Paolo Verzone
Chasing Light
Workshop – New York
Portfolio Reviews by James Wellford (NatGeo) & Molly Roberts (Independent Curator)
Chasing Light
A workshop by Paolo Verzone
Portfolio Reviews by Molly Roberts (editor and curator) & James Wellford (NatGeo)
2-day intensive workshop led by National Geographic photographer and Scuola della Luce founder Paolo Verzone. The workshop will focus on refining and understanding the use of light in photography. Combining both technical and poetical approaches to light, Verzone will guide 15 participants through the practical and narrative fields of lighting.
The programme focuses on practical shooting exercises held in different locations with the aim of working with different lighting techniques and learning how to use different lighting sources (natural light / flash / continuous light). All participants will have the opportunity to discuss their work in group discussions.The workshop also relies on a solid theoretical base: not only photography, but also other forms of visual expression such as cinema and painting will be discussed. The aim is to understand and use light not just as a tool, but also as a language, a language full of meaning, rhetoric, and poetry.
Learning to work with light means learning to deal with time, with the lack of it, with context and landscape, with unexpected obstacles and fleeting opportunities. Light is a constant in photography, but it is never shone in the same way. How is light used to photograph a glacier? Or when taking the portrait of a Hollywood star? What about photographing a confidential archaeological expedition to the Egyptian pyramids? In ‘Aurora borealis’, workshop participants will have the opportunity to learn not only about lighting technique, but also about first-hand experience in the field.
The workshop will have the visit and portfolio reviews of Molly Roberts, independent curator and visual editor, and James Wellford, Senior Visuals Editor for Global Issues at National Geographic.
Dates 30 Sep. & 1 Oct. 2023
Participants 12
Language English
Place Picto New York
Price $420 (+21% VAT Spanish citizens)
Payment Bank Transfer
In collaboration with
Timetable
Sep 29, 2023
AFTERNOON (17:00h)
Registrations
Welcome by the Scuola della Luce team
Welcome aperitive
Sep 30, 2023
MORNING
Shooting session to learn how to use different light sources with models.
Use of natural light, artificial light, HMI, strobes, and unconventional lighting techniques.
AFTERNOON
Shooting session to learn how to use different light sources.
Late afternoon 2 hours of Portfolio readings by Molly Roberts and James Wellford
Oct 1, 2023
MORNING
Shooting session to practice the lightning techniques learned the day before.
AFTERNOON
2 hours of Portfolio readings by Molly Roberts and James Wellford
Paolo Verzone
Born in 1967 in Turin, and based between Italy and Spain. Since he began taking pictures at the age of 18, for almost 30 years, Paolo Verzone has been photographing the world around him. Since 1991 he’s been collaborating with Alessandro Albert in projects focused on portraits, such as Seeuropeans and Moscow Project.
He works with the most important international magazines, such as National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, Le Monde, The Independent, Sunday Times , Liberation, Vanity Fair, D la Repubblica delle Donne, Geo, Io Donna, GQ, Amica, Rolling Stone, Marie Claire, Courier International, Das Magazin.
His series of students’ portraits from military academy throughout Europe, Cadets, has been published by Editions de La Martinière in 2014.
Paolo Verzone’s works were awarded with several grants, among them: World Press Photo in 2000, 2009, and 2015; Canon Giovani fotografi; American Photography 2009-10, Sony Photography award 2011.
His photographs are part of different collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and the Instituto Nazionale della Grafica, in Rome.
Paolo Verzone is a member of Agence Vu.
Since 2017 he is a Canon Ambassador.
Molly Roberts
Molly Roberts is a visuals editor and curator residing in Baltimore, Maryland. Roberts worked in the DC metro area as a photographer, photography editor and director of photography at The Washington Post, USA Weekend, Smithsonian Magazine and National Geographic Magazine. In 2019 she was awarded a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation fellowship to study and teach photography and multimedia at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She received a masters degree in Visual Communication in 2021.
She has curated exhibits for PhotoWorks, Art Works Projects, University of Texas; Corpus Christi, Women Photojournalists of Washington, SXSE Gallery and Gallery 1448. She works on book projects for independent photographers and National Geographic Books.
Roberts leads workshops in photo editing for long term visual projects and photo books. She teaches photography, photojournalism and photo-editing, recently at Ohio University and Loyola University. Committed to the power of visual communication to educate and inform, Roberts created Humaneyes USA, a small non-profit using artistic and innovative approaches to inspire informed discussion, encourage civic engagement and create solutions for pressing American issues. Roberts is a regular reviewer and mentor at La Luz Workshops, Palm Springs Photo Festival, Social Documentary Network, and Review Santa Fe as well as the annual Women Photojournalists of Washington portfolio review, of which she is a co-director and member of the Board of Directors.
James Wellford
James Wellford is the Senior Visuals Editor for Global Issues at National Geographic. Stories he has worked on at NatGeo include; Afghanistan, the Science of Sleep, the Circular Economy, the restoration at Notre Dame Cathedral, Covid stories around the world, El Salvador, Falcons, Lithium, the crisis in Niger/Mali, World War II Veterans, Uncontacted People in the Amazon, Ebola in the DRC, Eritrea, the Sudan, Uganda, Ghana, Kashmir, Indonesia, and Migration/refugee issues throughout the world.
Prior to his time at NatGeo, he was the International Photography Editor at Newsweek Magazine for 12 years. He has also worked as a visual editor for Foreign Policy, CNN, and the Smithsonian.
James is a graduate of Brown University and a Knight Wallace Fellow from the University of Michigan. His career spans decades during which time he has served at an editorial director at Visura, founded ScreenProjects.org, edited the New York Daily News archival collection, curated numerous photography exhibitions, and served on a number of photography juries around the world including the Leica Oskar Barnack award, the Tim Hetherington Trust, the Overseas Press Club, PX3 in Paris, the Cortona Photo Festival, and at POYi.
Dedicated to visual education, James has taught at the International Center of Photography and the New School in NYC.
Apply Now
Send your information and Scuola della Luce team will contact you with more information.
Key information
The workshop will take place in Brooklyn, New York. At Picto New York.
A Field Guide of New York will be sent to the participants once the places is confirmed with information about accommodation, food, places of interest, transfers and transportation.
Each participant will receive a certificate of attendance to the workshop.
Feel free to reach us for further information or to ask any question. Our team will help you in any way we can.
Terms & Conditions
We reserve the right to cancel this event when we do not reach the minimum number of participants. In the unlikely event of cancellation, participants will be given at least 1-week advance notice and a full refund.
If you decide to cancel for any reason, and notify us at least 20 days before the starting day of the workshop, we will reimburse all fees. After that time frame, Scuola della Luce will not make any refund.
The workshop fee does not include transport, accommodation or ground expenses other than those organised by the Scuola della Luce team.
Every participant has to bring their own equipment (camera, lenses, tripod and laptop).
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