YOLANDA ANDRADE

A member of the generation that positioned photography as an artistic genre in Latin America. From 1977 to 2003, Andrade worked exclusively in black and white, developing an extensive project about Mexico City. Since 2003, she has transitioned to color photographs taken with digital cameras and has extended her projects to other countries, in cities such as Paris, Delhi, Varanasi, and New York, among others. Andrade is a member of the National System of Creators.

Her work is found in the collections of various museums and institutions, some of which include: Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, N.Y; California Museum of Photography, Riverside, CA; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; National Institute of Fine Arts, Mexico, D. F; Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China; Museum of Modern Art, INBA, Mexico, D.F .; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA; El Barrio Museum, New York, N. Y, and Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL, among others.

Los velos transparentes, las transparencias veladas (1988) and Pasión Mexicana (2002), Visiones paralelas y A través del cristal (2009), Las Vegas: artificio y neón (2013) and Caminando en Londres (2019). stand out from a collection of several books published by Yolanda Andrade.

In 1994 she became part of The National System of Creators (FONCA) in Mexico and received a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship to continue developing her work on Mexico City.

In 2021 she appeared in Season Two of Evenings with the Masters with her lecture “Cities, Streets and Things”.

Jane evelyn atwooD

Jane Evelyn Atwood was born in New York and has been living in France since 1971. Her work reflects a deep involvement with her subjects over long periods of time. Fascinated by people and by the idea of exclusion, she has managed to penetrate worlds that most of us do not know, or choose to ignore.

In 1976, Atwood bought her first camera and began taking pictures of a group of street prostitutes in Paris. It was partly on the strength of these photographs that she received the first W . Eugene Smith Award, in 1980, for another story she had just started: blind children. Prior to this, she had never published a photo.

Atwood limits her stories to those which truly compel her, devoting to each subject the time necessary (in some cases, years) to explore it in depth. In 1989 she started to photograph incarcerated women, eventually managing to gain access to some of the world's worst penitentiaries and jails, including death row. This monumental ten-year undertaking (encompassing forty prisons in nine countries of Europe and Eastern Europe, and the United States) remains the definitive photographic work on women in prison to date. It was published as a book in both English and French in 2000 and continues to be exhibited internationally.

Jane Evelyn Atwood describes her method of work as " obsessive". She does not move on to a new subject until she feels she has completely understood the one at hand and her own relation to it, and until she believes that her pictures reflect this understanding.

To learn more about Jane’s online and in-person exclusive workshops, see the links below.

Danny AllegrettI

Danny Allegretti is a lifestyle and editorial photographer based out of Chicago, IL. Born and raised in the Southwest, Danny’s work revolves around the landscape, the people that inhabit it, and their own stories. He enjoys exploring the tangible and objective aspects of a photograph, and the subtle humor found in everyday moments.

Mr.Allegretti has taught a variety of photography workshops in New Mexico, Maine, and Japan, and has assisted countless photographers from around the world. Originally studying Fine Art Photography, Mr.Allegretti now mostly works commercially, shooting for clients such as Vogue, Vice, Air BnB, and Solo New York. His current work also includes multi-media projects utilizing a combination of screen printing, illustration, design, and text, that have been featured in exhibitions across the country. 

His work can be viewed at dannyallegretti.com

Fill out the form below to be alerted to future workshops and events with Danny Allegretti.

Jenny Bagert

“When the business runs well, more people get to see the beauty.”

Over a twenty-five-year career, Jenny Bagert has been deeply rooted in every facet of photography, working with artists, galleries, and collectors and work from the 19th century to the present. In her twenties, Ms. Bagert worked as a photographer who specialized in working with musicians, including Grammy winning artists. At age twenty-four, she became business and archive manager to the legendary jazz photographer Herman Leonard. With Leonard, Ms. Bagert learned the business and had the opportunity to work on life-changing projects: archiving Leonard’s vast collection, working on the Ken Burns documentary “Jazz”, editing books and managing shoots with such greats as Tony Bennet and Lenny Kravitz.

In 2006, she formed Jenny Bagert Consulting, offering business and project management in photography. Based in her hometown of New Orleans, Bagert and her team have served an impressive client roster including Josephine Sacabo, Dawoud Bey, Tina Freeman, Joel-Peter Witkin Archive, New Orleans Musuem of Art, the 19th Century Rare Photograph Shop, A Gallery For Fine Photography, and numerous other photographers and organizations. Ms. Bagert is also a bee keeper and her favorite day of the year is Mardi Gras Day.

Jorge bolado

Jorge Bolado is a Mexican filmmaker, teacher, and writer. His most prominent works go from being the Headteacher and Academic Director for 17 years of a major cinema and T.V. University in Mexico City, to directing, photographing, producing, editing, acting, and  making sound designs in several films, short films, commercials, and series for cultural T.V.

He has also worked as a writer in renowned media such as Vogue, La Prensa, Aeromexico, and Mexicana airline magazines. His films have been exhibited in film festivals with notoriety like Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Nara, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Toulouse, La Habana, Cartagena, Gijon, and Alexandria. 

