Portrait in Paris

This workshop, combining theory and practice, will be devoted to portraiture and will have the streets of Paris as its main setting. During the workshop, the participants will produce a series of Parisian portraits whose coherence will be based on thematic and aesthetic choices which should be personal and precise.

During the course, participants will develop their visual culture by discovering the works of great portrait makers in the history of photography which will be valuable benchmarks for their personal work.

Some exercises will allow the trainees to work on the approach of the models (who to photograph? for what purpose? according to which point of view? which expression to seek?) and to adapt their photographic material as well as possible to the constraints of the portrait (how to frame? what lens to use?). The workshop will teach the students how to insert models in their environment and how to use Paris as a background for their portraits. It will also focus on lighting applied to portraiture. One session will be organized in the studio so that participants can learn the basics of lighting. They will also learn how to better manage natural light in the urban environment, and how to mix it with flash light if necessary.

Through the week, the photographs taken during the exercises in the streets of Paris or between classes will be analyzed during collective editing sessions. The trainees will thus obtain critical and constructive feedback on their production, enabling them to learn how to select and organize their photographs as well as possible. This will allow them to acquire the autonomy necessary for the realization of future personal projects based on the practice of photographic portraiture.