The Iconic Monochromatic Portrait
with Carlan Tapp
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Course Description
Many of the greatest portraits ever created were made in black and white. The resulting color-free images are testimony to the genre’s inherent beauty and timeless qualities, and this workshop is about much more than just making a black-and-white portrait.
First and foremost, Carlan Tapp describes himself as a storyteller. With his guidance, participants are given a chance to interact with and document the many different faces and characters that make up our world today. In the process, we discover how to express ourselves, creating meaningful portraits of the individuals who populate the environments we explore.
With light, location, and moment as our tools, we learn how to see in monochrome. We then examine the technical aspects of transforming a color portrait into a black-and-white one. Throughout, we share conversations about our craft, emphasizing composition, mood, and other elements of a successful portrait.
During each session we review the previous session’s work, learning more from every photograph we make. As we move from the expected to the unexpected in our portraits, we break personal barriers, allowing our work to reveal the heart and soul of our subjects. Join Carlan for an opportunity to stir the gray matter (so to speak) and explore the creative visual possibilities of the iconic monochromatic portrait.
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 and select images using image editing software for class sessions.
Policies:
View Withdrawal and Transfer Policies for online programs.
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
