WORKSHOPS / RESIDENCIES

IN SEARCH OF IMPERFECTION (12 - 16 hours): This workshop analyzes the notion of imperfection in photography, why it is important and how we can embark on an adventure into unknown territory based on its introduction as a key compositional parameter. Photography has traditionally been a destination-oriented activity and sometimes suffers from the precision and clarity that such approaches demand. We like to know where we are going and how to get there. This workshop questions this tradition and asks questions such as "how do I get from where I am to a totally unknown destination that I feel is inherently important, in spite of not knowing exactly why?" The answer is inexorably linked to embracing imperfection and its ally "interference" in a framework in which notions such as doubt, ambiguity and imbalance have important conceptual roles to play.

BODY LANGUAGE, MOVEMENT AND COLOUR IN PHOTOGRAPHING PEOPLE (3 workshops of 12 hours or 1 workshop of 16 - 20 hours) : Portraits, in various forms, continue to be one of the most popular themes in photography. They are omnipresent both in the commercial and the fine arts areas of the field. This workshop examines author-based portraiture from the perspective of three parameters that Canadian artist Scott MacLeay prioritized during his 40-year career: body language, movement and colour.  The workshop explores the syntax of gestures and their ability to communicate multiple messages simultaneously. The use of gestures as punctuation of a visual phrase, the notion of ambiguous gestures and the power of small differences in gestural configurations in the form of diptychs and triptychs will be analyzed. All possible types of movement will be examined, from the most traditional to the most eccentric forms based on the movement of the photographer and the camera, as well as the forms that deal with emotional movement as opposed to physical movement. Colour as a parameter to be controlled and explored as a powerful communication vector with the ability to reinforce simple thematic objectives or, on the contrary, to create ambiguity and abstraction in more complex thematic situations, will be examined.

BREAKING THE RULES (12 - 18 hours): An intermediate level workshop designed to promote a healthy disregard for the status quo and develop a riskier approach to fine art photographic work. The general objective is to provoke profound questioning of our motivations and goals in the use of photography as a means of self-expression. This exploration involves looking coldly at our intentions and how we might express them within our own personal conceptual framework. This often means breaking certain traditional rules of photographic composition, technique and image design. The workshop explores the potential for developing new ways of looking at and defining the creative process with regard to photography.

COLOUR - NEW PERSPECTIVES (12 - 16 hours): an intermediate level workshop designed to stimulate reflection on how colour is used during the three phases of the photographic process: Conception / Realization / Presentation. Undoubtedly, colour remains the most underutilized parameter in photographic exhibition work and deserves to be freed from the tyranny of conventional photographic thought. Topics include: colour in the visual arts, colour as a symbol, colour as an emotional force, colour as chaos, dichromatic approaches to colour, printing of colour works.

ABSTRACTION IN PHOTOGRAPHY AND NEW MEDIA (12 - 16 hours): Abstraction as a form of expression has been an integral part of the world of modern and contemporary art since the first decade of the 20th century. For much of the period from 1910 to the 1960s, some form of abstraction dominated the visual arts offering new perspectives on Western industrialized societies and the everyday life they engendered. However, abstract forms of expression have never been a serious area of ​​research in photography. There were exceptions, of course (Geraldo de Barros, Jaroslav Rössler, László Moholy-Nagy, Minor White, Wolfgang Tillmans ...), but in general, abstraction was never embraced by the medium as an important area of ​​research. This workshop examines the contemporary world of photographic abstraction as a means of expressing what we feel and think about ourselves and the world around us. The power of abstraction is central to the investigation of less concrete themes than those dealt with in traditional representative photography and to express states of mind influenced by a myriad of intangibles that often dictate the nature our interactions with others and with our environment (doubt, ambiguity, speed, time, imbalance, interference, depression, well-being ...). Technical and conceptual themes and methodologies will be explored: image stratification, out-of-context images, image layers, scale, ambiguities and color palette approaches, as well as blurring and movement techniques.

TRANSMEDIA AND NON-LINEAR STORYTELLING (12 - 16 hours): Over the past ten years, the development of new digital technologies has allowed the emergence of new ways of storytelling that go far beyond the traditional formats of photojournalism and documentary films of the past. The nonlinear and interactive nature of this new form of communication was pioneered by institutions such as the National Film Board of Canada and the MIT Open Doc Lab and Tribeca Film Institute, in the United States. This workshop looks at the brief history of online interactive narratives and examines recent work done at the principle documentary research and development institutions exploring this new area. Contemporary platforms designed to accommodate such interactive works that are available to the general public will also be examined. Finally, the workshop will examine the possibilities offered by this new form of expression for the art world in general. The aim of this workshop is to introduce photographers to the world of transmedia and to stimulate interest in the interactive arts.