The Venice, Italy Workshop led by international photojournalist Peter Turnley, will take his very successful street photography and photo essay approach to photography one step further, offering a wonderful seven-day learning and photography experience in not only the streets but on the waters of one of the world’s most beautiful and exciting cities, Venice. This is an ideal time to visit and photograph Venice: a time of year when there the daily life and weather is wonderfully conducive to interesting photographs, and also a time when the hordes of summer tourists visiting Venice are gone, and the city rediscovers its authenticity.
The Workshop
Students and teacher will meet approx. 3-4 hours a day as a group for lectures, photo presentations, photo critiques of each student’s daily work, visits to museums and galleries, and discussion of successful techniques for making spontaneous, human images of the life of a city.
Each day, students will be exploring on their own on foot and boat, the streets and canals of Venice and shoot for at least half of each day. Students are pushed to go beyond simply the picturesque and to discover a sense of the texture and the rhythm of the real life of this exciting and unique city.
As it is a city very different than many because of the canals and water and the way that this affects and influences the organization of the life of the city, students will hear some early lectures on some of the particularities of life in Venice. Students are pushed to photograph not only scenes and environments but also the people and life of Venice. Those who are naturally timid about approaching people will learn techniques and be exposed to ideas and a spirit that will help them go forward with their photographic communication including photographing people. This should be a tremendously visual locale for making interesting, creative, and powerful images.
Students focus on how to use documentary photography as a tool for visual storytelling and illuminating the intimate moments of everyday reality. Students are encouraged to photograph both the ordinary and extraordinary scenes of daily life and to not shy away from the challenge of photographing people. With Peter’s guidance and support, students learn to overcome any hesitations and timidity that is limiting their work.
Turnley is a master at photographing people and has vast experience in helping students relax and find a sense of purpose in the process of photographing people and daily life. He is a disciple of Henri-Cartier-Bresson, and passionately encourages his students to hone their attention to the “decisive moments” in everyday life. Students will create a final 15-image photo story/essay from their week of shooting in Venice. Turnley helps the students refine not only their photography, but gain a greater sense of creating a narrative with images, and how to conceptualize images into dynamic storytelling. Turnley helps find the threads of commonality in your images that contribute to each person’s individual vision. This will be a tremendous opportunity to create a personal portfolio/body of work about one of the world’s most beautiful cities.
At the end of the workshop, there will be a class show where each student will present a photo story (essay) comprising 15 photographs of their work edited from their shoot during the seven days. Peter Turnley encourages a very warm and helpful spirit among the students in his workshops-there is no sense of competition-students are encouraged to take risks to make interesting photographs, and Peter conceives of this experience as a gift the student is offering themselves of a week photographing a truly unique city.
Lodging
Peter will likely be renting an apartment in the San Marcos area, which is where the workshop meetings will be held. The location of his apartment/classroom is S. Marco 3332, Close to the S. Samuele boat stop.
Students may choose a hotel of their liking and there are numerous hotels to be found on the Internet. Students are encouraged to choose a hotel within walking distance of St. Mark’s Square. It is also possible to rent very nice and affordable apartments in Venice for the week.
For participants preferring to rent an apartment, Views On Venice is a site recommended for apartment rentals.
Arrival
Plan to arrive on Saturday, or Sunday morning at the latest, to allow at least a day to get acclimated to Venice. The first workshop session will begin at 2pm on Sunday. Flights from the States are often in the evenings, which means you could fly Friday evening, make your plane or train connection to Venice on Saturday and give yourself an evening to get acclimated before the workshop begins on Sunday.
if you are flying into Venice, from the Marco Polo airport you can catch a Vaporetto (water bus) into the city.
Departures
The workshop ends at noon Saturday with a final show of the students’ final 15 image photo stories made during the week. Students are free to leave on Saturday afternoon, which would enable those needing to get back to the States to work on Monday the time to do so. Those wishing to stay in the region longer are free to continue their voyage.
Meals
Two group dinners are included in the cost of the workshop. You will be a guest of the workshop for a group opening dinner on Monday night, and a final dinner on Friday night. Aside from the two group meals, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners are independent but students are encouraged to join each other in local restaurants and cafes.
Camera Gear and Technology
Participants will need to bring a digital SLR or rangefinder camera, a laptop computer, and a thumb drive. Two camera bodies are recommended, with a minimum of at least one wide-angle lens such as a 17-35mm zoom, 24mm, 28mm, or 35mm, Peter’s preferred lens. Students may bring longer lenses as well, but Peter will strongly encourage participants to use a wide angle lens in order to get close to the subject, which allows a sense of context, environment, and intimacy. A wide-angle lens that is relatively fast and has a wide aperture (1.4, 1.8, 2, or 2.8) is encouraged in order to photograph in low light situations. It is recommended that participants bring extra memory cards, extra camera batteries, and all necessary battery chargers for their equipment.
Students will need to know how to transfer the photographs they make each day onto their laptop computer. Each day, participants will bring a selection of their favorite photographs, or those they’d like to discuss, in a folder on a thumb drive, to the daily photo review and critique sessions. Students are encouraged to use image management software for this selection process. Peter recommends PhotoMechanic, however other programs such as Adobe Lightroom may be used. PhotoMechanic can be downloaded for a free trial basis from camerabits.com.