To learn about “Into the Light: a mystical and technical path to better photography and cinematography,” and be informed about dates and future offerings, see the link below.

Kate breakey

Kate Breakey is internationally known for her large-scale, richly hand-colored photographs including her acclaimed series of luminous portraits of birds, flowers and animals in a series called ‘Small Deaths’ published in 2001 by University of Texas Press. Her other monographs include ‘Painted Light’, University of Texas in 2010, a career retrospective that encompasses a quarter century of prolific image making.

Her collection of photograms, entitled 'Las Sombras / The Shadows' was published by University of Texas Press in October 2012. This series is a continuation of her lifetime investigation of the natural world which in her own words is ‘brimming with fantastic, mysterious, beautiful things.’

Since 1980 her work has appeared in more than 110 one-person exhibitions and in over 60 group exhibitions . A native of South Australia, Kate moved to Austin, Texas in 1988. She completed a Master of Fine Art degree at the University of Texas in 1991 where she also taught photography in the Department of Art and Art History until 1997. Her collections include the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, The Australian National Gallery and the San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts, as well as various private collections. She has resided in the Tucson, Arizona area for 20 years. She regularly teaches workshops nationally and internationally.

Kate Breakey also teaches her renowned online wokrshop “Metamorphosis: Transforming Your Images.” To learn more about it, see the link below

CHRIS BUCK

Chris Buck is a photographer and director based in New York and Los Angeles. His portraits have won placement in the prestigious annual American Photography over forty times, and he was the first recipient of the Arnold Newman Portrait Prize.

In advertising, he’s shot campaigns for some of the world’s most recognizable brands including Coca-Cola, Google, Microsoft, Kia, and TD Bank; and directed motion spots for Oscar Mayer, SAP and Viagra. A Cannes Lions Grand Prix was awarded to his controversial Diesel campaign that invited their customers to “Be Stupid.”

Lürzer's Archive said of his book Uneasy: Portraits 1986-2016, "If you’re into portrait photography at all, this book is a must for you as Chris Buck is a genius at creating photos that stick in people’s minds. He is a past master at coming up with inventive, offbeat ideas, and his subjects respond perfectly.”

In March of 2021 Gentlemen’s Club: Partners Of Exotic Dancers was released. The New Yorker said, “Buck's portraits embody the clashing realities of the strip club: posed but never unnatural, the pictures are, by turns, playful, tender, brazen, and inscrutable."

See the link below to learn more about his online workshop.

keith carter

Keith Carter has explored time, place, and vernacular culture for close to fifty years. His haunting, enigmatic photographs have been exhibited in over one hundred solo exhibitions in thirteen countries. Thirteen monographs of his work have been published, as well as two documentary films: Keith Carter: The Artist Series, Ted Forbes and A Certain Alchemy, Anthropy Arts. In addition, He has contributed to nine other anthologies over the years. A fifty-year retrospective book was released fall of 2019 from University of Texas Press. In addition, he has been described as a "Poet of the Ordinary" by the Los Angeles Times (1994) and received the Texas Medal of Arts in 2009.

Prof. Carter’s work has been featured on the nationally televised program CBS Sunday Morning and he is the recipient of the Lange-Taylor Prize from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. Mr. Carter’s work is included in numerous private and public collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the George Eastman House, and the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University.

He has held the Endowed Walles Chair of Art at Lamar University in Texas for twenty-five years where his awards include the University's highest teaching honors; the Regents’ Professor Award (2010) and Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Prize (1998).

 www.keithcarterphotographs.com/
Facebook:  keithcarterphotographs
Instagram: keithcarter.art

To learn about "Transcendental Mysticism” an exclusive in-person workshop that took place in March 2023, see the link below.

LISA CATES

Lisa Cates is photographer and educator who specializes in travel and expedition programs. She has worked with National Geographic Expeditions, National Geographic Student Expeditions the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops and Nobechi Creative. Lisa Cates is the Board Chair of the New Orleans Photo Alliance (NOPA), a nonprofit focused on elevating photography in the Gulf Coast states through exhibitions, programs and opportunities. In her four years serving on the board, she has overseen multiple exhibitions in the NOPA gallery and partnered with institutions including the New Orleans Museum of Art, the New Orleans Jazz Museum, the National World War II Museum and Tulane University. She has been an active member of the committee for New Orleans’ annual festival of photography, PhotoNOLA, since 2014.  She has also been a juror for Critical Mass and the Photoville Fence.

Fill out the form below to be alerted to future workshops and events with Lisa Cates.

ALLEN CLARK

Allen Clark is a commercial and advertising photographer from Nashville, Tennessee. His work can be seen on music packaging, magazines, and countless celebrity and Fortune 500 company websites. 

With over 25 years of experience in photography,  Mr. Clark has traveled all over the world doing what he has described as his dream job, with a side of “glorified stalking.”

Over his career, Mr. Clark has photographed many celebrities including two US presidents, two knights, a host of famous musicians, producers, writers, actors, politicians, and what he likes to call, “everyday hardworking people (you know… the normal ones).”

