Arrive Wednesday, January 16, and depart Tuesday, January 22 — 6 nights, 7 days to explore and capture life on the streets of Oaxaca, Mexico. For beginners to intermediate-level amateurs using DSLR cameras. Limited to 10 participants.
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Street photography is a tool of exploration, says our instructor Frank Hunter, a faculty member in the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies. Frank describes the approach of street photography as being like a shovel or strobe: It unearths and illuminates. As a documentary photography approach, it begins with an outer source, explores what you see in front of you and reflects your own interpretation of that experience. It is usually candid and spontaneous. Using the approach of street photography, you will further discover Oaxaca and see it differently using your digital camera.
In this week, you will learn how to use your camera to best express your individual interests. This could include, for example, market life, food, children, street vendors and performers, couples walking hand in hand, elderly in conversation on a park bench, or indigenous folk artists at work. The heart of Oaxaca is yours for this photographer’s journey.
See Frank Hunter’s Southwest photo portfolio.
Frank Hunter is an accomplished, published photographer whose work is part of permanent museum and noted individual collections. He is on the faculty of Duke University Center for Documentary Studies. Frank says, “I will introduce beginners to the basic concepts of exposure, focus and framing, and coach more experienced photographers to further master their craft. It is my hope that by the end of our time together, you will be making photographs you never thought to make, revealing things unseen until then.”
What You Will Learn
- How to better use your camera, from basic instruction to more advanced settings, depending on your level of experience
- File formats: the pluses and minuses of using raw, tiff, jpeg
- Exposure and its effects on the image
- How exposure alters our perceptions and emotional responses to images
- Focus and making multiple exposures with various depths of field
- Reading Photos: relationship as metaphor — how shapes, textures and tones from one part of an image resonate in another part
- Engaging the surreal: ways in which the subconscious affects what and how we see and how we photograph
About Frank Hunter
Frank grew up on the Mexican border near El Paso, Texas, close to Cuidad de Juarez, Mexico. His earliest photographic work was a journey of discovery into Juarez, which up until then he knew only as “a series of tourist shops and cheap bars.” What Frank discovered was the living heart of Juarez as it existed in the small food stalls set up behind the Cathedral. Each sold something specific: avocados, oranges, chiles, chickens, dental cures. “It was the most ordinary place where the most ordinary people came to buy,” he says. “There were also the Tarahumara from the Barranca del Cobre in central Chihuahua, the destitute, the pious, the pagan and the mystical who were curanderos, brujos or witches who could offer a reading or propose a cure,” Frank says. Life in Oaxaca today is similar, only there for you to discover beyond the restaurants and tourist attractions.
Click here for Frank’s resume
Click here for Frank’s website and portfolio
Street Photography in Oaxaca: Preliminary Itinerary
- Day 1, Wed. Jan. 16: Travel to Oaxaca and check in to our hotel in Oaxaca’s historic center — a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Day 2, Thurs. Jan. 17: Orientation and Learning session, Oaxaca City photography assignment, best of day photo review (includes breakfast, welcome dinner)
- Day 3, Fri., Jan. 18: Learning session, Oaxaca City photography assignment, best of day photo review (includes breakfast)
- Day 4, Sat. Jan. 19: Learning session, free time, travel and check in to guest house in the rural Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle, best of day photo review (includes breakfast, dinner)
- Day 5, Sun., Jan. 20: Learning session, photography assignment, bus to regional weekly Tlacolula tianguis (market) best of day photo review (includes breakfast, lunch, dinner)
- Day 6, Mon. Jan. 21: Learning session, free time to explore and prepare final presentation, evening Best of Week Group Show, farewell party (includes breakfast, dinner)
- Day 7, Tues., Jan. 22: Workshop ends after breakfast (includes breakfast)
A Cultural Immersion Experience of a Lifetime That Includes:
- 6 breakfasts, one lunch, 4 dinners
- Oaxaca city lodging in an elegant hotel or B&B
- Teotitlan lodging in a family operated guest house
- All instruction with one private coaching session
- Transportation associated with the itinerary
What You Should Bring
- Your energy and enthusiasm
- Digital SLR camera
- Laptop computer
- Software for organizing and presenting images (such as Lightroom)
- Batteries and battery charger
- Camera Memory card(s) and data stick
- Pen and notepad
- Sturdy, comfortable walking shoes, sun protection, sun hat
(Upon registration, you will receive a complete packet and information guide with suggested packing list and other useful information.)
Cost: The basic cost for the trip is $1,495. USD per person. Deposit of $750 to reserve. This includes six nights lodging double occupancy with shared bath. Most travel workshops of this type and length cost more than twice as much! It does NOT include airfare, taxes, tips/gratuities, travel insurance, liquor/alcoholic beverages, some meals as specified in the itinerary, site entry fees, and transportation.
Three Add-on Options
- Option 1: Shared room/double occupancy with private bath. $1,695. Deposit to reserve: $850.
