John Chiara: Experimenting with Photography

Saturday and Sunday, September 8–9, 2018
11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., both days

Join photographer John Chiara for a two-day workshop intended for photographers who are looking to have fun and experiment with photography. Whether you’re a novice, professional, or enthusiast of photography, this workshop will display a raw, hands-on, alchemist approach to the medium. Known for making large-scale photographs with hand-built cameras—the largest being 50 by 80 inches—Chiara will teach participants how to make one-of-a-kind images using a variety of cameras and techniques.

On the first day of the workshop, participants will photograph the New York City landscape using large-scale, 4-by-5, and small pinhole cameras. Chiara will guide participants on how to set up the cameras, locate the perfect scene, and photograph the landscape. Using these techniques, participants will learn how to slow down their approach and take all aspects of the scene into consideration when making an image. Participants will spend the second day of the workshop in the darkroom developing their images. Chiara will teach participants how to work in the darkroom and develop their images using black-and-white processing methods. The workshop will end with a group critique back at Aperture. Participants will take home their own one-of-a-kind photographic print.

John Chiara (born in San Francisco, 1971) received a BFA in photography from the University of Utah in 1995 and an MFA in photography from the California College of the Arts in 2004. Chiara was Artist in Residence at Budapest Art Factory (2017); Crown Point Press, San Francisco (2006, 2016); Porch Society, Clarksdale, Mississippi (2013–14); Gallery Four, Baltimore (2010); and Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, California (2010). In 2011 and 2013, the Pilara Foundation in San Francisco commissioned work that was included in two group exhibitions at Pier 24 Photography: HERE. and A Sense of Place.

Objectives:

• Discover and learn how to use various cameras and methods of photography
• Learn basic darkroom techniques
• Create a personal one-of-a-kind photograph (that you get to take home!)

Materials to bring:

• Participants will be notified regarding required materials

Tuition:

Tuition for this two-day workshop is $600 and includes lunch and light refreshments for both days.

Currently enrolled students and Aperture Members at the $250 level and above receive a 10% discount on workshop tuition. Please contact education@aperture.org for a discount code. Students will need to provide proper documentation of enrollment.