February 20, 2015 6:00PM – 7:00PM
Earth Is My Witness Presentation; free with admission and museum members
February 21, 2015 10:00AM – 3:00PM
Museum members and current AutoNation Academy of Art + Design students $155 ; Non- members $185 (includes Artist level Museum membership). Participants will also receive FREE admission to Art Wolfe’s lecture at the Museum Friday, February 20 at 6 pm.
California holds 23 federally protected areas. It has the 3rd most visited National Park in the United States-Yosemite. There are 550 miles of coastline along its pacific border. It houses the highest peak in lower North America with Mount Whitney and in the same breath the lowest place in the United States with Death Valley. And, it was the home to Ansel Adams and John Muir two of the most famous nature conservationists our country has ever seen. It is a place worth photographing and just plain exploring.
On the 25th of September, Art Wolfe will be teaching the Art of Composition in San Jose as the first stop of his fall lecture tour. If you live in the vicinity and have an interest in photography sign up to learn how to create photographs that have visual impact and go beyond the typical iconic images seen of places like Yosemite and Death Valley.
BLOG: California – Images by Art Wolfe
Due to the success of our recent Art of Composition Lecture tour Art has decided to add a series of dates for this coming fall. Join him in:
In addition, Art will be leading workshops to India, Japan, and China beginning in early 2011. For more information and even more opportunities to travel and learn visit our workshop website.
And would you like to know what other participants are saying? Here are a few:
“I thoroughly enjoyed attending Art Wolfe’s recent presentation of “The Art of Composition” In NYC. His comparison of some of his photographs to works from various artists allowed me to better appreciate and understand his background and how he approaches his “art” of photography. Drawing from his thousands of images, I thought he did a great job of providing examples of what to look for when “composing” a photograph in the field. His use of sequences of various photos he took was also well presented as it allowed me to follow along in his thought process as he was actually taking the photographs.
Being able to hear Art speak in such an intimate setting and present so many of his wonderful photos from his many travels all over the world was a tremendous learning experience and a real treat. Unfortunately, my list of places I want to travel to has now grown significantly.
Thanks Art.”
Mark
“First of all, this was one of the best seminars I have ever been to, and I go to a lot of them.
Art Wolfe is a great speaker. He was very engaging with the audience. And the lecture materials were used in a great way; he didn’t show only the right ways to take a photograph but also showed the common mistakes with examples.
After this experience I now consider to join to one of his international workshops because I know now how much I can learn from him. He is willing to share his techniques and experience with the participants .
Overall it was a great lecture, and I hope to see him more often in NY for similar seminars.”
Regards,
Elif Mete
“I am pleased to provide feedback on Art’s recent seminar, The Art of Composition, in New York.
I approach photography from a scientific background. I guess this is due to my career as a research chemist. I have a solid understanding of the “nuts and bolts” of photography, such as the interconnectedness of shutter speed, aperture, depth of field, etc. What I struggle with are the artistic aspects of photography. The elements of design, composition, perspective, color, leading lines, etc are my nemesis.
Art’s selections of lecture topics were precisely what I needed. His first lecture on inspiration linked photography subjects with styles of painting masters. While I could never come close to Art’s knowledge and appreciation of the masters, I could certainly see where he gets inspiration from these great artists, and I am beginning to look at the great art masterpieces with a new eye, ultimately toward how I can use their artistic creativity to strengthen my compositions.
Probably the most useful lectures for me were on deconstructing the image, deadly sins of composition, and elements of design. Art’s descriptions of the scene, coupled with presentation of the critical aspects of the design and composition in the photographs were very enlightening. Through Art’s prompting, I could see how the use of diagonal lines were critical to making certain images successful. Likewise, his explanations of the use of color as design elements with description of how he orchestrated a scene and its perspective to make use of these design elements were extremely helpful.
I found the sins of composition quite useful. While we always read about not placing your subject in the bulls-eye, not splitting your images with a horizon at the center, etc, it was very useful to see “bad photos” (if Art can take such a thing!) showing these sins, followed immediately by a more interesting shot of the same scene with a slightly different composition. It was also interesting to hear and see Art’s examples of when to violate these rules.
Through out the day, the seminar was filled with hundreds of exquisite images, candid and honest descriptions of how these images were created, and discussion of many photographic topics. Art’s warm, informal interpersonal style led to a great atmosphere for learning. Even though Art is easily on the top of the field, he is very approachable and easy to talk with. I liked the weekday class. It seems like life is so busy on the weekends that it is hard to get away for a day. It was much easier (and enjoyable) to take a day off of work! The venue in New York was very good, adequately sized, and in a good accessible location.
I was fortunate enough to attend Art’s Creative Session in the Lehigh Valley a few years ago, and look forward to attending more of his seminars (and maybe even a photography tour).”
Best Regards,
Daniel Sidler
This review was originally posted on The Luminous Landscape website. For more information on the upcoming tours click here.
Recently, I had the pleasure of attending Art Wolfe’s The Art of Composition seminar in New York. Mr. Wolfe is currently presenting in a number of cities across the US and Canada. Those living in the New York City area are fortunate, in that many photographers come through on the lecture circuit. Whenever I can make the time, I try to attend these seminars, as one always learns something from each speaker. I have been a fan of Mr. Wolfe’s work for years, and made sure I kept the day free for his seminar.
Mr. Wolfe’s six-hour seminar was very different from others that I have attended. Rather than spending time on the nuts and bolts of photography, Art focused on the artistry of the craft. Trained as a painter, and an educator, Mr. Wolfe tackled subjects that are very hard to teach, namely, inspiration, passion, vision, and ultimately, composition. The first lecture of the day was more art theory class than photography lecture. It made you really THINK about the images presented. What Mr. Wolfe spent the day doing, was giving his students a new set of tools to help SEE a photograph.
Mr. Wolfe is an engaging speaker, and with his background in television with “Travels to the Edge”, knows how to hold an audience and work with it. It made for a well paced day. Art drew on almost four decades of images, shot in literally every corner of the globe. The breadth of geography and subject matter was truly impressive. Although Mr. Wolfe made his name in wildlife and nature photography, his cultural photography, still lifes, and abstract compositions show his true breadth as an artist. Drawing on the sheer scale of this body of work allowed the seminar participant to see a concept illustrated across a number of photographic disciplines, allowing one to see how lessons were relevant to their own photography.
If you live near one of the cities where Art will be speaking next, I highly recommend taking the time to attend this seminar. Photographers of all skill levels can learn something from a true master of the craft.
May, 2010
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About the Author:
Trevor Peterson is a passionate photographer, whose work focuses primarily on cultural photography. Unfortunately, his photography frequently has to take a back seat to his primary career as a private equity professional.
