We invite you to participate in workshops taught by four Sputnik Photos photographers: Agnieszka Rayss, Adam Pańczuk, Michał Łuczak and Rafał Milach.
As a key activity, the participants will complete their own photographic project in Łódź. Each participant will work individually with one of the Sputnik Photos photographers and will take part in group consultations and presentations with all four Sputnik artists.
The group will consist of 15-20 people selected after an evaluation of their portfolios. The workshop will be taught in English.
The fee is EUR 400 per person.*
WORKSHOP PROGRAMME
After being selected, a month before the workshop, the participants submit the subject they wish to work on in Łódź. Before the workshop begins, they will have time to prepare their work, e.g. obtain the required permits to photograph in places unavailable to the public.
The topics should relate to the broadly understood transformation of Łódź – from an industrial to a post-industrial city. Consequently, they may address both the history, the transformation itself, and the present-day Łódź. The participants may also work on a ‘road’ or ‘travel’ photography project.
The workshops will last 4 days, from 25 till 28 May 2015, approx. 6h a day.
The first day will be dedicated to the introduction, inspiration, discussion of the subjects and results of the research made by the participants. The participants and Sputnik photographers will also have an opportunity to briefly introduce themselves.
The next three days will involve intensive work on the participants’ own projects. The participants will be divided into groups of 3-4, within which they will work under the supervision of one of the four Sputnik photographers. Each evening, the photos taken during the day will be shown and discussed among the whole group.
Last day will be devoted to discussing and editing the material. On the day, the photographs will be presented as a slideshow during the main weekend of the Fotofestiwal.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
The candidate’s portfolio should consist of a maximum of 20 photos (1-2 photographic series) and be sent by e-mail together with a short bio and the candidate’s motivation to take part in the workshops (up to 1500 characters altogether).
Candidates are requested to send their portfolios between 10th of February and 20 of April to the following address: sputnik@fotofestiwal.com.
At the latest by 24th of April, the participants will be notified by e-mail of being selected. A reserve list will be prepared, too. By 30 April, selected participants will be required to propose the subject they wish to work on. Following this, they will have 3 weeks to get prepared. If required, the Fotofestiwal may issue an official letter to confirm participation in the workshop. The participants are free to choose their own technique, on condition, however, that they will be able to produce a set of works for the final slideshow presentation. Participants are required to pay the full amount of the participation fee (EUR 400) by 10 May.
* The price does not include the materials needed to complete the project and accommodation expenses. Organisers may provide the accommodation, the cost of which will not be higher than EUR 200 for 5 days of participation.
Sputnik Photos is an international collective founded in 2006 by documentary photographers from Central and Eastern Europe. We are united by a desire to observe and describe what surrounds us, as well as by our common experience of living in Central and Eastern Europe in the post-transformation period.
The members of the collective are recognized photographers from Poland and Central and Eastern Europe, winners of important international awards, such as World Press Photo or Pictures of the Year. Together we have organized several dozen exhibitions around the world; our projects have been featured in galleries, at photography festivals and in magazines worldwide.
Rafał Milach Photographer and book artist based in Warsaw. He has held solo shows in CO Berlin, and Zacheta National Gallery of Art. He was awarded with World Press Photo, POYi and Magnum Foundation Emergency Grant. Rafal Milach’s monographs include: The Winners (GOST 2014), 7 Rooms (Kehrer 2011), In the Car with R (Czytelnia Sztuki 2012) and Black Sea of Concrete (self-published 2013). Founder of Sputnik Photos.
Michał Łuczak is based in Katowice, Poland. In 2010, he graduated with an MA degree from the Institute of Creative Photography in Opava, (Czech Republic). Currently, doctoral student in the school. He also graduated in Applied Spanish Linguistics from the Silesian University in Katowice (BA). He has shown his work at Fotofestiwal in Łódź, Photomonth in Kraków and at group exhibitions in Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Ukraine, the US and Japan. His main achievements include: Magnum Expression Award (2009, shortlisted), Mio Photo Award (2010, Grand Prize) and Polish Photographic Publication of the Year (2013). His activity also includes photobook editing, curating and teaching.
Agnieszka Rayss, photographer, freelancer. Co-founder of the Sputnik Photos collective. Her area of work is documentary photography. She studied art history at the Jagiellonian University. A two-time winner of the Picture of the Year award in 2011 and 2012, a two-time finalist in the Hasselblad Masters Award, finalist of Lucie Foudnation scholarship, Lens Culture Exposure Award. Winner of several national press photography competitions, including Grand Press Photo, BZWBK Press Photo, Newsreportaż. Recipient of Ministry of Culture and Visegrad Fund scholarships. She is interested in how post-communist countries try to copy western trends, as well as pop cultural manifestations of the transformation. In recent years, she has also worked on landscape as well as topics related to ecology.
Adam Pańczuk (1978) lives in Warsaw. In his work he travels to wherever he finds an interesting subject. He studied at the University of Economics and photography at the Multimedia Communication Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań. With his projects Pańczuk seems to be asking questions – both direct and metaphorical – about identity, consciousness and attitude towards life of the people he meets along the way. His unique skill to tell gripping yet intimate stories with images has won him many prestigious awards to date. Pictures of the Year International, Magnum Expression Award, Grand Press Photo. He has published in: National Geographic, Newsweek, British Journal of Photography, Le Monde, Esquire, OyodePez, Geo Magazine, Polityka, Malemen, DF Gazeta Wyborcza, Przekrój.
