Group Very Poetic

My second New York workshop will always be remembered for the unbearable heat, the long editing sessions, the overwhelming presence of the Italian contingent (5 students out of 14), Sissy’s famous Cuban bean soup and the wonderful commitment by all students to go out in the hot and humid weather and take very poetic images that showed what a special place New York city is.

The usual international mix of students coming besides Italy from France, Germany, Israel, Mexico and the US created that perfect mixture of cultures and different photographic approaches.

I urged each one of them to break away from their descriptive molds, from the natural tendency to take literal pictures or images with too many unwanted elements within the frame.

As usual it was a struggle, an uphill battle to seize moments that captured the essence of life, but they all worked hard and were able to take their work to a higher level. I asked each student to compare the images in their portfolio with the new ones to see their photographic growth.

The last editing session, during the workshop wrap-up party, will also be remembered for the moving and passionate participation of many former students whom, like last year, had come in droves, to simply say hi, share their work, voice their opinion on the recently created images. After heated discussions, we were able to find a common ground. Many good pictures were left out as a further proof of the very good level of this class. Take a look. Very Poetic photographs indeed as our beloved Melania would say.

Ernesto Bazan