- Option 2: Single Supplement, private room with private bath; $1,995. Deposit to reserve: $1,000.
- Option 3: Add more nights lodging in Oaxaca City either before or after the workshop. Please specify dates. $145 per night.
Reservations and Cancellations. A 50% deposit is required to guarantee your spot. The final payment for the balance due (including any supplemental costs) shall be made by November 16, 2012. Payment is accepted with PayPal. We will send you an itemized invoice.
Please understand that we make lodging and transportation arrangements months in advance of the program. Deposits or payments in full are often required by our hosts. If cancellation is necessary, please notify us in writing by email. After November 16, 2012, no refunds are possible; however, we will make every possible effort to fill your reserved space or you may send a substitute. If you cancel on or before November 16, 2012, we will refund 50% of your deposit.
We strongly recommend that you take out trip cancellation, baggage, emergency evacuation and medical insurance before you begin your trip, since unforeseen circumstances are possible.
To register, contact: normahawthorne@mac.com. We accept payment with PayPal only. As soon as you tell us you are ready to register, we will send you a PayPal invoice. Thank you.
This workshop is produced by Norma Hawthorne, Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC. We reserve the right to alter the itinerary and make instructor substitutions without notice.
From the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art, here is rare and restored footage of 1930′s Mexico, filmed by expatriate artists Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo while they were living in Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico and visiting Tehuantepec, Oaxaca. Thanks to Patricia Thompson, a Oaxaca Cultural Navigator blog follower for bringing A rare delight: Mexican home movies from the 1930′s to my attention. The film footage (a bit over 33 minutes) and accompanying article are so wonderful, I want to pass it on to you to enjoy as part of Mexican cultural history. Several of the nine film clips are in color, unusual for home movies at the time. The movies are part of a collection that includes correspondence, writings, art work, photographs, printed material and financial and legal records that document the artistic, teaching, and journalism careers of husband and wife Stephan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo.
Oaxaca Day of the Dead Photography Exhibit at Duke University Set: Chavez Family to Participate
On Tuesday, October 2, 2012, 5:30-7:30 p.m., an opening reception will be held at Duke University Friedl Building Jameson gallery for “Days of the Dead: From Mexican Roots to Present Day Practice in the United States,” in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Included will be 25 photographs taken in 2011 by participants* in the Day of the Dead Photography Expedition, produced by Oaxaca Cultural Navigator. The exhibition is organized by the Program in Latino/a Studies in the Global South at Duke University, whose executive director Jenny Snead Williams participated in 2011. The exhibition is curated by Bill Bamberger, award-winning faculty member in the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies and expedition leader/instructor, and Jenny Snead Williams.
*Participants in the 2011 expedition whose work will be exhibited are: Cheryl Cross (Towson, Maryland), Liz Bryan (British Columbia), Nick Eckert (Washington, DC), Wayne Kubal (Tucson, Arizona), Jenny Snead Williams (Durham, NC), Norma Hawthorne (Pittsboro, NC), Jenny Haynes (British Columbia) and instructor Bill Bamberger (Durham, NC).
Eric Chavez Santiago, education director at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca, and his sister Janet Chavez Santiago, a linguist and coordinator of the Centro Academico y Cultural San Pablo educational programs, are invited by Duke University to participate in the opening activities. They will talk about Day of the Dead traditions in their family home and village of Teotitlan del Valle and work with students to build a traditional Oaxaca Day of the Dead altar.
Chavez Santiago family rugs will also be on exhibition and offered for sale during the opening reception. The family produces extraordinary textiles woven with 100% churro sheep whose wool is hand-spun and then dyed with natural plant materials (wild marigold, indigo, moss, pomegranates, nuts) and cochineal (the bug of the prickly pear cactus that produces natural, color-fast and intense shades of reds, purples, oranges, and pinks).
The altar offerings include wild marigold (cempasuchitl), photographs of deceased loved ones, pan de muerto (special egg bread), papel picado (cut out paper decorations), the favorite fruits, foods, and beverages of loved ones, Oaxaca chocolate, sugar skulls, tamales, candles, and incense. An essential part of the Oaxaca altar is also religious and spiritual — an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe and of the Crucifixion.
Jenny Snead Williams tells me that area elementary school students will be creating another part of the exhibit with Duke students and faculty, and that Duke students will also be working on a third project that relates to the US celebrations of Days of the Dead. “Overall, it’s a rather complex exhibit because it will include so many constituents from local school children and teachers, to the general community, to students and professors.
Eric, Janet and Norma will be in Atlanta on October 3 and 4, where we will be hosted by Robin and Ted Blocker, and Lauren Waits and Art Gambill, for two evening rug exhibitions and sales. If you live in Atlanta or know anyone there, let me know and we’ll send them an invitation!
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Photography, Workshops and Retreats
Tagged blogsherpa, Duke University, exhibit, Mexico, Oaxaca, photography