He has been published in : The Washington Post, Forbes, The Hindu, Discovery Magazine, People, Shape, Time, Wired, Rolling Stone, Mojo and The Telegraph.

His diverse list of celebrity clients include:  Jim Gaffigan, Cal Ripkin Jr., Ethan Hawke, President George H. Bush, President George W. Bush, Peyton Manning, Rick Ross, Nicole Kidman, Beyonce, Sir Elton John, Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Julian Assange, Shaun White, Sir George Martin, Carmelo Anthony, James Earl Jones, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tiffany, Norah Jones, Justin Timberlake, Tom Brokaw, Tony Hawk, Walter Cronkite, Dave Matthews, Ludacris, Juicy J & Kid President.

To learn more about “Lighting with Purpose”, a portraiture class with Allen Clark, see the link below.

michael Clark

Michael Clark is an internationally published adventure photographer specializing in adventure sports, travel, and landscape photography. He produces intense, raw images of athletes pushing their sports to the limit and has risked life and limb on numerous assignments to bring back stunning images of rock climbers, mountaineers, kayakers, mountain bikers, big-wave surfers, sky divers and many other extreme sports athletes, often working in remote locations around the world. He uses unique angles, bold colors, strong graphics and cutting-edge, dramatic lighting techniques to capture fleeting moments of passion, gusto, flair and bravado in the outdoors. Balancing extreme action with subtle details, striking portraits and wild landscapes, he creates images for the editorial, advertising and stock markets worldwide.  

As a former physicist Mr. Clark has worked on both sides of the technical revolution – helping refine the technology and using it for his current profession. Mr. Clark has worked as a professional photographer since 1996. He has been featured in Digital Photo Pro, Outdoor Photographer, Nikon World Magazine, Digital Photographer, Rangefinder Magazine, and New Mexico Magazine for his work with extreme sports. Digital Photo Pro proclaimed Michael a "Master of Adventure" Photography” in their 2011 Masters issue.

He contributes to National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Outside, Men's Journal, Backpacker, Outdoor Photographer, Digital Photo Pro, Climbing, Alpinist, Rock and Ice, Bike Magazine and The New York Times among many others.

A sampling of Mr. Clark’s advertising clients include Apple, Nike, Nikon, Fujifilm, Adobe, Red Bull, Microsoft, Nokia, Patagonia, New Balance, Propel/Gatorade, Pfizer, DuPont, 20th Century Fox, Black Diamond, Prana, Arc'teryx, Camelbak, La Sportiva, and Gregory Packs.

To learn about Michael’s online and in-person offerings, and be informed about dates and future offerings, see the links below.

fernanda de icaza

Fernanda De Icaza obtained her degree in Photography from Escuela Activa de Fotografía in 2013. Born and raised in Mexico City, she grew up feeling overwhelmed by her surroundings and found in photographic praxis a way to process reality. As a photographer aware of human subjectivity, she incorporates her own perception of the world into each of her long-term documentary projects. Introspection and exploration of the human mind are the main components of her work.

In 2015 she traveled to Japan and became a student in a small Buddhist temple. Zen practice served as research to help start her ongoing project “月心 (Gesshin)”. During her time in Japan she met George Nobechi during a workshop with Magnum photographer Newsha Tavakolian.

In 2019 she was selected as a Top 30 Under 30 woman photographer by Artpil which led to an exhibition at Maison de la Photographie Lille and in Paris at Galérie Claude Samuel during Paris Photo. She is currently living in Mexico and works as a movie set photographer.

Fill out the form below to be alerted to future workshops and events with Fernanda De Icaza.

Brett L. Erickson

A photographer whose images have won acclaim internationally, Dr.Brett L. Erickson's work has shown in locations such as London, England; Belfast, Ireland; Laguna Beach, California; Kamloops, British Columbia; Santa Fe, New Mexico; SoHo, New York City; and Berlin, Germany. Dr. Erickson’s work explores the intersection of the Western landscape, the hunger of humanity to tame the wild and unconquerable frontier, and the power of myth that is an inextricable thread that weaves its way through the most memorable photographs of our time.

A member of the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops faculty since 2013, he is sponsored by Hahnemühle, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious art paper companies. He is a member of both the Royal Photographic Society and the Society for Photographic Education. Dr. Erickson previously served as Morton and Ella Steinhart Professor of Visual Arts at Hastings College, where he supervised both the photography and digital development programs, and taught design, photography, and online development.

During his time at Hastings, he founded both the Canon Explorers of Light guest speaker series and the Digital Imaging Laboratory, and he chaired the Hastings College Lecture Series. The Hastings College Student Alumni Association presented him with its award for exemplary teaching in 2005, and in 2015 he was honored with the Hastings College Art Alumni Exhibition. In 2017 he was selected as the Fall Artist Lecture Series Invited Faculty Lecturer, Hastings' highest faculty honor.

To learn about workshops with Brett and be informed about dates and future offerings, see the link below.

greg gorman

Greg’s work documents that peculiar obsession with the 21st century celebrity. His photography is timeless and not confined to has-beens, hot properties and wannabes. Each shot gives a picture of human nature in its infinite range. Each picture is also a testament to the individual character. ’For me, a photograph is most successful when it doesn’t answer all of the questions,” says Gorman, “but leaves something to the imagination.”

