Centering Your Body of Work
with Al Brydon
Online registration for this program has closed. To check availability, find out about future dates, or if you would like further information, please call 505-983-1400 ext. 111. Also, get the SFW E-Newsletter for updates!
Sign-up for the Newsletter:
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.
Policies:
View Withdrawal and Transfer Policies for online programs.
Recording class sessions using personal devices or third-party tools is not permitted. Session recordings are provided by Santa Fe Workshops and are available to enrolled students for two months after the class. This policy helps protect the intellectual property and privacy of both instructors and students.
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
