Point of Departure

Date  |  Friday March 13 through Sunday March 15, 2020

Time  |   Friday 6PM-8PM, Saturday and Sunday 9AM – 2PM

Location |  Colorado Photographic Arts Center (CPAC)

1070 Bannock St.,  Denver, CO 80204

Cost  |  $320 Non-Member   $290 Members

Instructor  |  Preston Utley

Skill Level  |  All Levels

When photographer Dorthea Lange would go out and photograph she would emphasize having a “Point of Departure.” For Lange that meant looking for something specific, a particular type of person, a certain mood, or a quality of light. To put it in other terms…not having a point of departure is like going to the grocery store without a shopping list…you’ll get some food but you might not get all the ingredients you need to make recipe. This workshop is about reaching a new understanding of what it is you are looking for. It is for those of us who love what I prefer to call “straight photography” and it is for those who appreciate the world for what it is without digital manipulation, or staging scenes. Through this workshop, we will investigate what it means to have your own personal point of departure and begin to put that in action through photographing out in the real world. Whether you photograph professionally or simply enjoy documenting your personal life, this workshop will open your mind and eyes to what your own personal point of departure is, and will bring you a new level of awareness while out photographing.

We will meet Friday evening from 6pm-8pm for the start of the class. Participants will bring 5-10 images of their personal work to share with the class. This will not be a critique but an opportunity for everyone to see what your photographic interests are as well as your style and approach. After reviewing images, we will look at photographers throughout history who have applied Lange’s “Point of Departure” to their practice.
Saturday we will meet in the morning to photograph the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. After the parade we will meet briefly to discuss how the day went.
On Sunday, participants are asked to bring 10-20 images from the parade to share with the class for critique. This will be followed by any questions and another short lecture by Preston discussing how he applies his own point of departure to his personal and professional work.

Materials needed

• Bring any camera, preferably digital, because we will be reviewing images on Sunday after photographing on Saturday. Whether you shoot DSLR, Mirrorless, or iPhone you will learn how to read a scene and anticipate moments before they happen, and this can be achieved with any format and any camera.
• Participants are asked to bring 5-10 images of their personal work to share with the class on Friday.