CUZCO - PERU: An Intimate Photographic Journey with Ernesto Bazan

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Students will have the rare opportunity to work one-on-one with renowned documentary photographer Ernesto Bazan in a private workshop tailored specifically for them to explore the culturally diverse Cuzco, Peru and its surrounding villages. In his teaching Ernesto Bazan stresses the importance of being emotionally in tune with your subjects to produce a series of revealing images that will portray a sense of the place and of its people. Each student will choose a theme or story to explore and develop, both photographically and in journal entries, through out the workshop. They will also post their work and experiences on the web.

"Through out the workshop we will be staying in a charming hostal in Cuzco in the picturesque neighborhood of Saint Blas a few blocks away from Plaza de Armas, Cuzco’s colonial main square. Each morning we’ll go out shooting. Some days on the streets of this fascinating town, other days we will be visiting some of the outlying villages and the farmers’ communities in the Sacred Valley such as Urubamba, Ollantaytambo, Pisaq, Calca, Maras. We will have the opportunity to photograph and share the villagers’ daily life, and try to capture the flow of life unfolding before our eyes in Cuzco and in the small pueblos full of mystery and magic. Additionally we will be working with an orphanage and several schools. With enthusiasm and honesty, I will help all of you capture some of those little surprises that photography constantly reveals to us. My ultimate goal is to help each participant create an appealing body of work with personal, strong, individual images. Each student will be encouraged to develop his or her own photographic language and to search for the invisible thread that ties a story together. At night, we will have both one-on-one editing sessions and group critiques in which the whole class will discuss many photography topics such as framing, composition and content within the context of individual images. We will also find time to enjoy the music, the culture and the charm of this precious colonial town.".~ Ciao Ernesto - Excerpt from Ernesto's letter to us about the workshop in Cuzco, Peru