Students will be encouraged to choose from the outset if they want to show their work in color or in black and white, and they will be encouraged to stick to their choice of one of the others throughout the workshop.
Final Group Show and Portfolios of Past Work
At each photo critique and review session, Peter will work with each photographer to make a “selects” folder of their most successful images. At the end of the week, Peter will select with each photographer from this overall “selects” folder, a final individual photo story of 15 images, which will be seen as part of a group final show during the last workshop session.
Each participant should also bring a portfolio of a selection of their past work. Approximately 30 photographs are recommended, and they may be brought in a folder on a thumb drive, or as a selection of prints. Students’ portfolios of past work will also be shared during the final session of the workshop.
Research and Preparation
Research and preparation are important parts of any endeavor, particularly adventures. There are many very thorough guidebooks about Venice and extensive information about Venice to be found on the Internet.
Companions
This is an ideal workshop to bring along a spouse, son, daughter, or partner. Non-photographic companions may join group meals and are welcome to attend our final show. They may of course accompany their *photographer* partner during their individual / non-group photographic time. They will not be able to attend daily classes or our critique and review sessions.
Registration
The tuition for this workshop is $2,400. At the time of registration, a $400 deposit will be taken. At that point, all further communication, billing, etc will be handled directly by Peter Turnley. The remaining balance of $2000 will be due within 30 days of the workshop.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR TRAVEL WORKSHOPS
1. Reservations & Payments
A deposit as indicated on the registration page is required to confirm your reservation for the workshop. Final payment in full is due 45 days prior to the start date of your workshop unless stated differently in the course description. Maine Media Workshops + College (“Maine Media”) reserves the right to cancel a reservation if full payment has not been received by the due date.
All prices are quoted in U.S. dollars; all payments must be made in U.S. dollars.
4. Insurance
It is strongly advised that you purchase Trip Cancellation, Baggage, Emergency Medical Evacuation, and/or Accident and Sickness Insurance Protection. Camera equipment, computers, and baggage are carried entirely at the owner’s risk. Maine Media shall have no responsibility for any lost, damaged, or delayed property, or for an individual student’s medical needs, accidents, injuries, or illnesses. See our travel insurance recommendations here.
5. Itinerary Changes
The itinerary for your workshop is subject to change without prior notification.
6. Passports and Visas
A valid passport is required for all international travel. You are required to notify Maine Media as to the nationality under which your passport is registered. Participants are responsible for obtaining their passports and visas. To participate in the workshop, you must have a passport that is valid until at least six months after the date on which your trip is scheduled to be completed.
7. Medical Issues
All participants must be in good health. You must advise Maine Media of any health condition, physical condition, or emotional or mental condition that may require special attention or that may adversely impact the other participants in your workshop. All students are required to complete a “Waiver of Liability” form and submit it at the time of registration. This document may be found on the course description page.
8. Liability Waiver
Every participant is required to sign Maine Media’s Waiver of Liability before departure for their workshop. Click here to download.
9. Responsibility & Photography
To ensure a safe experience, you are required to obey local customs and be considerate when photographing people or sensitive locations. The faculty member for your workshop has the right to expel any person from the workshop for behavior that is in violation of the law; that is disruptive, or that compromises the group’s safety or enjoyment. No refunds will be made to any person expelled from a workshop. Maine Media shall have no obligation to pay any costs incurred by a person as a result of that person being expelled from a workshop.
Peter Turnley is renowned for his photography of the realities of the human condition. His photographs have been featured on the cover of Newsweek forty-three times and are published frequently in many of the world’s most prestigious publications. He has worked in over ninety countries and has witnessed most major stories of international geopolitical and historic significance in the last forty years. He has produced portraits and covered many of the modern world’s most influential people: Obama, Castro, Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Putin, Mandela, Arafat, Schroeder, Ceausescu, Gaddafi, Chirac, Clinton, Reagan, Bush Sr., Lady Diana, and Pope Jean Paul II among others. His photographs have been exhibited worldwide, and recently in October 2019 he had a major exhibit in Havana, Cuba at La Fototeca de Cuba, “Paris-Cuba”. Turnley lives in both New York and Paris and has published seven books: Beijing Spring, Moments of Revolution, In Times of War and Peace, Parisians, McClellan Street, French Kiss: A Love Letter to Paris, and Cuba: A Grace of Spirit.
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Polymer photogravure is a modern take on the copperplate photogravure process, which allows us to blend the best of modern technology and traditional craft to produce stunning hand-pulled prints. You will learn the basics of using an intaglio press and a variety of traditional printing methods to create beautiful hand-made images.
Students focus on how to use documentary photography as a tool for visual storytelling and illuminating the intimate moments of everyday reality. Students are encouraged to photograph both the ordinary and extraordinary scenes of daily life and to not shy away from the challenge of photographing people. With Peter’s guidance and support, students learn to overcome any hesitations and timidity that is limiting their work.
Arrival
