JOHN CHIARA :
“HAND TO LAND: THE ANALOG LANDSCAPE”
FEB. 15 SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS DEADLINE
JOHN CHIARA: “HAND TO LAND: THE ANALOG LANDSCAPE”
JULY 10-14, 2023, BOWEN ISLAND, BC
Join famed San Francisco photographic artist John Chiara for 5 intensive yet fun days of workshop intended for photographers who are looking to experiment with the purest form of analog photography while pushing the boundaries of their practice outside of the digital comfort zone. Whether you’re a novice, professional or enthusiast of photography, this workshop will display a raw, hands-on, alchemist approach to the medium you can keep building on for years. Known for making large scale photographs with hand-built cameras — the largest a 12 feet deep and wide Camera Obscura yielding unique organic photographs as large as 50″ x 80″ — Chiara will teach participants how to make one of a kind images using a variety of cameras and techniques.
During the first two workshop days, participants will learn how to hand-craft their own makeshift box cameras and take them out for a spin exploring the majestic Bowen Island landscape shooting onto direct positive black and white photographic paper (no negative) sized to their new equipment.
Chiara will also guide participants through a discussion on previsualization and other ideas on how to use the photographic process to empower them to envision the landscape around them unmediated (such as how to move beyond ‘framing’ without any viewfinder).
Using these techniques, participants will be able to slow down their approach and take all aspects of the scene into consideration to make single, original photographs that can simultaneously stand as image, object and document. Back at the FotoFilmic Space, Chiara will show participants how to develop their images using black and white processing methods.
The workshop will end with a group critique where participants will display all the images made in the workshop along with any other work they would like to show and receive feedback on. There will be time for one on one conversations about the work with the artist. Participants will take home their own one-of-a-kind photographic prints.
Schedule: Meets in-person at FotoFilmic on Bowen Island on Monday July 10, Tuesday July 11, Wednesday July 12, Thursday July 13 and Friday July 14 from 9am to 5pm (hours subject to change).
This program is limited to 12 participants.
Cover image: © John Chiara, Grizzly Peak at Claremont, 2011.

© John Chiara, Topanga Canyon Boulevard at Pacific Coast Highway, Los Angeles, 2012.

© John Chiara, Coral Road at Carolina Street, 2018.

© John Chiara, Starr King: Mansell: University, 2015.

© John Chiara, Sawtelle at Palms, 2013.
ABOUT JOHN CHIARA: