How do we see and perceive the contemporary landscape beyond the marks that humanity has left on it? What can the landscape, in all its forms and iterations, teach us about ourselves? Under Brad Temkin’s expert guidance, we examine these questions in depth while learning to create pictures that are poetic and beautiful.

This workshop represents a collaboration between participant and landscape. On daily field trips, we encounter the treasures of northern New Mexico, an ecologically diverse region that encompasses everything from alpine meadows to high-desert canyons. With the help of on-location exercises, classroom discussions, portfolio reviews, daily critiques, and informal artist talks with professional landscape photographers, we gain a deeper understanding of craft and become better at articulating our ideas. We embrace pre- and post-visualization approaches, but our overriding objective is to understand our own process.

During our time together, it becomes clear that imagery can serve not only as a way to explore relationships with the land, but also as a path to self-awareness. After a week of using the contemporary landscape as a canvas, you come away with greater connection to your personal intent and clarity about your aesthetic vision.