Known for his stark, honest portraits of the most famous and infamous faces from the worlds of entertainment, art, sport and music, Greg Gorman’s images have intrigued the viewer from the onset of his career.
Over the years Greg has been acknowledged for his contribution to the world of photography, from the prestigious Lucie Awards for Portraiture and more recently, by The Professional Photographers of America (Lifetime Achievement Award in Portraiture). His charitable works by such organizations as The Elton John Aids Foundation, The Oscar de La Hoya Foundation and Paws LA to name but a few have also been critically recognized.
Besides traveling the world for specialized photographic projects, Greg continues to work on compilations of his imagery and exhibits his work in galleries and museums around the globe. It’s Not About Me-A Retrospective marks Mr. Gorman’s twelfth monograph published in 2019. He has just completed a 13th work, ‘Homage’ which focusses on the influence of African Tribal Art on European and American Cultures, representing his first foray into the fine art world with collaborator and longtime friend, Gary Johns. As well, Gorman is one of the most sought-after speakers in the photographic community and shares his expertise in hands-on photographic workshops worldwide. In addition to his photography career, in collaboration with Dave Phinney of Orin Swift Cellars of the Napa Valley, Greg made wine under his own label, GKG Cellars, from  2006-2018, receiving high scores from both Robert Parker and the Wine Spectator.
Born in 1949 in Kansas City, Missouri, Greg attended the University of Kansas with a major in Photojournalism and completed his studies at the University of Southern California, graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Cinematography. Greg resides with his French Bulldog, Cyrill, in Los Angeles, California and spends most of his spare time fishing.www.gormanphotography.com www.gormanworkshops.com Gorman is represented worldwide by the Fahey Klein Gallery, LA contact@faheykleingallery.com

JOIN GREG IN MASTERING THE ART OF TRAVEL PORTRAITURE: TOKYO, Nov 14-21, 2024

mark edward harris

After graduating from California State University, Los Angeles with a Master of Arts Degree in Pictorial/Documentary History, Mark Edward Harris started his professional photography career doing the stills for the Merv Griffin Show and various television and movie companies. When the show ended he set off on a four-month trek across the Pacific and throughout Southeast Asia, China and Japan. The images created on that trip brought attention to his documentary photography.

Assignments have since taken Harris to more than 100 countries on all seven continents. His editorial work has appeared in publications such as Vanity Fair, LIFE, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, GEO, Newsweek, Conde Nast Traveler, National Geographic Traveler, Hemispheres, AFAR, Wallpaper, Vogue, Architectural Digest, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, and The London Sunday Times Travel Magazine as well as all the major photography and in-flight magazines. Among his numerous accolades are CLIO, ACE, Impact DOCS Award of Excellence, Aurora Gold, Sports Photography of the Year and IPA awards. His books include Faces of the Twentieth Century: Master Photographers and Their Work, The Way of the Japanese Bath, Wanderlust, North Korea, South Korea, Inside Iran, The Travel Photo Essay: Describing A Journey Through Images and his latest, The People of the Forest, a book about orangutans.

To learn about workshops with Mark and be informed about dates and future offerings, see the link below.

Kari Herer

Kari Herer is a full-time photographer and educator. The springboard for her career came in 2009, when Ms. Herer spent seven weeks in Rockport, Maine at the Maine Media Workshops. In the 10+ years since then, Ms. Herer has traveled the world and worked with some of the largest retail sales groups as a photographer and fine art printer. Her vivid portrayals of botanical specimens have landed her collaborations with Anthropologie, IKEA, Land of Nod, and Restoration Hardware and her photo appeared on iPhone billboards from Monterrey, Mexico to Mumbai and Bangalore in India to New York. She has conducted more than a dozen photography workshops and has been a featured speaker at conferences throughout the world.

More recently she has worked closer to home. In her community of Yarmouth, Maine, and along with two other local women, their guided journal, Take Two: A Journal for New Beginnings, was published by Chronicle Books in 2021, and debuted in the latest issue of Stanford Magazine. Ms. Herer has photographed for renowned businesses like Maine Health, nonprofits like The Dempsey Center and The Harold Alfond Foundation, and celebrated local restaurants like Duckfat and Maine Craft Distilling.

ERIKA LARSEN

Erika Larsen is a multidisciplinary storyteller who works in photography, writing and video. Her curiosity lies in our ability to communicate the natural world. Her monograph, Sami-Walking with Reindeer is a reflection of her time living in the Scandinavian Arctic. Ms. Larsen was a 2017 Fellow with National Geographic Society for her ongoing project exploring how communities that maintain close ties to nature communicate this relationship through ritual. 

Fill out the form below to be alerted to future workshops and events with Erika Larsen.

