This will be an exciting workshop, filled with many wonderful photographic opportunities, discussions of technique and photographic philosophies, critiques, and free time for personal exploration. We have photo reviews and discussions every other day throughout the course of this action-packed workshop.

We meet in Cusco and travel by private bus to the beautiful village of Ollantaytambo, where Incan aqueducts still carry the town’s water through its one cobblestone street. Over three days we photograph the Pentecost celebrations, the four-day fiesta worshiping Ollantaytambo’s patron saint, Saint Choquekillca. In elaborate hand-made costumes, each family performs one of 17 folkloric dances that represent their Andean history. Photographic opportunities abound, including dances, music, processions, bull fights, costumes, parades, fireworks, and more. The final day of the festival takes place across the Urubamba River, finishing with a slow procession of over 1000 people following Santo Choquekillca across the bridge to the giant party in the plaza. On our off day, we venture to remote areas in the Andes to photograph weaving villages, Andean peaks, alpaca herds, and indigenous communities.

We then travel by train to the incredible Machu Picchu for a private tour and free time, and travel back to Cusco the following evening. Cusco, known as “the birthplace of the Incas,” is home to a beautiful juxtaposition between the silent Incan history and its colorful, contemporary hustle-and-bustle as Peru’s second largest city. We use Cusco as our base to photograph surrounding towns—the traditional town of Andahuaylillas, the pre-Inca ruins of Pikillacta and the famous abandoned wool factory of Lucre (one of our personal highlights!).

On our last Sunday we have final presentations, critiques, and a celebratory farewell dinner before flying to Lima the next morning. The visit to Lima includes a private guided tour of Museo Larco—one of Peru’s best examples of archaeological and cultural layers—then the catacombs of San Francisco, the famous central plaza, and Bolivar plaza prior to your international flight back to your reality.