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December
First off, I would like to thank everyone who took part in our Workshop Sampler Days and our annual fundraising dinner. We would of course not exist without each and every one of you, and if we did not see you at Workshop Sampler Days we look forward to seeing you next year.
One of the most exciting programs that we discussed that weekend was our Portraits of Courageous Beauty, 2010 class. It begins December 12, and it looks to be bigger and better than 2009. We have an astounding 50 breast cancer survivors excited to model for the photographers that choose to join us for this life changing class. We will spend the better part of a year making portraits of breast cancer survivors, learning different techniques of portrait making, discussing multiple theories behind the making of portraits, learning how to edit, how to be hyper critical of your own work, go through the image selection process for the publishing of the 2010 book, learn about book layouts, how to prepare your images for exhibition (the Denver Public Library exhibition), and more! This is quite a class. Because of all of the special attention each participant will receive we can safely guarantee that every photographer will get their images into the book and will be a part of the show.
The most amazing part of this experience is the time spent with the survivors/models. Yes, you will learn a vast amount about what it means to make a portrait, but sitting with your model discussing their experiences and deciding how to go about rendering that into an image is a process that will not only change the way you look at portraiture- it quite possibly change your perspective of the world around you. Working on this project has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
If you are interested in joining me this year for this project please go to our website or give me a ring.
Yours,
Greg
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November
How to Grow as an Artist...
As human beings we have created a culture that learns by building on its past. In art we do the same thing. The concept of a starving artist slaving away at their craft in isolation is dead. To be fair it never existed, really. We learn from our collective past and we grow by critique from our peers.
At Working with Artists we live and breathe this. All of our classes and workshops are taught by professional artists, who pass on their knowledge freely and enthusiastically. We have created multiple ways for you, our community of photographic artists, to gather and discuss relevant ideas about the photographic arts and to critique one another's art. Most recently this has been exemplified in our hugely successful photo club Click! (the club is free to our Shining Star members!).
By far our most popular event over the years has been our annual free weekend of workshops, the Workshop Sample Days. This is a time for you to see what skills you would like to develop, what tools are out there that you may not have considered using before, and to take a glimpse into new perspectives of photography that you may never have heard before. The best part is you will be surrounded by a posse of people just as passionate about photography as you are! This is a great time to meet people with similar interests and addictions as yourself.
The time is now! Our 7th Annual Workshop Sample Days is Saturday, November 7, and Sunday, November 8. It is of course free (as always), and will include 14 mini workshop sessions, complimentary food and beverages, elbow rubbing time, and dedicated space for peer to peer portfolios critiques. Our fundraising diner, this year entitled Timeframes: The Evolution of Photography, will be HOT! Not to be missed! This year we are honored to have our old friend Eric Paddock, the Photography Curator at the Denver Art Museum, to be our guest speaker at the dinner. Please see below for more information about the dinner.
As always, don't be a stranger. Come on in and show us what you have been working on. We are here to inspire your passion for the art of photography, so come join us in November! We can't wait to see you.
Yours,
Greg
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October
Jumpin' Jellybeans, We Are Busy!
Hello everybody! Well if you don't know by now, we have quite an October lined up for you. This month we have one of the most exciting events WWA has ever had, three of our most exciting classes and Kids Photo Week!
This weekend we are super excited to invite you to an exhibition highlighting our Portraits of Courageous Beauty project. The portraits of breast cancer survivors will be on view downtown at the Denver Public Library, more info beloiw. Available for purchase will be a book of the portraits, half of the proceeds of which will be donated to the Denver Affiliate of Susan G Komen for the Cure. If your lucky you can get your copy of the book signed by the photographer and the model- both will be in attendance at the event! See you there.
