Environmental Portraits Class at PNCA

Travel Writer Rolf Potts

This February and March, I'll be teaching my popular course The Environmental Portrait at Pacific NW College of Art. I love shooting Portland location portraits, and enjoy teaching others how to do it well. Here's the class description:

The Environmental Portrait places a person in the context of their natural surroundings, and communicates more about them than is possible in a studio or simple headshot. Photographers use environmental portraiture to document figures in popular culture (Annie Liebowitz), make social commentary and documentary (Dorothea Lange), and more. In this class we will look at master location portrait photographers; review and critique each others work; and discuss how location portraits say much about the subject, as well as their social and political context in which they live. We will be working with models, available and artificial lighting, composition, camera and media choices, output and presentation. Both film and digital are welcome. The class will culminate with a portrait series as a final project.

You can read more, and sign up, at the Continuing Education portion of the PNCA website.

Learn to Design Your Own Photography Books

This term at Newspace Center for Photography in Portland, I'll be teaching a 5-week workshop on book design and self-publishing.

In this class, you'll have the chance to make your very own photography book - from start to finish! Personal photography books make magnificent gifts, are great complements to portfolio presentations, and can tremendously aid in marketing your work.
Through a hands-on process of editing and sequencing your work, sizing your images for printing, and experimenting with basic design, layout, and digital printing options, you'll learn how to create a beautiful presentation piece that expresses your artistic vision. The best part? At the end of class, you'll have a finished book, fresh from the print shop!
I'll be helping fashion a concept for your finished book, prepare your images, and produce a volume that truly represents your artistic vision.

Read more, and sign up, at Newspace.

The Environmental Portrait Workshop at PNCA

Manuel Izquierdo, Sculptor

Portland, Oregon, 2004

This Spring, I will be teaching a new workshop at Pacific Northwest College of Art, called The Environmental Portrait. It's a natural class for me to teach, since I love and have been making location portraits for a couple of decades now. Here's the class description:

When a photographer takes a portrait of someone in their natural surroundings, we call it Environmental or Location Portraiture. Environmental portraits are a way of saying more about a person than is possible in the artificial confines of the photographic studio or a simple headshot. Photographers have used environmental portraiture to document figures in popular culture (Annie Liebowitz, Arnold Newman), social commentary and documentary (Dorothea Lange, Milton Rogovin), and the expression of personal vision (Keith Carter).

In this class we will look at the work of master location portrait photographers, current and past; review and critique each other's work; and discuss how location portraits say much about the subject, but also about the social and political context in which they live. We will be working with models, model and property releases, available and artificial lighting techniques, the portrait as a series, composition, camera and media choices, output and presentation, and more. We will also go on location with models for demonstrations, and for time to photograph in class with instructor oversight. Both film and digital shooters in any medium are welcome. The class will culminate with a portrait series as a final project.

Prerequisites: A firm grasp of basic photographic technique, and a passion for portraits.

The class is on Saturday mornings from 10:00am-12:30pm, and runs Apr 07-May 12. You can find out more and register at the PNCA Continuing Education Program site.