Apply For 2021
July 3 - 10, 2021
“This is the only workshop-based experience that emphasizes intensive critique and reflection, with the goal of advancing the participants’ practice to levels they may not have contemplated. There are many shooting-based photography sessions, in scenic locations, all promising to enhance technical and professional skills.
At the Photography Master Retreat, the main goal is to heighten creativity – by looking intensively at the work you have made and are making, thinking about what it means, and discovering what it should be. What is the essence of the work? What marks it as yours and no one else’s? What paths are most productive and what should be set aside? The result is new decisions, new directions, and a new level of creative ambition.
The process is joyful and challenging, and the impact can transform your sense of yourself not only as a photographer but also as a person.
”
APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS
Applications are currently closed until July 12, 2020 for The Photography Master Retreat 2021. There is no cost to apply.
Our selection committee will select the participants for this year’s The Photography Master Retreat. Once the program is full, we will not be able to make room for additional applications. There are only a few spots left. We encourage you to apply now, before the final deadline of June 15, as we will be looking at applications on a first come, first serve basis. We will notify applicants by June 18 latest.
The RETREAT FEE INCLUDES
The fee for accepted participants is US $3,200.
The Photography Master Retreat emphasises intensive review and discussion of each participant’s process and work. Portfolio reviews, supportive critique, discussions, and opportunities for introspection are all integral components of this special program. The Mentors schedule the week working with the larger group as well as many individual one-on-one sessions.
HOW TO APPLY: send your free application on line
Use our free Online Application Form , via Google, to provide us with contact information, details about you and one or two photographic projects you want to work with. The on-line application form consists of four short parts in a google form:
A/ Contact Information
Your basic contact information - so we know how to reach you.
B/ APPLICATION INFORMATION:
1/ Letter of intent (200 words): A brief statement of your intention and your motivation to participate in The Photography Master Retreat. Tell us in a few paragraphs how you currently see yourself and your work as well as where you want to be in the next few years.
2/ Artist’s statement (200 words)
3/ Biography (200 words)
C/ Project/Porfolio Submission:
You can submit 1 or 2 projects. Submitting one project is mandatory. Submitting a second project is optional. Each project should be sent as a PDF file (which you can zip). Please send the pdf file by email right after having sent your google form to: application@thephotographymasterretreat.com.
1/ Project 1 Statement (200 words) & Images (20)
Please submit a single PDF file for Project 1 with the project statement of 2 or 3 sentences and up to 20 images. Please put in the subject line of the email your first name and last Name_Project 1. (ex: Paul Smith_Project 1)
2/ Project 2 Statement (200 words) & Images (20)
Please submit a single PDF file for Project 2 with the project statement of 2 or 3 sentences and up to 20 images. Please put in the subject line of the email your first name and last Name_Project 2. (ex: Paul Smith_Project 2)
D/ Addional information:
A few quick questions about your photography background.
“It felt like time stood still here in Esparon and I could explore the depths of my work in ways that I have not experienced before. I expanded my photographic community with wonderful photographers and mentors. The total experience went above and beyond my expectations.”
A word on The Photography Master Retreat/Virtual
1/The Duration.The Photography Master Retreat 2020/Virtual will be during six working days from Sunday July 5 to Friday July 10. The days would be partial days of six hours each. We will have sessions Eastern Standard Time from 10 to 4 pm. Individual one-on-ones can be accommodated to suit the student’s location.
2/The Structure. We have always organised the week with full sessions that include all the students in dialogue with the three mentors as well as one-on-ones with each mentor. And equally important, we also organised the week so that the students can have dialogues amongst themselves. With some minor modifications we will keep that structure so that you may benefit from each mentor individually, all the three mentors together and from conversations with your fellow photographers.
3/The Spirit. Of course, with TPMR/Virtual there is less the experience of the South of France and the dynamic of in-person conversations, many of which take place casually around the table. But if you read the testimonials from alumni and watch the video clips you will recognise that beyond the ambience, something far more important is taking place. That something is the intensity and insight of mentors and peers focused exclusively on the work: on understanding it, discussing it, giving it the attention it deserves (and rarely receives), and above all helping it progress. All of us are committed to translating that personal attention into the digital space. And we have had experience doing it.
4/ The Community, Esparon and the South of France. As much as we all love Esparon, it ends when you leave (except in memories and photographs!). What does not end – and has become increasingly important over the years – is that you will enter into a community of professionals and artists committed to each other. They share a transformative process that is re-affirmed in the book projects, exhibitions, collaborations and other projects they are involved in, often with each other, and with the mentors. We meet in New York and in Paris around the art fairs, for casual get-togethers and more formal events. And because we are an increasingly global community, there are more and more opportunities to rendezvous. We also follow up with Alumni: we initiated The TPMR/Focus for Alumni in 2019 which came out of a desire of alumni to renew the intensive experience of shared critique. It also took place in Arles last year and will continue either in New York or virtually. During the pandemic, almost forty of us met together on Zoom, representing all our previous five years of The Photography Master Retreat, and the desire to continue our connections, live and virtual, is only growing.
ANY QUESTIONS
We are here to answer your questions about this retreat and the application process. If you do not receive an immediate email with a confirmation of receipt of your application to The Photography Master Retreat, please contact us at: application@ThePhotographyMasterRetreat.com
“TPMR is for photographers who want to spend an entire week focused on one or two long-form projects, under the guidance of professionals who not only have years of experience in their fields, but have spent years trying to figure out how to make the retreat as productive as possible.
Perched on a steep hill with a certain monastic remove, the stone house has the quality of a fable, and the wide variety of its spaces, both indoors and out, encourage constantly changing groupings of mentors and participants. The ideal participant will have respect for the program’s process and schedule and still be entertaining at dinner. Enjoy the views out the windows, of course, but come with a project you care about, and be prepared to make progress. ”
