Aim
Are you curious to explore how a photograph can reveal, conceal, or even invent identity?
What if a portrait didn’t have to show a face to tell a story?
How far can you stretch the idea of a portrait before it becomes something else entirely?
This is a creative portrait photography course open to everyone—no technical knowledge required, just a spark of curiosity and a willingness to explore. Whether you're a complete beginner or already experimenting with portraiture, this course invites you to see portraits in a new light.
Through playful, thought-provoking weekly themes, we’ll explore a wide range of portrait styles—from the conventional to the abstract, conceptual, and experimental. You’ll be encouraged to question assumptions, express ideas, and develop your own visual language.
Together, we’ll look at both old masters and contemporary photographers whose work challenges the boundaries of portraiture and we will use it as inspiration to guide your own creative image-making.
This isn’t a technical lighting course—it’s a space to develop your creative eye, experiment with ideas, and deepen your understanding of what a photographic portrait can be.
Objectives
At the end of the course you will be able to:
- Understand key ideas in portrait photography and talk about what makes a portrait powerful, expressive, or thought-provoking
- Create your own portraits using a variety of creative approaches—whether traditional, abstract, or conceptual
- Reflect on your work and share how you see, think about, and represent people and identity through photography
General Outline of a Lesson Plan for each Weekly Session
Each session will consist of mainly three parts:
Part I
Looking at your photographs (homework based on the theme of the previous week), commenting on them, suggesting new ideas, reflecting on your creative process, and articulating it into your own words. This discussion will be the core of each session, as it will provide you with the opportunity to extract ideas from your own work, discuss the making process and make decisions for your future explorations on the weekly projects to follow. At the same time, I will be answering your questions, helping you to clarify your ideas, and giving you suggestions and guidance for further experimentation.
Part II
Looking at the photographic portrait genre of each week, based on images by both classic and contemporary photographers. You will be engaging in a critical discussion about them and reflecting on questions about what compositional approach it has been used, what the intentions of the photographer might be, what the images mean to you based on your own interpretation, and any other questions that might be generated by you.
Part III
Summing up the main ideas, which were discussed during the previous parts and discussing the nature of your homework. This will be based on a fixed theme for everyone or on individual themes that each one of you might choose.
Handouts
At the end of each weekly session, I will be sending you e-handouts by email.
Camera guidelines - what you will need
- A DSLR or mirrorless camera are ideally the best types of cameras you can have if you want to really explore and experiment with photography. However, all types of cameras are welcome, including ipads, tablets, and mobile phones.
- Desire to explore a new activity and learn something new
- Open mind to welcome new ideas
- Enthusiasm to get creative
Refund & Cancellation Policy
No refunds:
- if you cancel within 15 days before the start of the course.
- if the course is cancelled but a new date is scheduled
- if you stop attending it or any sessions of it
Minimum Age
16 years old is the minimum age for participants to attend the workshop on their own. For younger children please contact me.
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