Prairie Spirit II, Rugby, ND

August 17–23, 2025

$3550
per person

Bottineau, North Dakota

Welcome to the unique opportunity to tell the story of life’s challenges on the prairie through photographic possibilities presented by isolated, abandoned farmhouses and charming small towns of north central North Dakota. This workshop will increase skills, challenge old habits, and help you eliminate a creative rut. Your focus during the week is not so much on making the perfect photograph but on approaching subjects differently, shifting your perspective, and taking creative risks. This combination of working in a new environment and altering how you approach your subject will change your photographs long after you leave the workshop.

Visionary Wild instructor Tillman Crane has arranged exclusive access to abandoned prairie homesteads and other slowly decaying structures – on private land normally off-limits to the public. The prior occupants of some of these farmhouses seem to have just up and left, leaving behind family photo albums, dishes in the cupboard, and antique furniture. With the aid of a local assistant, Tillman will lead a six-day workshop there from August 25-31, 2024, emphasizing making the most of this special opportunity to spend time in these photogenic ruins. Classroom time will be limited, consisting primarily of two group image review sessions to provide a constructive critique of your work. We will be based in Bottineau, close to the geographical center of North America, with a population of approximately 2,200. Numerous locations will be accessible each day, offering a varied array of subject matter, most within a 15 to 45-minute drive, and participants will be free to revisit locations they find particularly appealing where they wish to focus their time and creative energy.

Conditions of the structures range from windowless shells to intact buildings containing the personal belongings of the long-departed occupants. Far beyond the genre of “architectural” photography, these structures and the surrounding grounds provide rich possibilities for photographers interested in still life, abstraction, landscape, and even portraiture.

This is a location workshop in which we will focus on creating photographs. All camera formats, film and digital, are welcome, but be advised that there is no opportunity to process film. Digital photographers should plan to bring their laptops to review and select images for critiques. Participants will be invited to share up to six images per critique. These may be digital images made during the workshop or previous work in print or digital form. In addition, we invite participants to bring a representative portfolio of no more than 30 images, in print or digital format, if they want an individual portfolio review.

ITINERARY

We will welcome the group to our introductory orientation meeting at Cobblestone Inn and Suites in Rugby, North Dakota, at 4 pm on Sunday, August 17th, followed by a group dinner. Our first photography excursion will be the following morning. As our various locations and subjects can be photographed throughout the day (the opportunities include both indoor and outdoor subject matter), we will propose a plan for each day, taking the weather into account. There will be time to photograph various locations each day. During mid-day hours on Tuesday, Tillman will offer a constructive critique session before returning to the field for more photography. Friday will be the final field session, followed by an image review in the late afternoon and our final dinner together. Check-out is the following morning, on Saturday, August 23, 2025.