Finding Your Voice: A Sicilian Masterclass with Ernesto Bazan

Ernesto Bazan was born in Palermo, on the island of Sicily in Italy in 1959. He received his first camera when he was 14 years old and began photographing daily life in his native city and in the rural areas of Sicily. Photography has been more than a profession: a true passion, a mission in his life.

Italy –

Organized by Emaho Magazine

2015, Sicily, Italy

“Sicily, the island where I first saw light, the island that I carry within me wherever I go to take pictures will be the location of tho workhop. Prepare yourself for a very unique and intense one week where along with my friend Manik Kaytal, editor of Emaho photo magazine, will take you to discover the eastern part of the island. Our base will be the lively city of Catania where we will explore the old part of town with its palazzibuilt with volcanic, dark stones giving a very special look to the entire city. We will all spend time photographing its colorful arab-style markets full of daily life. We will take you to see the stunningly beautiful Etna, the largest and active volcano in Europe. We will be able to take landscapes, still-life, portraits.

After the first three days in Catania we will move to Noto and the surrounding towns of Ragusa and Modica considered the center of Baroque architecture. We will delve into these architectural gems full of exciting street scenes. We will also visit the untouched countryside where farmers continue to live a lifestyle still attached to the past.

As in all the other workshops I teach, my ultimate goal is to help each participant to create an appealing body of work with personal strong individual images. Each student will be encouraged to develop his or her own photographic language and to search for the invisible thread that ties his or her images together. I’ll help you to improve your ability to see and create new photographs, to discover your hidden potential. It will definitely be a valuable educational experience where you will develop the skills to look at your own work more critically, to appreciate and discuss yours and other people’s work by learning a new visual vocabulary. Our final objective is to produce a series of revealing, lasting images that will display a sense of the place, of its people and traditions. You will return home with a new commitment to your work and your creativity. For the ones of you who came to other workshops of mine and experienced my teaching, I’ll simply add that it will be another great learning experience where we’ll share both photography and life.” – Ernesto Bazan

Details and Application

EMAHO magazine invites photography students and young professionals working around creating visual narratives to apply for 1 week workshop to be held in Sicily in 2015.

Who Should Apply

This workshop is aimed at students and young professional photographers who are interested in developing visual narratives around environments they encounter. Each student will be encouraged to develop his or her own photographic language and to search for the invisible thread that ties his or her images together. The workshop will help to improve the participants’ ability to see and create new photographs, to discover their hidden potential. It will definitely be a valuable educational experience where they will develop the skills to look at their own work more critically, to appreciate and discuss both their own and other people’s work by learning a new visual vocabulary. The objective of the workshop is to produce a series of revealing, lasting images that will display a sense of the place, of its people and traditions. Participants will return home with a new commitment to their work and your creativity. Overall the workshop aims to foster a great learning experience where both everyone involved can share both photography and life.

Dates: 29th June – 5th July, 2015 Location: Sicily, Italy Seats: Minimum seats required for the workshop: 8 Maximum seats required for the workshop: 13 Tuition Fee: 1500 Euros Grant: One student will be offered an Achievers Grant, which means 100% refund of the tuition fee or a chance to attend Emaho’s future workshop for free. The winner of this grant will be published on the last day of the workshop. Application Deadline: 31st May, 2015 Please note: Chosen participants are expected to bear their own travel and accommodation. Your final participation is subject to realization of fees and is non-refundable.

How To Apply Send an email to manikkatyal@emahomagazine.com with “Finding Your Voice: Italian Masterclass with Ernesto Bazan” written in the subject line, and attach the following: A PDF document of maximum 30 pages which should not be more than 5MB. Bodies of work/projects are preferred. The PDF should include:

A brief description of you and your project(s)
A CV and exhibition list.

About Ernesto Bazan was born in Palermo in 1959. He received his first camera when he was 14 years old and began photographing daily life in his native city and in the rural areas of Sicily. Photography has been more than a profession: a true passion, a mission in his life. Bazan has published several books: The Perpetual Past, Passing Through, The First Twenty Years, Island, Molo Nord. In 2008, his recently launched publishing house, BazanPhotos Publishing, released his book Bazan Cuba on his fourteen years of life and photography on the island. In May 2009, the book was awarded Best Book of the Year at the New York Photo Festival. The photographer’s next book, Al Campo, an in-depth color exploration of life in the Cuban countryside, was published in 2011 also by BazanPhotos Publishing. He has won some of the world’s most prestigious photographic awards, among them The W. Eugene Smith Grant; Mother Jones International Fund for Documentary Photography, the Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor prize, the World Press Photo award and fellowships from the Alicia Patterson Foundation and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He has had exhibitions in Europe, Latin America and the United States. His photographs have been collected by collectors and museums among which MoMA and ICP in New York, SFMoMA in San Francisco, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, the South East Museum of Photography in Daytona, the Fondazione Italiana della Fotografia in Turin, the Biblioteque Nationale in Paris and the Musee Rattau in Arles. In 2002, Ernesto Bazan created his own photographic workshops providing special emphasis in Latin America. Several hundred students have studied with him in the last twelve years. He lives in Veracruz, Mexico with is family and their dog Diva.