can change and develop habitual
ways of seeing and of knowing." John Blakemore
This workshop is highly practical and participatory and will develop an effective toolkit with which you can frame your approach to photography and working in series' moving forward.
Fitness Level / Terrain / Equipment:
1. You don't need to be an athlete but some walking is required for locations we'll visit with some short ascents / descents. We will however move at a pace that accommodates all on the workshop.
2. Terrain is mixed / uneven. We will be on beaches, waterside, rock, grassed areas
3. Surfaces are mixed and may be rough or uneven, please wear appropriate footwear
4. Coastal and moorland areas open and exposed, the weather can change quickly so please bring appropriate clothing including sun protection
5. Ensure you have water with you for the day, we can visit a shop / cafe between locations
6. Ensure you have spare camera batteries and spare memory cards for your camera along with any lenses, filters and tripods you may use
*** The cars will be close enough by to swap kit and grab drinks as and when required, ensure though as you would anywhere that nothing is left on show in your vehicle when unattended ***
What's Included:
1. All tuition on workshop
2. Pre & Post online sessions to develop your project
3. All access to online portal for pre and post workshop sessions
What's Not:
1. Travel / transport to and on workshop
2. Meals - please bring packed lunches
3. Travel, equipment, and personal insurances
To sign up for this new workshop click the 'book now' button below. Then select the appropriate workshop and date from the bookings page.
We guarantee this course will both enable and empower every attendee moving forward with their photography and personal creative journey no matter your previous level of experience.
WORKSHOP DATES: 1st October 2023
Course price: £165 per person
The workshop will be operated under the current Covid guidelines for everyone's safety, we are actively testing twice weekly to ensure we are Covid free on the delivery date and we are fully vaccinated.
"I loved every aspect of the workshop; it has made me look at my photography in a whole new light. I feel confident to explore ideas and develop a project from the ground up right through to completion. The locations chosen are both inspiring and challenging at the same time, enough to really get me deep into exploring a place and trying to tell my story of the place."
"It has made my completely rethink photobooks and how I will approach my projects and books in the future"
"I like and appreciate that Rob is very clear in what he says and has a very easy and relaxed manner. At no time was I made to feel that I wasn't an equal member of the group and my opinions/contributions were as valuable as everyone else's. This is a skill not all trainers possess."
