Event: Photographing Farm, Garden and Forest, July 21-24

From Cascade Harvest Coalition

A New Way of Seeing: Photographing Farm, Garden and Forest

With Michael Ableman and Shari Macdonald

July 21st to 24th

Registration deadline is Monday, July 13^th

See http://www.foxglovefarmbc.ca/program/2009/a-new-way-of-seeing/

Observation is one of the most important skills for any artist, whether painter, photographer, musician; or farmer, gardener, or forester. Learning to see and interpret what we see in creative ways brings depth and meaning to our daily lives and work. In this workshop we will use the dynamic landscape of Foxglove Farm, it’s historical buildings, farm fields, orchards, and the wildness of its forests, creeks and lake to explore with the camera. We will encourage students to transcend the stereotypical and explore a deeper way of seeing and sense of place.

While the workshop will initially allow for wide ranging exploration, each participant will be asked to articulate and focus on a particular theme, develop that theme, and present their work for critique to faculty and students during the last afternoon and evening. Both teachers will provide evening presentations of their work with discussions on their own particular creative process.

While technique will be touched on where necessary, this is not a technical workshop. Participants should already be technically comfortable, and bring their own digital equipment. Laptops for downloading and processing of images are suggested but not required, we will provide large screen viewing for image critique.

Shari Macdonald has been living and photographing on Salt Spring Island for the past twenty years.  She travels extensively as a photographer and her work has been featured in numerous magazines, books, and exhibitions. Self- taught, Shari relies on her eye and serendipity to capture life’s poetic details and moments.

Michael Ableman has been making photographs for over 40 years. His work has appeared in publications throughout the world and in solo exhibitions at the Oakland Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and the Field Museum in Chicago. Ableman has written and photographed three internationally acclaimed books on food and agriculture.