Matt Black: Coming to Focus
December 9-11, 2015

Class limit: 15
Workshop fee: $395
Register here

Join acclaimed documentary photographer Matt Black for a two and a half day workshop in which you will learn how to focus and refine your thinking. Effective photographs are instantaneous and intuitive, but building a body of work demands thought. This workshop will deepen your perceptive skills as a photographer, with a focus on developing your ideas, deepening your themes, and connecting yourself with your subject.

The workshop begins with a two-hour seminar on Wednesday night. On Thursday class will reconvene in the morning for continued discussion, then head into the field to photograph, returning to the classroom in late afternoon to review the day’s work. On Friday morning participants will shoot and edit independently then regroup at noon for a final presentation, collectively viewing and discussing the images that each student has produced.

This workshop is open to photographers of all skill levels and genres. Beginning to established shooters will benefit, building concrete strategies towards establishing an ongoing visual dialogue with their chosen subjects.

Class Preparation
Students should bring their cameras and laptops. Photographing digitally will allow for the most immediate feedback. Film cameras and phone cameras are also welcome.

Schedule
Wednesday 7-9pm
Thursday 9am-6pm
Friday 2-4pm

About the Instructor
Matt Black is a photographer from California’s Central Valley. His work has explored themes of migration, farming, poverty and the environment in his native rural California and in southern Mexico. Recent photo essays have been published in The New Yorker, Mother Jones, and Vice Magazines.

He was named Time Magazine’s Instagram photographer of the year in 2014 and is a contributor to the @everydayusa photographers’ collective. He has produced short films and multimedia pieces for msnbc.com, Orion Magazine, and The New Yorker, and has taught photography with the Foundry Photojournalism Workshops and the Los Angeles Center of Photography. Anastasia Photo gallery in New York represents his fine prints. He is a nominee to Magnum Photos.

His work has been profiled by National Geographic, The New York Times, National Public Radio, Time and Slate, and has been honored by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation, the Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund, World Press Photo, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Pictures of the Year International, the Alexia Foundation, and the Center for Cultural Innovation, among others. He lives in Exeter, a small town in California’s Central Valley.

This workshop is presented with support from Santa Fe Photographic Workshops.

Cancellation Policy
Cancellations before November 1, 2015 will be issued a refund minus a $50 processing fee. Cancellations after Nov. 1 are not eligible for refunds.