Centering Your Body of Work
with Al Brydon
June 5 – July 10, 2026
Course Description
Beginning a long-term photographic project can feel daunting. Often, the tools and curiosity are already there; we simply need a framework to move forward.
This new online workshop is designed for photographers who want to create a cohesive body of work and bring greater focus and intention to their practice. Fine-art photographer Al Brydon guides you in clarifying your photographic philosophy and artistic aims, helping you explore not only how you make photographs, but why you make them. Whether you already have a project in mind or are still searching for a direction, this course offers a supportive starting point.
Through practical exercises and weekly assignments, you develop a deeper awareness of your creative voice. While the course is not genre-specific, many assignments encourage working outdoors and engaging closely with place. Over six-sessions we explore walking as a photographic method, working with repetition and self-imposed limitations, and returning to the same locations over time. Along the way, we consider how attention, time, and observation can shape a more personal response to the landscape. Simple reflective practices such as note-taking and writing also help clarify your ideas and direction.
As your work begins to take shape, the course also addresses editing and sequencing images to form a coherent series. Later sessions consider how a project might ultimately live in the world, whether as a book, exhibition, or online presentation, and how images can work together to support a larger narrative.
Each session includes discussion, image reviews of work in progress, and assignments designed to deepen your understanding of the project you are developing. Participants leave with a clearer sense of direction, a practical framework for building a body of work, and tools for continuing their project beyond the course.
There is no fixed timeline for completing a long-term project. The goal of this workshop is to help you begin and then to leave you with the momentum and clarity to keep going.
Additional Information
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
What You Should Know:
A basic familiarity with using a camera is assumed, including knowledge of manual mode and a basic digital workflow. Participants must be able to download, review, and select images using image-editing software for class sessions. The workshop focuses less on technical instruction and is particularly suited to photographers who feel stalled, uncertain, or ready to move beyond single images toward a more sustained and cohesive body of work.
Students may come with an existing project or an idea for a project they would like to begin during the course.
Special Notes:
Class will meet 9:30 – 11:30 am (Mountain Time) on Fridays starting June 5 and ending July 10 (six online group sessions). Enrollment is limited to 12 participants.
Zoom Video Conferencing software (available for no charge from Zoom.com) will be used to facilitate the class sessions. Further details will be emailed to registrants.
Santa Fe Workshops always aims to produce a high-quality experience for our online attendees. That said, variables including regional and local internet provider speeds, traffic on Zoom's servers, and your own computing hardware can contribute to a less-than-ideal streaming event. While we do our best to minimize the impact of these variables, they are outside the control of Santa Fe Workshops.
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
Al Brydon is a photographer based in the north of the UK. His work explores time, place, and the emotional undercurrents of everyday experience, often through long-term and process-driven projects.
Al’s work has been published and exhibited in the UK and internationally. His books include Even the Birds Were Afraid to Fly, None Places, and Based on a False Story. He is also co-founder of the photographic collective Inside the Outside.
Website: al-brydon.com
Instagram: @al_brydon
