Photography Mentorships

© Alan Thornton

Work with a mentor to expand your photographic knowledge and skills, and to refine your photographic personality. Mentors will champion your work—guiding and supporting your dreams and aspirations as a photographer. A mentorship is often goal-oriented; it could lead to exhibiting in a gallery, printing in a magazine, publishing your book, building a stronger portfolio for graduate school, developing a business plan to start your photography career, or simply creating a memorable portfolio of personal images under the watchful eye of a photography master.

MENTORS

Santa Fe Photographic Workshops presents 17 of our popular workshop instructors as mentors:

Sam Abell George DeWolfe Patrick Donehue Bobbi Lane Tony Corbell (coming soon) Carlan Tapp (coming soon)

Arthur Meyerson David Middleton Elizabeth Opalenik Eddie Soloway Jerry Courvoisier (coming soon) Raul Touzon (coming soon)

Mary Virginia Swanson Alan Thornton John Weiss Nevada Wier Norman Mauskopf (coming soon)

PROGRAM OPTIONS

The Photography Mentorships program offers three options to cater to your individual needs.

© Arthur Meyerson

• Year-long mentorship of 17 sessions with your mentor. This includes 60 minute phone consultations approximately every three weeks, photographic assignments, and critiques of online images.
• Six-month mentorship of 8 sessions. This includes 60 minute phone consultations approximately every three weeks, photographic assignments, and critiques of online images.
• Single sessions of 60 minutes each, with a maximum of three sessions with one mentor.

For example, you might choose to work one-on-one by phone and online with former National Geographic staff photographer Sam Abell or world-renowned travel photographer Nevada Wier. Or you might have your recent work critiqued by Eddie Soloway, or benefit from a marketing consultation with Mary Virginia Swanson.

Topics covered are wide ranging and arise from your individual needs and questions, and all communications occur via phone or online. Your mentorship will likely focus on refining your personal vision and style; however, technical questions, business and marketing strategies, advice on book publishing or exhibiting your images, and life coaching may also be part of the mentor relationship. Our mentors bring their lifelong careers in photography to help you develop and expand your passion for imagemaking.

CHOOSING A PHOTOGRAPHY MENTORSHIP

© John Weiss

Making the decision to embark upon a mentorship to move your photography forward is a major decision. The first formal step is to speak with Reid Callanan, Director of Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. In addition to answering your questions, Reid will expect you to articulate your goals for a mentorship and have reviewed the mentor biography’s on the Workshops web site. Together, you and Reid will decide if you are ready for a mentorship and which mentor(s) would fulfill your goals. The next step is to write down your goals and share them in a conversation with your potential mentors. Once you have chosen a mentor and mutually agreed upon your goals, it’s time to register with the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops and start the program with your first session.

Call Reid Callanan to discuss (505) 983-1400, ext. 15
Call the Workshops to register (505) 983-1400, ext. 11

costS

• 12-month Photography Mentorship (17 sessions): $4,750
• Six-month Photography Mentorship (8 sessions): $2,850
• Single sessions are $375

MENTORSHIP SESSIONS

© Eddie Soloway

Each mentorship is structured to have individual sessions with your mentor approximately every three weeks. This time frame is flexible, however, mentorships need to be completed in the time allotted (6 or 12 months). Sessions are usually conducted over the phone, although Skype and iChat are possibilities. The mentor gives assignments at the end of each session with the expectation and understanding that completion of these assignments will be made within a three-week timeframe. Images are emailed to the mentor before the next scheduled session, allowing enough time for the mentor to review the work.

Respecting the mentors’ time commitments to this program is important. All our mentors are busy professionals who do not have much spare time in their lives. Each mentor session is 60 minutes in length. Contact with your mentor between these scheduled sessions should to be kept to emergencies.

FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS

© George DeWolfe

Although the mentorship program is primarily for long-distance learning, face-to-face meetings between mentors and their students are possible. In addition, the opportunity to photograph with a mentor is an attractive option. Since these meetings are likely to last well over an hour, they are considered outside the structured mentorship sessions and costs need to be worked out between the mentor and the student on a case-by-case basis.

ANNUAL GATHERING

Once a year the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops will host a Photography Mentorship Annual Gathering exclusively for mentors and their students. We want to create and encourage a vibrant, worldwide community of mentorship students. This event offers seminars, lectures, and presentations along with fun social gatherings for valuable networking.