If you have read all the hoopla about Portraits of Courageous Beauty and you want to get involved, now is the time. I have created this class as an advanced portrait theory class that takes you to new depths of portraiture. We will be making portraits of breast cancer survivors to be included in a book that we are self publishing in 2010. Also, we will be having an exhibition of the images made in class at the Downtown Denver Public Library. This is a fantastic chance to make meaningful portraits, help an amazing cause, and learn a thing or two about what makes a good picture. Please join me for a 9 month workshop you will never forget!We are very happy to have Owen O'Meara teaching the Elegant Nude workshop again this year. The location is still one of the most incredible estates in the area. Gorgeous interiors, exterior ponds, gardens and a private courtyard- this location is to die for. If you have always wanted to try shooting nudes, but never had the opportunity, or a location- this workshop is for you. More than just being a master nude photographer, Owen is an extremely warm an approachable guy. No question too silly, no shot not worth trying. Come join in the fun!
Also on the slate for October is a brand new multimedia workshop with three (yes, three!) professional photography instructors! In our rapidly changing digital photographic world photographic artists are questioning what it means to be a "still" photographer. Come join us as we push these boundaries together in Introductory Multimedia Storytelling. This action packed three day workshop will have you select a project, shoot it, record audio interviews and narration, and put it all together into a beautiful, seamless video package! Dana Romanoff is an award winning documentary photographer, her work has been published in National Geographic, USA Today, The Denver Post, and more. James and Jessica Chance co- founded Chance Multimedia where they produce documentary and commercial multimedia for non-profits and businesses. Their work has appeared in many international news media outlets like Newsweek, Time Asia, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, to name a few.
Fantastic. We are busy making space for you down here at WWA, come on down and have a seat!
Yours,
Greg
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September
5.5 Billion Photographs!
A recent study suggests that there are 5.5 billion photographs in the United States. This figure is estimating the number of prints made from film., so this 550,000,000,000 figure does not include any digital prints at all. We think of the. Renaissance as a time in history just chock full of art, but on average every we see more images in a single day than a person in the Renaissance viewed over the span of their entire life.
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That is a lot of photography! Unfortunately quite a bit of it is not aesthetically pleasing. At WWA we take it as our mission is to inspire you to create more artistic imagery regardless of the subject. If it is a snapshot of your sons graduation, it better be the best damn graduation portrait EVER! Maybe it tells a story, maybe it utilizes the best in available light, perhaps it captures the emotion of the event rather than simply documenting it- whatever it may be make it your best. Hold yourself accountable for every little detail. Always improve. Every photograph you make has room for improvement, call yourself on it. If you can't figure what's wrong with your image (you think it is perfect)- bring it in to the gallery and WE will tell you what you did wrong.
 Often what you really need to make more artistic imagery is a swift kick in the tail. To this end we have developed a fantastic series of classes called "Creative Pathways". This series is a four month series of weekly classes taught by Celene Bridgeford and myself, designed to get you outside of yourself and really think abo.ut the images you are creating. The class is broken down into four parts- Inspire, Plan, Build and Expose. We begin by looking at the nature of your art and inspiring you to push yourself further. We progress through the planning and building of your artworks, and the process culminates in a creation of a portfolio that will assist you and the public in taking your work more seriously. This final step, Expose, will give you the tools to create a logo, a website, a portfolio, an artist statement, and a personal artist package that you can confidently use to show your work to galleries, prospective clients and art buyers.
Click here for more information on this fantastic class, sign up now, space is limited.
A number of amazing things are happening soon, so check out the website. We have a photo club now! It is called Click! if you are interested email us and include WWA photo club in the email and we will put you on the email list. Our very own Ellen Yeiser has been accepted into a very selective show at Camera Obscura this September. Our signature annual event- Workshop Sample Days, will be happening on November 6 & 7, save the date! Also, a book signing and gallery exhibition from our 2008 Portraits of Courageous Beauty class, in collaboration with the Denver Affiliate of Susan G Komen, will be at the Denver Public Library (Central Branch downtown) will be October 3rd from 2:00p-4:00p. Please come! If you are interested in taking part in this one of a kind workshop click here, class begins October 17.
See you there!
Greg
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