Rome is a city with a story, or rather with millennia of stories, and through photography, we will concentrate on learning to tell a story of Rome – your story of Rome – with images.
It’s a city that sees hundreds of thousands of tourists a year who make millions of photographs of some of the most famous sites in the world. The grand and amazing fountains, the Baroque churches, the riotous markets, the bridges over the Tiber, the beautiful Roman people… everything falls under the stare of the camera.
Our goal is to figure out how to make our own images and how to take those images and create a story that gives us our own sense of what it is that Rome means to each of us.
In the field, we’ll spend time trying to find unique ways of seeing iconic sights as well as finding subject matter that is well off the beaten track. Back at the hotel, we will edit your take, working on shot selection, sequence and series to help you tell your own story of Rome. We will work with digital photographic equipment for its remarkable speed of feedback and response, combining daily photographic experiences with real-time editing and critiquing of images.
Before we depart Rome, you will have produced a group of your own images designed to tell a story that is yours and yours alone; your response to one of the greatest cities in the world.
We’ll be based in the centro storico, the historical center. Our accommodations at the Albergo Cesári are ideally located between the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain; it’s a “walk to” location for so many sites (including Giolitti, one of Rome’s premier gelaterie) you’ll want to photograph. The hotel also has a great rooftop terrace where you can relax in the evening.
Because we will work with digital photographic equipment, we’ll be counting on its rapid feedback and we will be able to critique our images individually and via digital projection as a group. I will work with you as you edit your downloaded images to help you develop your story. Because the group will be shooting together and editing together, you will learn a lot from your fellow students as well.
I have limited this experience to a maximum of 12 photographers in order to ensure the best level of personal instructional attention. This is an intermediate-level photographic experience; you should have at least three years experience making photographs, have a basic understanding of photographic processes and technology and should be comfortable using a digital SLR camera in manual mode. Non-photographer companions are welcome and warmly invited to attend.
In Search of the Personal – Photographing Southern Tuscany
Saturday, June 5 to Saturday, June 12, 2010
How do photographers develop a personal style? When – and how – can a photographer begin to establish a direction in his or her work? Perhaps most importantly, what makes a photograph become a “personal” statement?
We will work though a variety of strategies to help us tap into that creative part of our photographic selves. Through lots of image making, a blend of formal and field instruction and plenty of time for discussion and critique, we will work to uncover themes and lines of vision that may not have been previously evident to you.
And we’ll do it in Tuscany!
There are few places on earth like Tuscany. Its landscape is the landscape painted by the great artists of the Renaissance. Its architecture is known for its sense of proportion, beauty and attention to minute detail. Its people are distinctive, friendly and resilient. Its food presents simple flavors with extraordinary precision and grace. Its light is soft, enveloping and revealing. This experience will allow you to experience Tuscany’s remarkable culture, people, landscape and hill towns and work towards a personal photographic response to the Tuscan sense of place. I will push you to go beyond the picturesque and help you discover your own response to the texture, rhythm and spirit of Tuscany.
We will divide our photographic time between rural and urban locations and everything in between. There will be big towns that hustle and bustle and villages so small that fewer than two dozen people reside there and time has stood still. We’ll photograph churches set in remote landscapes and cathedrals perched on the highest point of the hilltop towns. Twisting roads lined with cypress, endless fields dotted with the colors of spring wildflowers and gems of architecture will spread out before our cameras. You will meet – and photograph – Tuscan artisans who make wine, cheese and olive oil. You will learn about Tuscan art, culture and history. Some mornings, we’ll be up early to catch morning light; some evenings, dinner will wait while we catch the last rays of the sun. Our driver will get us to the right places at the right time for the right light.
Because we will work with digital photographic equipment, we’ll be counting on its rapid feedback and we will be able to critique our images individually and via digital projection as a group. I will work with you as you edit your downloaded images to help you find your own personal sense of the places we’ll explore. Because the group will be shooting together and editing together, you will learn a lot from your fellow students as well.
I have limited this experience to a maximum of 12 photographers in order to ensure the best level of personal instructional attention. This is an intermediate-level photographic experience; you should have at least three years experience making photographs, have a basic understanding of photographic processes and technology and should be comfortable using a digital SLR camera in manual mode. Non-photographer companions are welcome and warmly invited to attend.
