The Photographic Essay

Photographing daily life with a National Geographic Magazine style and approach with Kent Kobersteen e Tomasz Tomaszewski. This workshop is for enthusiasts and advanced photographers who want to take their editorial or personal work to the next level through the guidance of National Geographic photographer Tomasz Tomaszewski, and former National Geographic picture editor and director of photography Kent Kobersteen. The workshop will stress finding and researching story subjects, photographing people in an intimate fashion, making photographs that communicate emotionally as well as editorially, editing a body of work, and using aesthetics in a sophisticated manner. Kent and Tomasz will openly share the techniques and approaches photographers use in the field to create work for National Geographic Magazine and other major international publications, both print and electronic. Students’ work will be used as examples to make points on editing photographs. Kent and Tomasz will also discuss business aspects of photography, such as creating a strong portfolio, approaching editors and getting assignments, photographing personal projects, finding the right agency, developing a lasting relationship with a publication, and photography in the electronic media. Each student must bring a portfolio of at least ten, but not more than twenty pictures, prepared for digital projection. Each student’s work will be projected, and discussed by Kent, Tomasz, and the entire student group. It is important that students bring work that is representative of what they shoot, and not necessarily their greatest photographs. Often the comments from seeing less than ideal photographs are very valuable for the student’s growth. Students will spend one day in discussion of their work, spend two days shooting photographs in Rome, and the final day editing and critiquing their photographs from the Rome shoot. Tomaszewski and Kobersteen have collaborated as photographer and director of photography on many National Geographic stories, and will use this professional relationship to give the students a varied and realistic perspective on the business of documentary photography and on their individual photographic work. Students MUST be prepared for long hours of discussion, critiquing, photographing and interacting with one another and with the instructors. This is not a Photoshop or technical workshop, but rather will address both practical and philosophical aspects of documentary photography. Although this workshop is not exclusively for professional photographers, students should be experienced, and of a professional level to get the most benefit from the discussions. Tomaszewski and Kobersteen will speak in English. For any inquiries in english about the workshop please write to: didattica@officinefotografiche.org