The Art of Abstract Photography: A Creative Retreat in Santa Fe

Abstract photography today is not just a style, it is a movement. It calls for a departure from the literal, allowing your intuitive nature to drive the creative process. Rather than capturing identifiable subjects, photographers focus on elements like shapes, colors, lines, and textures to evoke thoughts and feelings. This style breaks away from realism and embraces experimentation with various techniques including intentional camera movement, multiple exposure, layering our compositions, as well as single-image abstractions.

We invite you to join us in May for an intensive four-day retreat on our campus in art-filled Santa Fe to learn from current leaders in the abstract movement. Renee Lynn, Stephanie Johnson, and Richard Martin plus a few guests each take a unique approach to visual storytelling, turning everyday moments into impactful images to expand the palette of photographic art. 

Over the course of the retreat, you have the unique opportunity to work directly with all three lead instructors and our two guest presenters to engage in hands-on assignments designed to broaden your creative perspectives and technical skillset. Each day, participants rotate with an assigned cohort to a new instructor, who guides them in the creation of expressive artistry and shares insights into the techniques of ICM, ME, and other abstract processes. 

We also gather on a daily basis for campus-wide lectures, demonstrations, and group conversations, as well as enjoy lunch together. All are encouraged to collaborate and share feedback within and across cohorts, fostering a supportive community of new perspectives and inspiration.

Each of our three lead instructors contributes a different approach to abstraction, offering unique ideas, technical demonstrations, and direction. Richard guides you to celebrate the visual world by sharing honestly and directly from the heart. He encourages you to express your feelings by searching for visual equivalents in the outer world. Using the photographic tools of color, texture, and light—Richard encourages you to create visual landscapes of your inner world.

Stephanie demonstrates in-camera processes to create ICM and ME images, revealing the fantastical worlds that can be created with these techniques. The passion, knowledge, and vision that Stephanie imparts, inspires you to see things differently, push boundaries, and tap more fully into your own creative self. 

Renee focuses on exploring the techniques of painterly ICM and the creative application of multiple exposures and layered textures. She shares the process of constructing a final image, highlighting the progression from a traditional photograph to an expressionistic one. The result is imagery that prioritizes personal experience by employing bold colors, exaggerated forms, and rich texture.

The program also includes two guest presenters, who provide important insights into their technical and creative processes. Valda Bailey joins us via Zoom from England to share her current ideas and perceptions on expressionistic art making. Local Santa Fe artist and photographer Shelley Vandegrift leads two sessions focused on taking your creative post-processing skills to the next level using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Shelley also joins us to provide her technical expertise during one-on-one review sessions.  

By blending the technical with the intuitive, this retreat in historic Santa Fe offers a unique opportunity to experiment with new techniques, push the boundaries, and cultivate your own artistic voice. We encourage you to engage deeply, question freely, and dive deep into the realm of innovative photographic techniques that celebrate revealing the unseen.