Russell Lord

Russell Lord is a photography historian, writer, and the Freeman Family Curator of Photographs at the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA). Mr. Lord’s curatorial career spans two decades, with work experience in five museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Yale University Art Gallery. His deepest area of expertise is the origins of photography, but Mr. Lord has written and lectured widely on almost every moment in the history of photography. He has written or edited more than a dozen publications, including “Looking Again: Photography at the New Orleans Museum of Art” (2018), and “Gordon Parks: The Making of an Argument” (2013). His recent exhibitions include: “Photography, Sequence, and Time” (2012-13); “Ten Years Gone” (2015); and “Something in the Way: A Brief History of Photography and Obstruction” (2016-2017). Mr.Lord has also taught undergraduate and graduate courses, and served as guest lecturer in universities across the country. Much of his research focuses on the relationships between photography and other visual media. 

Gerd Ludwig

Born in Alsfeld, Germany, Gerd Ludwig studied Photography at the Folkwang University of the Arts (Folkwangschule) in Essen, Germany, and graduated in 1974. That year he co-founded VISUM, Germany’s first photographer-owned agency, and began working for publications such as Geo, Stern, Spiegel, Fortune, Time, and Life. In 1984 he re-located to New York, and signed on as a contract photographer for National Geographic Magazine in the early 1990s. His focus on environmental issues and the socio-economic changes following the dissolution of the Soviet Bloc resulted in his book and exhibit, Broken Empire: After the Fall of the USSR, a ten-year retrospective published by National Geographic. His ongoing coverage of post Soviet Russia has garnered his distinction as being the world’s foremost color photographer documenting the region. His ongoing work after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster resulted in the publication of the trilingual Long Shadow of Chernobyl photo book, named the 2015 POYi Photo Book of the Year. This was followed in 2016 by minus 2/3, a book about flash technique, published in English, German, Italian and Chinese and in 2017 by his monograph Sleeping Cars (Lammerhuber), a personal examination of resting cars in Los Angeles.

Now based in Los Angeles, Mr. Ludwig continues his work for National Geographic Magazine, photographs personal projects, lectures at universities, teaches photographic workshops, and exhibits his photographs in galleries and museums around the world. He is the recipient of the 2006 Lucie Award for International Photographer of the Year and the 2014 Dr. Erich-Salomon Award, the highest lifetime achievement award in editorial photography in Germany. In 2015, he was the first German individual to receive the prestigious Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism from the Missouri School of Journalism.

Learn more about Gerd Ludwig’s online workshop “The Art of Storytelling,” and add your name to an interest list for a future class with Gerd Ludwig.

arthur meyerson

Arthur Meyerson is recognized as one of America's finest color photographers. Since 1974, this native Texan has traveled throughout the world creating award winning advertising, corporate and editorial photographs, as well as an extensive body of fine art imagery. Adweek magazine named him Southwest Photographer of the Year on three separate occasions and American Photo Magazine selected him as one of the leading photographers in advertising. 

His awards are numerous including gold medals from the New York Art Directors Club, the Art Directors Club of Houston, the Dallas Society of Visual Communications and the prestigious Stephen Kelly Award for his work on the Nike advertising campaign. He was selected by Nikon to their illustrious Legends Behind the Lens list and was honored by the Houston Advertising Federation as the inaugural recipient of the Only In Houston award for individuals “whose creativity and passion for his art have brought recognition to the city of Houston.” In 2008, the Houston Decorative Center named him as the first recipient of photography in their annual Stars Of Design celebration. 

Besides his commercial work, Mr. Meyerson’s fascination with light, color and the moment continues and has culminated into an impressive body of personal work. His photographs are in the public collections of several major institutions and have been exhibited internationally. He and his work have been profiled in many publications including Communication Arts, Rangefinder, Camera Arts, Graphis, Digital Photo Pro, Zoom (France), Portfolio, Idea (Japan), Novum (Germany), Photo world (China), and Fotodigital (Portugal). 

In 2012 his highly acclaimed book, The Color of Light was published and followed up in 2017 by his photographic autobiography, The Journey. A photographer with a strong commitment to his profession, Mr. Meyerson teaches photography workshops and participates in speaking engagements throughout the U.S. and abroad. 

See the links below to learn about Arthur’s online offerings:

kit nagamura

Kit Nagamura took her B.A. with honors at Brown University, and first visited Japan on a Samuel T. Arnold fellowship, offered through the generosity of IBM’s Thomas J. Watson, Jr. She returned to the U.S. for her Master’s at University of Michigan, where she won a Major Hopwood Award for fiction, then received a Ph.D. with honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she also won the Marion Reilly Award for Teaching Excellence. Despite all this, she cannot seem to match socks coming out of the dryer, drive a car on the left side of the road, or bake a cake, so don’t be intimidated.

In Tokyo, Nagamura works as a poet, photographer, and travel expert, and is a member of the Haiku International Association, and the Ginza Poetry Society. She has won awards of excellence from the Ito-en Oi Ocha Haiku Contest, the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, and the Setouchi Matsuyama Haiku Contest, among others. She gives lectures and seminars on haiku across Japan and in the U.S., serves as a judge for international haiku contests, and her most recent book is titled Grit, Grace, and Gold (available through Penguin Random House, or through Amazon.com).

