SPIRIT OF STRUCTURE: PETERS VALLEY CRAFT CENTER

July 2 – 6, 2010
Peters Valley Craft Center, Layton, New Jersey
Register at www.petersvalley.org

Peters Valley Craft Center is located in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation in the old town of Bevin. In this shooting workshop we will be photographing in the barns and studios of blacksmithing, fine metals, fiber arts, woodworking and ceramics, as well as the various buildings housing the offices and students. In addition we will be photographing the Van Campen Inn, Wallpack Center and historically restored Millbrook Village. This workshop offers a wide variety of sites to suit any photographer’s interests, all within the picturesque environment of this unusual park.

The Spirit of Structure workshops are centered on photographing in the man-made environment. Despite the perception that photographing buildings falls under the genre of “architectural” photography in truth these structures also provide rich opportunities for the genres of landscape, portrait or still life. In other words, they provide something of interest for everyone.

Much of the time we will be working in the town of Bevins, of which a large part used by the Peters Valley Craft Center for its offices, studios, gallery, and student housing. We will look at some of these building searching for clues to their past use as well as their current incarnation. We will use a variety of creative exercises to see these buildings in a new light to find the “Spirit of Structure” in each of these locations. Students will be given daily assignments as well as an assignment for the week. You will be working independently in the buildings, changing locations each day and sometimes between morning and afternoon. Our goal will be for each student to compile a “portrait” of the Craft Center’s structures, as well as buildings at the Wallpack Center and Millbrook Village located in the Delaware Water Gap National Park. We will look for the historic reasons for design, the practical uses for a building, and details that give a building its unique character and make this area and these structures unique.

You are welcome to work in a digital or film format. There is a darkroom available for film processing and contact printing. However, time for this will be at a minimum. If working with film I encourage you to bring a digital format for daily review of your work. All students are requested to bring a portfolio of your work to share with the class.

Registration

For further information and to register for this workshop visit www.petersvalley.org.