Many of the greatest portraits ever created were made in black and white. The resulting color-free images are testimony to the genre’s inherent beauty and timeless qualities, and this workshop is about much more than just making a black-and-white portrait.
First and foremost, Carlan Tapp describes himself as a storyteller. With his guidance, participants are given a chance to interact with and document the many different faces and characters that make up our world today. In the process, we discover how to express ourselves, creating meaningful portraits of the individuals who populate the environments we explore.
With light, location, and moment as our tools, we learn how to see in monochrome. We then examine the technical aspects of transforming a color portrait into a black-and-white one. Throughout, we share conversations about our craft, emphasizing composition, mood, and other elements of a successful portrait.
During each session we review the previous session’s work, learning more from every photograph we make. As we move from the expected to the unexpected in our portraits, we break personal barriers, allowing our work to reveal the heart and soul of our subjects. Join Carlan for an opportunity to stir the gray matter (so to speak) and explore the creative visual possibilities of the iconic monochromatic portrait.
Working knowledge of digital workflow and manual mode on your digital SLR or mirrorless camera. Participants must be able to download and select images using image editing software for class sessions.
Class will meet 9:30 – 11:30 am (Mountain Time) on Saturdays and Wednesdays starting November 4 and ending November 22 (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.
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.
Carlan Tapp is a documentary filmmaker and photographer. In the late seventies, he assisted Ansel Adams for three years at his Yosemite workshops, and shortly thereafter he enrolled in Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. A descendant of the Wicocomico Tribe (Taptico family), Carlan, together with his wife, founded Naamehnay Project-Question of Power, a nonprofit focused on creating a visual voice for Native American homelands and sacred sites. Carlan’s work has been featured in Harley-Davidson HOG Magazine, New Mexico Magazine, Bloomberg, MSNBC, Associated Press, and NPR’s “Living on Earth.” His photo essays are syndicated by Redux Pictures in New York.
Website: carlantapp.com
Instagram: @carlantapp
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