In Search of the Personal – Photographing Southern Tuscany
Saturday, June 5 to Saturday, June 12, 2010
General Daily Itinerary
The bridge to Civitá di Bagnoreggio
Day 1/Day 4 Saturday, June 5 MEET IN ROME, TRANSFER TO SOUTHERN TUSCANY
We will meet in the lobby of the hotel at (8:00) and transfer to Pienza, our base for the week. On the way to the property, we will stop in Civita (Drive is 84 km, will take about 1 hour, 50 minutes. Civita di Bagnoregio (now two towns due to erosion), one of the most impressive sights in the area. Dated back to the Etruscan period and partially rebuilt it in the medieval period, it is a little town where just 30 people live, with no cars or supermarkets. It requires a bit of a hike on foot, but it’s worth it. Stoll, explore, and photograph the town for a couple of hours. We’ll then stop for lunch before we continue on to Pienza.
Then we’ll move on to our base for the week, Il Chiostro di Pienza, where you’ll settle in and explore the grounds. If you’d like, have a glass of wine before dinner as we get to know one another. We’ll then enjoy a traditional Tuscan dinner, prepared for us at the hotel, review the program, and prepare for our first full day tomorrow.
Small group field instruction with Jeff:
Pienza
Group A: 10:30 to 12:30.
Day 2/ Day 5 Sunday, June 6
Meet for breakfast. We’ll then depart at 8:30 for a combination of visits to some or all of these these charming places
(depending on time). San Quirico d’Orcia surprises at every turn of its medieval streets: stone archways, Gothic churches, the Romanesque-Gothic Collegiata and the Horti Leonini, a superb example of the Italian garden. The enormous garden opens into a wide perspective flight, the effect of which is helped by the perfectly geometrical beds of box hedge. Bagno Vignoni is famous for its thermal baths. It was popular with the Romans (and probably the Etruscans) and rose to prominence again during the Middle Ages because of the proximity of the Via Francigena, the north-south pilgrimage route through the Italian peninsula. The ancient square pool
Castiglione d'Orci
at the center of the town is no longer in public use, but the scene is extremely attractive, with old stone buildings surrounding the pool on all sides.
Castiglione d’Orcia there are marvelous views from the Rocca (castle) over the Val d’Orcia. We’ll also stop in Murlo, an ancient Etrucscan gated village. We’ll then head back to Pienza at about 3:00, where you can download images and relax a bit.
Before dinner, enjoy an extremely interesting
talk by Maria Elena Torchio, an expert in all things Sienese. This will help set the stage for our day in Siena tomorrow. We’ll then enjoy dinner together in Pienza.
Small group field instruction with Jeff
Group B 9:00- 11:00
Group C 11:15-1:15 or so
Day 3/Day 6 Monday, June 7
Siena, Tuscany
After an early breakfast, we will proceed to Siena, often referred to as Italy’s most
beautiful hill town, with its enormous scalloped-shaped Campo, its marble black and white striped Duomo facade, and its
superior placement on three ridges, offering beautiful vistas over this medieval city. You’ll break for lunch on your own, followed by more photography or time to explore the city independently; the choice is yours. We’ll return to Il Chiostro at about 3:30, where we will download, edit, and critique images.
Tonight dinner will be at Il Rossellino, a very
small and wonderful place in the center of Pienza.
The Proprietors of Il Rossellino
Group A 9:30-11:30
Group B 12:00-2:00
Day 4/Day 7 Tuesday, June 8
We’ll begin the day with a very early breakfast and departure in order to make the most of the unique properties of the early-morning light. After 40 minutes or so, we will arrive at the gorgeous Abbazia diSant’Antimo, situated in magnificent solitude. One of the most beautiful Romanesque structures in Italy, Sant’Antimo provides endless photographic opportunities, both outside and inside (photography not allowed during services). If we are lucky, we’ll be able to hear the monks chanting, which occurs seven times per day.
Next, we will proceed to the town of Montalcino, a very well-heeled town, famous as the birthplace of the excellent Brunello di Montalcino wine, made entirely of the Sangiovese grape. You’ll have time on your own to explore; perhaps you would enjoy a visit the 14th-century fortezza, and drop in to the Enoteca la Fortezza wine-tasting shop which is located under the fort. After time photographing there, we will then proceed to Castello Banfi for wine tasting and lunch at their excellent taverna.
Group C 7:30-9:00
Group A Montalcino visit
After a wonderful lunch, and maybe a nap on the bus, we’ll be back at the hotel for images/critiquing.
Ernello, Pecorino Cheese Maker
Day 5/Day 8 Wednesday, June 9
Breakfast followed by a later departure from the villa (about 10:00). We will proceed to one of the highest hilltowns, Montepulciano. There are dozens of Renaissance palazzi and churches, odd-shaped squares and corners, and, of course, a Duomo to photograph. There are plenty of opportunities for tasting the famous Vino Nobile di Montepulciano at local cantinas as well. After we finish our time here, we will head into the countryside to visit Ernello, a pecorino cheese producer and learn about cheese production, followed by a light lunch consisting of pecorino cheese, salami, salads, bruschetta made with Ernello’s extra virgin olive oil.
