This 8-session, evening program is a first-ever offering by The Workshops, one that promises the intensity and learning curve of our classic workshop experience, spread over two months. Norman Mauskopf—documentary photographer, portraitist and longtime instructor at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops—leads this unique extended-learning opportunity focused on portraiture.

The Art of Portraiture: Simple to Complex considers the many possibilities and varieties of photographic portraits. For this workshop consider the portrait to be a photograph of a person who is aware of being photographed. The emphasis is placed on working in close proximity to our subjects, as opposed to photographing from afar, in order to create insightful and intimate portraits.

Group discussions concentrate on issues central to successful portraiture, including: eye contact with the camera; a subject's relationship to the environment; and, in the case of multiple subjects, how subjects relate to one another within a frame. Importantly, Norman thoroughly reviews the photographer's relationship to the subject in matters such as whether to direct the subject, whether to seek permission before photographing, how much time to take, and other logistical, technical, and ethical issues. Weekly assignments build one upon the other, progressing from simple to complex portrait sessions. Assignments include: photographing people of various ages and stations in life; one, two, and three or more people against simple backgrounds as well as in complex environments; indoor and outdoor, and in natural and artificial light; and subjects with family members and their animals.

THE PROGRAM
This is an 8-session, extended workshop program with 3-hour classroom sessions each Tuesday evening from 6:30 to 9:30pm starting October 9 (with a break on November 20 for Thanksgiving week.) Classroom sessions are lead by Norman and devoted to group discussions on a variety of topics, critiques of the weekly portrait assignment images, and discussions on the next assignment with a visually guided lecture of relevant work by well-known photographers. The weekly assignments are designed to help you build a strong portfolio of portraits by the end of this workshop. Two field sessions with Norman strengthen your portrait-making skills working on location. The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta provides a challenging daytime location for natural-light portraiture and Halloween offers a great backdrop and opportunity for lowlight and flash photography. A group critique followed by a final editing and sequencing session for the closing image presentation takes place on December 4. The evening of December 5 the group meets for a celebration dinner followed by a final image presentation prepared by The Workshops staff. Family, friends, and portrait subjects are invited to the final image presentation.

Enrollment limited to 12 participants.

Please Note: Time will not be dedicated to discussing hardware or software issues, with exception being how they pertain to your photographic vision.