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I recall in 2010 holding my inaugural workshop. It took place in a modest studio in London, teaching how to create a ‘levitation’ image. Essentially, for £99, I’d demonstrate how to capture two photographs on a tripod and utilize Photoshop to eliminate the chair that was supporting a girl lying as if she were lifeless on it.
Alright, there was more to it than that; it was about attempting to convey the enchantment involved in crafting a fine-art photograph, and the attendees received at least a glimpse. At times, turning my artistry into a ‘step by step’ was akin to being observed during intimate moments and finding it challenging to achieve satisfaction unless the spectators averted their gaze.
But how exhilarating it was to earn money from anything linked to photography following the downturn of 2008; I had only just completed my English degree two years prior. Every photographer and their pet were conducting workshops, even I, who was merely beginning to comprehend the functions of a camera after relying on Auto settings for most of my self-portraits that propelled me to exaggerated fame on flickr.
I was adamant from the onset that I wished to be an artist, not an educator, but it takes courage to entirely disregard the workshop market, particularly in this even harsher, muted recession of 2025, where any genuine employment available risks being supplanted by AI. However, from the inception of offering workshops, my partner Matt and I held the belief that participants might find the paparazzi style tedious and desired more than merely revering the artist in charge.
Thus, in 2011, we undertook a different approach. We secured a spacious venue and styled a model for each of five setups that attendees would rotate through without any formal instruction. Essentially a shoot-out, where the required locations and team justified a significantly higher ticket price, yet attracted an unexpectedly long line of both amateur and professional photographers who preferred not to have their hands guided.
We continued to host these for six years across New York, LA, France, Lanzarote, and Iceland. Our final one featured a week with six nude models in Tuscany, our last flourish of excitement before Covid hit, leading us to believe we would never again have the opportunity for such endeavors.
Organizationally, the shoots required months of planning, and the ticket price often confined our audience to white-collar individuals with substantial discretionary income (a young amateur might only attend due to the kindness of a lavish uncle or unexpected fortune) but what attendees gleaned from it, as numerous testimonials confirmed, was superior to any workshop they had experienced. They were genuine cameraderies (did you catch that? My English degree was not in vain!) They were exhausting, fully immersive, and we would typically allocate the majority of our budget towards production that allowed me to create my own body of work from, Surreal Fashion.
The subsequent eight years were spent raising two daughters, observing the £5 sandwich-at-a-service-station post-covid society feign normalcy, and contemplating if anyone is still activating a camera – in light of the AI application I even possess on my phone – until one day, Matt accessed Facebook after nearly a decade of deactivation and discovered our clients were interested in the idea of hosting another event.
We envision reviving our camera skills, taking to the skies once more, and perhaps even earning a few quid for the gas expenses, but primarily, we long for the excitement. The social interaction. The kind of engagement that I believe people will require more than ever in a post-socially distanced, financially cautious, virtual meta universe.
As I previously remarked about a scene I captured underwater in the Cayman Islands that served as the foundation for a CGI project, “Such a feat could be effortlessly accomplished by AI these days – without the nauseating swaying on a boat at dawn, investing in expensive underwater camera housing, or fretting that your model will be attacked by a jellyfish – but let’s be honest, the breakfast that follows simply wouldn’t be as enjoyable, correct?”
Thus, following a tumultuous 2024 filled with personal and professional challenges, witnessing individuals I never realized had emotions expressing their worries, counting the blessings of everything we’ve been fortunate to undertake in our career… we’re plunging back into the depths of hastily applying lipstick on five models at Captain Barnes’ House in New York in April.
We’re returning to our Fashion Shoot Experience, feeling thankful in 2025 that I can identify as a photographer, educator, or entrepreneur at all. We’re also engaging in a workshop at a Swiss castle where I will be more than willing to share every detailed aspect of my artistry if it means preserving elements of that bygone era. And thus, our New Year Resolution for 2025 is: Let’s Get Physical… Again. Well, at least during the school vacations.
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