ADVANCED MENTORING

Many photographers have asked me over the years if I could provide some sort of special very individualized program of study for a year or more. Over the past 5 years I’ve experimented with this idea, and it has proved to be very successful.

Advanced Mentoring lasts a year and is an arrangement between you and me. First, I look at a portfolio of your work and we discuss what you want to learn and what direction you want to go. We then agree on a tentative plan of action and you submit work to me. We then discuss this by telephone (preferred), e-mail, or regular mail. Because of the very special nature of this program, I ask commitment on your part to complete the plan of study we agree upon, and that it last a year. At the end of that year we both review the plan and see if you want (or need) to continue - for another year.
Learning photography, especially digital photography, takes time, practice, experience, and reflection. Most of the skills and ideas you learn in college photo courses or in week-long workshops can only fill a small part of the void of a thorough and involved artistic expression.

When I started my career in photography in the 1960’s, my mother advised me to go study with the best people. I followed her wise advice and studied with Ansel Adams, Minor White, Gene Smith, Dick Zakia, and other great photographers of the 20th century. I learned more from them than any school or workshop. Why? They simply took the time to care about what I photographed and what I wanted to do with a life in photography. They were consecrated photographers, and they passed the lineage of great photography and mentoring on to me. I do my very best to uphold the high ideals, quality, expression, and teaching they taught and believed.

If you are interested in becoming the very best photographer you can be, through hard work, practice, reflection, and soul searching, I urge you to call me personally and discuss this new and exciting program.