Learn more about Kit’s online class “Synchronistic Seeing: How to Tap into the Harmony of Haiku and Photography”.

xuan-hui ng

Xuan-Hui Ng is from Singapore and currently lives in Japan. Her work is represented by Foto Relevance Gallery in Houston, Texas. Her debut solo show, “Interludes”, took place in 2021. Her next solo exhibition, “Transcendence: Awakening the Soul”, is now showing at the Griffin Museum of Photography.

She is a Critical Mass Finalist, in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Her work has been juried into exhibitions at the Davis Orton Gallery, Southeast Center for Photography, Texas Photographic Society, New York Center for Photographic Art, and Fotonostrum’s 17th and 18th Pollux Awards. She is the winner of both series and single images in the Nature category at the 20th Julia Margaret Cameron Award. She has been an artist lecturer at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Nobechi Creative, Artquest Photo Workshops and various camera clubs. Publications of her work have been featured in What Will You Remember?, fotoMAGAZIN, PetaPixel, ON landscape, forum naturfotografie, Dodho Magazine, CURIOUS Photoblog, Float Magazine, Feature Shoot and Popular Photography (大众摄影）.

In 2022, she was recently interviewed by BBC World Service’s Cultural Frontline on “Creativity and Mental Health”. She is a regular contributor to ELEMENTS landscape photography magazine and an instructor for Santa Fe Workshops.

Learn more about Xuan-Hui Ng’s upcoming in-person workshop in Japan, in collaboration with Nobechi Creative, by clicking on the link below.

george nobechi

George Nobechi is a Japanese/Canadian photographer born in Tokyo, Japan, who graduated from the University of British Columbia with an Honours B.A. in History with International Relations. He is the Creative Director for Nobechi Creative and for the Karuizawa Foto Fest (kff).

Prior to finding his calling in photography in 2014 through the mentorship of Sam Abell, Kate Breakey, Brett Erickson, Arthur Meyerson and others, he was an equity trader and manager for several major financial institutions. He is best known for his quiet depictions of landscapes and the people who live in them, as seen from his perspective of being simultaneously an insider and outsider in Japan and in the West. His work has been exhibited in solo shows in Italy, Germany, New York, Johnson City, Lincoln, Hastings, Detroit, Buenos Aires and Tokyo.

Nobechi is also a multiple-time recipient of the coveted Critical Mass Top 50 Award, among over 30 international awards and accolades. His work has been published in magazines such as PDN, Huffington Post, Newsweek, Asahi Camera, Dodho, and he continues a monthly series “100 Views of Aquaria” in the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper.

In 2020~2021 Nobechi created Evenings with the Masters: Inspiration from Photographers as a response to the pandemic, hosting over 35 episodes with world-famous photographers and raising $70,000 for charity in the process.

Nobechi now resides in Karuizawa in the mountains of Central Japan, where he is the Creative Director for Karuizawa Foto Fest, a new photo festival to start in 2023. He is represented by Patricia Conde Galeria in Mexico City and The Webster Collection in Santa Fe, NM.

George will be producer and fellow photography instructor for stars such as Nevada Wier, Michael Clark, Arthur Meyerson, Sam Abell and more on workshops in Japan in the coming months. He also teaches the highly regarded series: “Sunday Night is Photo Night” - an online series of classes, as well as one-on-one sessions covering subjects such as Lightroom, editing, photography, career consulting and more. He is also the Japanese language webinar instructor for DxO Labs and is an expert in their software.

Learn more about George’s online workshops “Japanese Sensibility in Photographic Practice - Module I, and Module II”.

Ibarionex perello

Ibarionex Perello is a photographer, writer and educator with over 25 years of experience in the photographic industry. For the last 13 years, he has also been the host of the top-rated podcast The Candid Frame which features conversations with the world’s best established and emerging photographers. Mr. Perello’s photographs and articles have appeared in numerous magazines including Outdoor Photographer, Digital Photo Pro, Shutterbug, Rangefinder and Popular Photography. He is the author of six books including Chasing the Light: Improving Your Photography with Available Light. His latest book is Making Photographs: Developing a Personal Visual Workflow. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and their dog, Zooey. 

Join Ibarionex Perello in Tokyo for “Explorations in the Metropolis” in December 2024:

jeff phillips

Jeff Phillips is a photographic artist, zinemaker, and consultant working and living in Chicago. He is interested in finding ways to blend traditional photographic processes with contemporary and experimental methods of presentation. 

Mr. Phillips serves on the boards of Filter Photo, New Orleans Photo Alliance, and is a resident artist for CPS Lives, working on a multi-year project documenting the lives of students in the Chicago Public Schools system. 

He has lectured about photography and zinemaking at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College Chicago, Los Angeles Center of Photography, Santa Fe Workshops, South by Southwest (SXSW), Society for Photographic Education (SPE), American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), Filter Photo Festival, PhotoNOLA Festival, PechaKucha in Chicago and at Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.

Mr. Phillips taught “The Comprehensive Photozine Workshop” Dec 6 & 13 2020, a PhotoNOLA-Nobechi Creative co-production.

