Finding the person in your landscape

OR, Killing the habitual photographer! - looking at portraits in the environment differently.

Course thoughts:

Autumn in Wanaka provides a unique opportunity to explore the idea of environmental portraits. Too often we find ourselves being safe

We use the tools we have always used, in the way we have always used them.

We will explore

• The story

• Presence versus belonging

• The gift of light

• Landscape with a portrait vs Portrait with a landscape - The pause before the image

• Occupying a space

• Thinking differently

• Alternative perspectives

• Working with people

• Bad habits to be broken

• Breaking rules

The Course will use the context of portraits in landscapes to create a permission to be expressive. It is suited to people who can take a well focused image with good control.

From wedding photographer to people photographer, my photography has always been about observation with a creative insight. It has mainly been about people or their influence (which is why I prefer photographing architecture over landscape) So really it’s always been about recognising what other people bring to my images. Whether it’s a happy bride, grumpy groom, a building's play on light, or its brutal presence in an environment, my subjects are influenced by the decisions of others. I am less likely to construct an image than I am to 'see' one that exists, and maybe colour it with my own sense of irony or beauty. This is not a list of achievements, but a description of seeing. I have awards and have had exhibitions. I have even photographed a book. These things might matter some, but what matters most is that my 35 years as a photographer has given me an understanding that is multilayered and more important than tricks of technology.’