From here, we will venture to the beautiful estate of La Foce, for a tour of the gardens in the late afternoon/early evening. Dinner on the road, perhaps in Monticchiello, then back to Pienza.
Group B Montepulciano visit
Group C La Foce visit
Orvieto, Umbria
Day 6/Day 9 Thursday, June 10
Enjoy a day trip to the city of Orvieto, located in southwest Umbria. This majestic hill top town is dramatically situated on a plateau of tufa, volcanic rock. The city center is free of car traffic, which greatly adds to its appeal. Orvieto possesses a magnificent cathedral with endless photographic opportunities; it is a masterpiece of gothic architecture with its multi-colored marble inlays and dazzling mosaics. A unique series of man-made underground passages form almost another city beneath Orvieto. An intricate labyrinth of tunnels, galleries, cisterns, wells, quarries and cellars made it possible to preserve both solid and liquid provisions, including wine, which was vital to the survival of a hilltop settlement.
Group A 1 hour
Group B 1 hour
Group C 1 hour
Some of the staff at Il Chiostro, our home in Pienza
After this, return to Il Chiostro to download images and critique our work. We’ll have dinner in Pienza later this evening.
Day 7/Day 10 Friday, June 11
We’ll focus on our work at the Chiostro today. Free morning to do as you’d like. After lunch on your own in town, download and edit images, and receive instruction in creating an audio slideshow of your thirty best images from the week. Final critique and dinner at the hotel.
Day 8/Day 11 Saturday, June 12
After saying our final goodbyes, we’ll depart for Rome after an early breakfast. We’ll either take you to Fiumicino Airport or to the city, depending on your plans.
Arrive and check in at our hotel, the 3-star Albergo Cesári, ideally located in the centro storico, within walking distance to many important sites (one of those being Jeff’s favorite gelateria, Giolitti). In the early evening, we will meet for a beverage on the hotel’s rooftop terrace as we discuss the three upcoming days. If you’d like, have a glass of wine before dinner as we get to know one another. While we relax and enjoy the evening, Jeff will cover some of the basic ideas and concepts for our time together, looking at the issues of framing and composition, but most importantly, conceptualizing the sort of photographs you’ll make. As you begin to explore Rome, start to think about what interests you. Is it the antiquity? The people? The way the culture embraces food? What about the amazing mix of religious and secular architecture? Take this time to being thinking about how the photographs you make will tell the story you have in your head. We’ll also talk a bit about the editing process we’ll use and give you a bit of assistance in taming the number of images that you’ll need to consider for your story of Rome.
We’ll enjoy dinner Hostaria Romana, a restaurant with typically wonderful
Trastevere, Rome
Roman cooking. It’s just a short walk from the hotel. They have a terrific antipasti selection, so you’ll be able to try out many Roman specialties. This restaurant has quite a history, including its role as a stronghold against the Nazis during WWII.
Day 1 Wednesday, June 2
“Chi dorme non piglia pesci,” (translation: “Those who sleep don’t catch any fish”).
We’ll meet at 6:30 and get some glimpses of city as it comes alive, which will
Roman Artichokes
provide a terrific kickoff to your story. Our walk will take us past the
Pantheon, the magnificent ancient temple dating from 125 A.D., and Largo Argentina, where Caesar met his assassins, Brutus and Company. We’ll then take a little detour to visit the colorful Campo di Fiori market, and cross the Ponte Sisto, the elegant Renaissance bridge leading to Trastevere. The area of Trastevere is ideal for a walk through narrow streets, squares and colors that still maintain an authentically Roman character and offers a pleasant contrast with the solemn splendor seen at
the Vatican and the Baroque riots in other places throughout the city. In
Roman Priests
antiquity Trastevere – “beyond the Tiber” – was the first district established on the right bank of the Tiber and was
inhabited by artisans, fishermen, merchants and communities of foreigners, connected with the activities of the nearby port.
Sites that should not be missed include the ancient Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, with the 13th century mosaics by Pietro Cavallini, and of Santa Cecilia, with the touching statue of Cecilia herself, patron saint of music, by Stefano Maderno. To find the magnificence of the Renaissance even in Trastevere, the ideal place is the Villa Farnesina, the suburban villa of wealthy banker Agostino Chigi, containing frescoes by Raphael, Baldassarre Peruzzi and Sebastiano del Piombo.
