The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in our attitude toward them. — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
As humans we love things, and we love order. Combine the two and we have a perfect chemistry for flat lay as a creative expression of who we are or what we want to say. Here is an online workshop to discover and explore the multitude of imaginative opportunities for photographic flay lay.
Artist and photographer Philippa Stanton, based in England, has designed this workshop to help you explore, practice, and develop your flat lay photography using deep observation of your surroundings as the key impetus. All areas essential to flat lay composition and concepts are examined, including the visual foundations to keep your flat lay work alive and moving forward.
Philippa encourages you to experiment and improvise with colours, textures, and your senses. We look at space, juxtaposition, pattern, shapes, form, asymmetry, symmetry, and movement. Slow down, consciously connect with your surroundings, and leave any fears of ‘getting it wrong’ behind. We consider the things right under our noses; the ordinary and the overlooked are often a surprising route to inspiration. We explore the unspoken layers that an awareness of texture and transience gives to a composition. Texture is often the magic within a flat lay. Spending time observing natural, gentle movement informs your ability to create an image that is dynamic rather than simply static. And always, our focus is on process and practice whilst also acknowledging and embracing the hugely meditative qualities of flat lay.
Our time together is filled with demonstrations highlighting compositional techniques, the sharing of Philippa’s images and how they were made, along with weekly assignments and reviews of your new images.
Give yourself permission to find your own passion and play with it. Although it may not appear connected, everything always informs everything, so finding your passion works as a great creative anchor and will potentially inspire your flat lay compositions to come.
Participants must be able to select and organize images using image editing software for class sessions.
Class will meet 9:30 – 11:30 am (Mountain Time) on Wednesdays starting September 4 and ending October 2 (five 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.
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.
Philippa Stanton is an artist and photographer based in Penzance in the UK. She is the author of the Conscious Creativity books and Creative Prompt cards, all of which have been incredibly popular. Her first book has now sold over 25,000 copies. Her photography focuses on colour, the seasons, nature, objects, and transient texture; inspired by feeling, rather than meaning.
Philippa’s images also play an integral part in her painting practice, serving as sketchbook-like observations and studies. Her painting and photography have led her to create content for brands and organizations as diverse as The Crown Estate, TUI, Green and Blacks, Barclays, Spotify, The History of Modern Biomedicine Research Group, Illuminum Fragrance, Vogue London, Boutiquey Gin, the Royal Society Summer Exhibition and even painting the sound of a pianist playing Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures At An Exhibition’ live at the Cheltenham Science Festival. Philippa loves cycling, rowing, being outside in the rain, taking photographs of telephone boxes, and sitting in silence looking.
Website: 5ftinf.com
Instagram: @5ftinf