Aline smithson

Aline Smithson is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, editor, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles, California. Her practice examines the archetypal foundations of the creative impulse, and she uses humor and pathos to explore the performative potential of photography. She received a BA in Art from the University of California at Santa Barbara and was accepted into the College of Creative Studies, studying under artists such as William Wegman, Allen Rupersburg, and Charles Garabedian. After a career as a New York Fashion Editor, working alongside some of the greats of fashion photography, Smithson returned to Los Angeles and her own artistic practice.

She has exhibited widely, including over 40 solo shows at institutions such as the Griffin Museum of Photography, the Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art, the Shanghai, Lishui, and Pingyqo Festivals in China, The Rayko Photo Center in San Francisco, the Center of Fine Art Photography in Colorado, the Tagomago Gallery in Barcelona and Paris, and the Arnika Dawkins Gallery in Atlanta. In addition, her work is held in a number of public collections, and her photographs have been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, PDN (cover), the PDN Photo Annual, Communication Arts Photo Annual, Harper’s, Eyemazing, Medium Format Visura, Shots, Pozytyw, and Silvershotz magazines.

Smithson is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Lenscratch, a daily journal on photography. She has been an educator at the Los Angeles Center of Photography since 2001. Her teaching spans the globe. In 2012, Smithson received the Rising Star Award through the Griffin Museum of Photography for her contributions to the photographic community and also received the prestigious Excellence in Teaching Award from CENTER. In 2022, the Lucie Foundation nominated her for Photo Educator of the Year. In 2014 and 2019, Smithson’s work was selected for the Critical Mass Top 50.

In 2015, the Magenta Foundation published her first significant monograph, Self & Others: Portrait as Autobiography. In 2016, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum commissioned Smithson for a series of portraits for the Faces of Our Planet Exhibition. In 2018 and 2019, her work was selected as a finalist in the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize and exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London. In 2019, Kris Graves Projects commissioned her to create the book LOST II: Los Angeles, which is now sold out. Peanut Press Publishing released her monograph, Fugue State, in the fall of 2021, also sold out. Her books are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Getty Museum, the Los Angeles Contemporary Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Metropolitan Museum, the Guggenheim, among others. In 2022, Smithson was honored as a Hassleblad Heroine. With the exception of her cell phone, she only shoots film.

To learn more about online and in-person programs with Aline and be informed about new ones, click the link below and fill out the form.

Eddie Soloway

Eddie Soloway is a photographer, teacher, and storyteller committed to opening our eyes to the natural world. He has taught photography and creativity for leading photographic institutions and schools around the world, and was a popular speaker in National Geographic Traveler’s photography seminars.

The Santa Fe Center for Photographic Arts (now CENTER) awarded Eddie the Excellence in Photographic Teaching Award, and Photo District News named Eddie one of America’s best photography workshop teachers. His focus on seeing brings a breath of fresh air to the workshop world. Eddie is the author of the book, One Thousand Moons, instructional videos in the Natural Eye and Expressive Landscape series, and SEE THINK DO Photo Cards. Eddie’s photography may be seen at http://www.eddiesoloway.com.

Eddie taught an online webinar series “The Thoughtful Traveler” with Nevada Wier. Read more about his class and fill out the form to be notified when we run it again.

Mary Virginia Swanson

Mary Virginia Swanson is an author, educator and advisor who helps artists find the strength in their work, identify appreciative audiences, and present their work in an informed, professional manner.  Unique among authorities in our field, Ms. Swanson’s in-depth knowledge, professional reputation and connections throughout our industry offers a broad range of perspectives on both the making and marketing of photo-based work.  She stays current on industry research practices in order to share her advice on social media with artists.  

Ms. Swanson co-authored with Darius Himes the acclaimed “Publish Your Photography Book: Revised & Updated” (Princeton Architectural Press, 2014) and continues to stay current on the growing market for photobooks, reflecting both the relative ease of self-publishing and the rise of the collectible photographic artists book.  Ms. Swanson is based in Tucson, Arizona; her website is www.mvswanson.com  and she can be found on Instagram @maryvirginiaswanson

Mary Virginia Swanson taught SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES for ARTISTS: Being followed, Being FOUND, a PhotoNOLA-Nobechi Creative co-production

Masumi Takahashi

Takahashi-sensei was born in Yubari, Hokkaido in 1959. He graduated from Sapporo University in 1982 with a degree in business management. In 1990, he published his first photography book “North Land Image” and in 1995, he opened North Land Gallery in Kamifurano, Hokkaido, where he lives. He has been photographing for over 43 years, has published over 70 photography books and is currently a Sony ambassador. Prior to that, he was an ambassador for Pentax, Panasonic, and Fujifilm.

He is a photographer who’s constantly reinventing himself. He was photographing diamond dust before other photographers in the region learnt about this phenomenon. When people started photographing diamond dust in droves, he broke new ground by pursuing other natural phenomena such as iridescent clouds, and rainbows on ice. He appeared in Asahi TV’s “Earth’s Miracles” program in a 2014 special about the Hokkaido town of Biei to speak about his 1997 discovery of Shirogane Blue Pond. Shirogane Blue Pond has since become one of the area’s key tourist attractions.

