15 October · Workshop Day 1
9:00 to 11:30
Where to Start: Drafting a Concept for Sculptural Body Photography
Felicitas Schwenzer
The photograph begins long before the shutter. In this workshop, Felicitas Schwenzer guides participants through the process of concept development in sculptural body photography, and how to move from an instinct or feeling toward a clear, confident plan.
Learning targets
- Tools for developing and organising a concept before a shoot.
- Strategies for communicating with models respectfully and effectively, including beginners.
- A stronger sense of your own artistic voice.
Through discussion and practical exercises, participants work on developing visual and written concepts of their own, with guidance on how to communicate clearly with models, including beginners, and how to create a safe, trusting, and collaborative environment on set. The goal is to help artists realise their creative visions while ensuring a respectful and stimulating experience for everyone involved.
11:30 to 12:00
Break
12:00 to 14:00
Organising Your Photography in a Digital Age
Ellard Vasen
This workshop is for anyone who has ever opened their archive only to find a tangle of folders, renamed files, and missing masters. Ellard Vasen offers a practical framework for building a digital archive that actually works.
Learning targets
- A system for organising, naming, and backing up your photographic archive.
- Metadata strategies for long-term searchability.
- Tools to keep your work independent from the platforms that host it.
The session covers digitising film; building consistent folder structures and file naming conventions; working with metadata to make your images searchable even when the subject is abstract; and backing up your work so that a stolen laptop or a house fire does not mean losing everything. There is also a section on reducing dependency on large tech platforms, with suggestions for open-source, self-hosted alternatives that keep your files in your own hands.
14:00 to 15:00
Lunch break
15:00 to 16:30
Cinematic Light: Combining Natural and Artificial Light
Catia Simões & Lilia Maria Carlone
Lilia Carlone and Catia Simões share an eye trained by film sets and analogue frames. In this workshop they bring those two worlds together to explore what it means to build a cinematic image from scratch.
Learning targets
- A practical understanding of how to combine light sources for cinematic effect.
- Direct experience shooting a lit setup with a live model.
The session opens with a visual presentation showing how natural and artificial light can be layered, balanced, and shaped to create atmosphere and mood within a single frame. Then it moves into practice: participants watch a live shooting session with a model, observing the setup being built in real time, before being invited to step in and shoot themselves.
16:30 to 17:00
Break
17:00 to 18:30
Exploring the Self-Portrait Through Your Hands
Mayara Scudeler
A self-portrait does not have to begin with a camera. In this drawing-based workshop, visual artist Mayara Scudeler invites participants to explore self-portraiture through analogue materials, paper, pens, paint, and the expressive power of marks made by hand.
Learning targets
- Drawing techniques for expressive self-portraiture.
- A personal visual language built from your own features and feelings.
- No prior drawing experience is needed.
Working through guided prompts, participants are encouraged to find forms, shapes, and lines that reflect how they feel and who they are. For those who want to go further, Mayara also explores how to identify the physical features that are unique to you and how to build a visual language from them that is immediately recognisable. No prior drawing experience is needed.
