MASTERCLASS:

Landscape Concepts

Photo detail by SPAO alum Louise Radmore

Check the current part-time calendar to see if this class is running. Email part-time@spao.ca to express your interest in this class!

How can a photographic image render space and time? How can contemporary photographic artists examine the spaces around them in meaningful, thought-provoking ways? Human-occupied spaces have changed dramatically in the past 50 years, with aspects of our lives increasingly taking place online, and our physical planet in a climate crisis. The spaces and places we choose to depict as photographers are more complex and are more important than ever.

This ten-week masterclass is an intensive study on how photographs might be used to render space such as landscape and architecture. This class will feature guest lectures from local and national photo-based artists, all of whom have represented spaces in their practices. Classes will alternate between guest lecture sessions and off-site hands-on experimentation. Lecture sessions will take place online and include a 90 minute guest speaker. The alternating in-person classes will involve planning and discussion of technical aspects of spatial imagery as well as photographic production.

Over the course of this intensive class, students will engage critically with the photographic image, examine the work and methods of relevant artists, and explore lighting styles, camera formats, and image esthetics. Students will complete this course ready to take their photographic practice to new heights.

Check Availability

Students must have their own film or digital SLR camera and a computer with Photoshop CS6 or later installed. 7-day trial versions of software are available to those who do not have Photoshop installed and a reasonably priced monthly photographers package can be found on the Adobe website. Participants must also have Zoom installed on their computer (a paid account is not required). As this is an advanced-level course, participants’ proficiency with camera techniques, their computer, and Photoshop are expected.  
Digital Photography I: Foundation or equivalent.