Learn more about Masumi’s upcoming in-person workshop in Japan, in collaboration with Nobechi Creative, by clicking on the link below.

Amber Terranova

Amber Terranova is an experienced NY-based photo director, educator and visual producer. She is the Education Director for Magnum Photos and a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts. Ms.Terranova has extensive marketing, photo directing, commissioning and consultancy experience for multiple major brands and publications around the world. 

She has worked as a photo editor at People Magazine, Time Home Entertainment, The New Yorker, and from 2008 to 2012 she held the position of Photo Editor for Photo District News (PDN), the leading magazine for professional photographers. Previously, she held positions at New York Magazine and Outside magazine. In 2013 Ms.Terranova was the interim Director at the Bilder Nordic School of Photography.

Ms.Terranova is committed to photography education and to helping photographers realize their creative and career potential. She has taught photography workshops in the US, Europe, Asia and has been a guest lecturer at several institutions. In addition, she has judged a number of international photo competitions, including the Kuala Lumpur Photo Awards, Review Santa Fe, Photolucida’s Critical Mass, International Photography Awards, Fotovisura, the Tierney Fellowship, Julia Margaret Cameron Award, among others. Amber is an advisory council board member for CENTER, a non-profit that honors, supports, and provides opportunities to gifted and committed photographers

See the links below to learn about Amber’s online offerings:

Laura Valenti

Laura Valenti is a photographer and curator who helps people hone their vision, deepen their relationship with their craft, and create meaningful images they love.

With over 20 years of experience in the art world, Laura has been involved in a variety of roles. She teaches interactive e-courses, supports emerging photographers through her creative mentoring program, speaks to photo groups, and curates exhibitions for galleries and photo festivals globally. She also juries photo competitions and serves as a reviewer at national and international portfolio review events, where she helps photographers fine-tune their vision and promote their work with confidence.

The Light Atlas courses, created by Laura, are designed to help photographers clear creative blocks and bring forward their most skillful, authentic, and wholehearted work. Each offering goes beyond the mechanics, diving into the heart of making the creative process brilliantly and joyfully alive.

To learn more about programs in Japan with Laura, click the link below.

Nevada Wier

Nevada Wier is a multiple award-winning photographer specializing in documenting the remote corners and cultures of the world. She is recognized for her creative and intimate approach to people. She has been published in numerous national and international publications, including: National Geographic, Geo, National Geographic Traveler, Islands, Outdoor Photographer, Outside, and Smithsonian. National Geographic Images represents her stock photography.

Her fine-art prints are featured in numerous public and private collections and is represented by the Obscura Gallery, Santa Fe, NM. Nevada is a well-known keynote speaker, workshop and seminar instructor. Photo District News named Nevada one of America's best photography workshop teachers. She is a Fellow of The Explorer’s Club and a member of the Women’s Geographic Society.

Nevada teaches her renowned webinar series “Introduction to Color Infrared Photography” with us. Read more about this webinar at the link below.

Tyler Wirken

Tyler Wirken is a documentary photographer and educator in Kansas City, Chicago, and St. Louis. He is known for his unposed, real-life approach to photography. His signature vision allows him to create photographs from across genres such as weddings, commercial work, family portaiture, and more that truly lend themselves to real life.

Voted one of the Top Ten Wedding Photographers in the World, by American Photo Magazine, Mr. Wirken has achieved his success while drawing on his background as a newspaper photojournalist. That training and experience taught him to be patient and ready for the moment, to embrace adversity rather than fear it, and to problem-solve on the fly. Thus no matter the setting or subject, Mr. Wirken captures authentic and candid moments. Mr. Wirken has lectured at conferences such as Photo Elite in Brazil and Nine Dots in the United Kingdom. He has also taught for organizations such as Foundations Workshops in Valencia, Spain and Creative Live in Seattle, Washington.

Martha Zlatar

Martha has advised emerging and mid-career visual artists on realizing their artistic goals for the last 19 years. She coaches on clarity of vision, relationship with money, embracing the business owner within, time management, unleashing your creativity and many other issues relevant to artists and art entrepreneurs. Martha’s passion for psychology, business and the arts led her to launch ArtMatch, an art business and creativity coaching practice that supports creatives on becoming more “business savvy” and “professionals” on becoming more “creative”. Her 31 years of diverse business experience took her to the worlds of Market Research, International Business, Event Management & Promotion, Training and Meeting Facilitation and Art Business Consulting (New York City, Brussels, New Orleans and San Francisco). Aside from running her private practice, she was also a Consultant for the Small Business Development Center in San Francisco and Oakland. Martha also lectures on Selling Your Art, Pricing Your Art, Marketing Alternatives for Your Art and co-facilitates The Artists Way creativity workshops. Her eclectic background brings a fresh and new perspective to the art business world and the Arts Community. She is originally from Colombia, has a degree in Marketing, an MBA, and is fluent in Spanish and French. Though she enjoys photography, collaging, improv acting, dancing and drawing with tea and ink, her true passion still remains “personal transformation” and inspiring that in others.