During the afternoon, you’ll attend an instructional session with Jeff where you’ll learn the basics of using Adobe’s
Lightroom software. This software will be a huge help to you in terms of evaluating and sorting through each
Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome
day’s shoot in order to find your best images. You will not only learn the “how to” of Lightroom, but also how having a
greatimage browser and editor at your fingertips gives you creative control.
We’ll enjoy dinner at Pizzeria Montecarlo. A casual place located near Piazza Navona, it offers great pizza and great wines in a fun, noisy atmosphere. A favorite of locals and tourists alike; in fact, Romans voted it as their favorite pizzeria in 2008 and 2009. Montecarlo is a special little place full of Roman spirit, poetry and theatre.
Small group field instruction with Jeff:
GROUP B 8:30 – 10:30
GROUP C 11:00 – 1:00
Day 2 Thursday, June 3
A Roman Waiter
We’ll start off today by walking to the heart of ancient Rome, following the Via Fora Imperiale, until we reach
our destinations, the Coliseum and Roman Forum, where we will enter with reserved admission at 8:30 a.m., the earliest
admission allowed. In addition to these areas, your entry allows you into the Palatine Hill area as well. In this zone, there are so many others areas to explore. To name just a few:
Baths of Caracalla, an enormous bathing complex, very well preserved, with many mosaics still partially intact.
Imperial Fora, which contain the Forum of Caesar, Forum of Trajan, among others.
Trajan’s Market, thought to be the first shopping mall
Capitoline Hill designed by Michelangelo, from whose balcony one can view the Roman Forum
Santa Maria in Cosmedin, containing the Boca della Veritá and important medieval art
Santa Maria in Campitelli designed in the late Baroque style
The Pantheon at Night
San Giovanni in Laterano, one of the major basilicas of Rome and considered to be the Pope’s parish church
Santa Maria Maggiore, another of the five major basilicas, which has a wonderful Byzantine interior.
We’ll escape the heat of midday and spend time working on editing the images you’ve made thus far. Jeff will work individually with you, helping you edit, sort and group your images to begin to create your story. (2:00-6:00)
Enjoy dinner on your own tonight, which will allow you to have more free time to photograph at this time of day and into the evening, or just soak in Rome’s atmosphere. We’ll be sure to provide you with a list of some of our favorite places to either grab a quick bite or enjoy a longer, leisurely experience.
Ponte Sant' Angelo (The Angel Bridge), Rome
Small group field instruction with Jeff:
GROUP A 8:30-10:30
GROUP B 11:00-1:00
Day 3 Friday, June 4
Feel free to get up and photograph as early as you’d like. At 8:30, we’ll meet at
typically consists of a quick stop for a shot or two of caffé (espresso) and a cornetto. Today we’re heading to the centro storico, the historic center. We plan to be at the
Pantheon at opening time: 8:30 a.m. Other highlights in this area include
Waiter, Il Buco, Roma
Piazza Navona, also referred to as Diocletian’s Stadium, used for allsorts of contests in ancient times;
Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza by Borromini, one of the most architecturally unique churches in the city;
Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, the only Gothic church in Rome. It contains (most of) the remains of St. Catherine ofSiena and its exterior is grace by one of Bernini’s most famous works.
Sant’Ignazio and Piazza Sant’Ignazio, the base of theJesuits and the Counter-Reformation
Via Giulia, home to many lovely antique shops, exclusive apartments, and a graceful archway draped with vines, designed by Michelangelo.
Campo dei Fiori, the lively fruit and vegetable market during the day
Palazzo Farnese, designed by Michelangelo and now the French Embassy
Small group field instruction with Jeff:
GROUP C in the early a.m., 8:30-10:30
GROUP A in the late a.m. 11:00-1:00
We’ll spend the heat of the day preparing a final edit of our work, culling out
the best of the best images in an effort to tell your story of Rome.
Dinner at Il Buco Ristorante Toscano, one of Jeff’s
favorite places in all of Italy, to celebrate your stories of Rome.
Rome is a city with a story, or rather with millennia of stories, and through photography, we will concentrate on learning to tell a story of Rome – your story of Rome – with images.
well as finding subject matter that is well off the beaten track. Back at the hotel, we will edit your take, working on shot selection, sequence and series to help you tell your own story of Rome. We will work with digital photographic equipment for its remarkable speed of feedback and response, combining daily photographic experiences with real-time editing and critiquing of images.
Because we will work with digital photographic equipment, we’ll be counting on its rapid feedback and we will be able to critique our images individually and via digital projection as a group. I will work with you as you edit your downloaded images to help you develop your story. Because the group will be shooting together and editing together, you will learn a lot from your fellow students as well.
