Expressive Black-and-White Landscape and Fine-Art Digital Printmaking
with Carlan Tapp
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Course Description
Landscape photography is formed by the point of view of the photographer; it is a spiritual experience, the reflection of a culture. Historically, the great masters of black-and-white landscapes used large-format cameras and traditional film processes. Advances in digital technology have opened new opportunities for photographers who wish to explore the aesthetic and technical aspects of digital black-and-white landscapes.
On location, we take the time to see and fully express the spirit of the black-and-white landscape as we discover a place and the secrets of its beauty. We consider the concept of landscape and how it is connected to the cultural, social, and geographical aspects of our environment.
In the digital lab, we combine traditional Zone System methodology with new digital processes in Adobe Lightroom to forge a complete digital grayscale workflow. We learn to convey our personal interpretations of landscapes in the black-and-white fine print. Blending traditional, new, and emerging techniques and technologies, we discover the extraordinary possibilities of expressive digital black-and-white landscape work.
Additional Information
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
What You Should Know:
Working knowledge of digital workflow and manual mode on your digital SLR or mirrorless camera. Participants must be able to download, select, and transfer images to their own jump drive for class each day. Basic printmaking skills are helpful.
For the convenience of participants, recordings of each class session are posted privately for one month after the end of each session. Santa Fe Workshops takes the recordings down after one month to protect the intellectual property of our instructors.
about
Carlan Tapp is a documentary filmmaker and photographer. In the late 1970s, he assisted Ansel Adams for three years at his Yosemite Workshops, and shortly thereafter, he enrolled in Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. A descendant of the Wicocomico Tribe (Taptico family), Carlan, together with his wife, founded Naamehnay Project-Question of Power, a federal nonprofit focused on creating a visual voice for Native American homelands and sacred sites impacted by energy industrialization in America. Carlan’s work has been featured in Harley-Davidson HOG Magazine, New Mexico Magazine, Bloomberg, MSNBC, Associated Press, and NPR’s “Living on Earth.” His photo essays are syndicated by Redux Pictures in New York.
Between 2004 and 2011, Carlan documented opposition to the proposed Desert Rock power plant on the Navajo (Diné) Nation near Farmington, New Mexico. The power plant construction was officially cancelled in 2011 due to widespread public opposition, falling electricity demands, and uncertainties surrounding climate change legislation. The body of work was used by Navajo Women in legal litigation to halt the building of the Desert Rock Power Plant. The Question of Power photographs, video stories, and audio interviews with Diné people are presented in an exhibition at the Palace of the Governors, New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe, NM, opening April 19, 2026 through June 27, 2027.
Websites: carlantapp.com, naamehnay.org
Instagram: @carlantapp
