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FIELD NOTES Copenhagen
You walk through Copenhagen with a question in your head. Not to make as many good street photos as possible, but to find out why some photos belong together. That is the difference.
FIELD NOTES Copenhagen is a street photography masterclass in Copenhagen for photographers who want to look beyond that one successful photo. Two days of photographing, writing, selecting and doubting. With a notebook in your coat pocket and, at the end, not a finished project, but a beginning you can keep working on.
- two days
- 10.00 – 15.00
- max. 5 participants
- notebook included
When photos need each other
One good photo on its own is nice. Sometimes annoyingly nice, because afterwards you think the rest of the day should really have been like that too. But a series asks for something else. Not just: is this a good photo? Also: what does this photo do next to the previous one?
In this masterclass you work on one question for two days. That sounds strict, but it is not too bad. You can still look, wander off, react to what happens. Only now there is always a second layer. Does this fit what I am researching? Does this photo change the direction? Or is it just a lovely photo that does not want to go anywhere?
That last one is not a failure. It is information. By photographing, writing and looking again, you start to notice which photos strengthen each other. Sometimes coherence is in the subject. Sometimes in distance, colour, repetition or mood. And sometimes you only see it when the prints are on the table.
That is where it gets interesting.
Research question
You go home with your own research question and a provisional working title for your project.
First collection
You have made a first group of photos that belongs to that question and gives it direction.
Three prints
You take three prints with you, with notes from the shared table discussion.
Notebook
You have collected two days of observations, doubts and small finds in your own notebook.
Project plan
You finish with a concrete plan you can continue working on after Copenhagen.
Direction
You recognise more clearly where your own way of looking and working is heading.
The promise is a grounded beginning and a clear next step. Not a finished project after ten hours, because that is usually not how photography works.
Who this is for
This is for photographers who know their camera and already make good single photos. You do not need experience with series. If you do have it, fine. The question simply moves along a little. This is not about the basics of camera use, settings or which lens to bring. We will probably touch on that anyway, because photographers remain photographers.
You mainly notice that you want to build further. You do not just want to come home with single photos, but with a direction. Something you can return to later. Maybe in Copenhagen. Maybe simply at home, in your own street.
How this differs from Paris and London
Paris and London remain the broader street photography masterclasses. There you try different assignments, train your eye and work on strong single photos. FIELD NOTES is the deepening. Less broad, more digging. Paris or London is a logical preparation, but not an entry requirement.
Paris and London
- Looking and photographing more deliberately
- Trying different assignments
- Making strong single photos
- Feedback on photography
Field Notes
- Researching your own subject
- Deepening one direction
- Letting photos work together
- Feedback on selection and continuation
Where you can begin
At the start you choose a direction. The plan includes three possible starting points: Room for yourself, Together without contact and Order and deviation. These are not compulsory themes, more ways to get going. If you already have a subject that is nagging at you, that is fine too. Better still, please do.
Two days of work
2 days · 10.00 – 15.00
The days run from 10.00 to 15.00. That is deliberately compact. Long enough to work seriously, short enough to avoid photographing your head into apple sauce.
There is a rhythm: looking, making, writing, discussing, looking again. The city is the workspace. The notebook travels with you in your coat pocket.
Day 1
Coffee and introductions
We start with the question of what actually holds a series together.
Free observation
You look around without a fixed assignment and note what keeps returning.
First direction
You try out a direction in a place where a lot happens at once.
Lunch and writing
You choose a research question and write why it is keeping you busy.
Different environment
You explore the same question in a quieter and more formal part of the city.
Focused work
You make choices based on your own question at that moment.
Coffee and look back
We look at what is starting to appear and where the doubt still sits.
Day 2
Prints on the table
The prints lie together, the maker listens first and responds afterwards.
Different character
You continue working in an environment where colour, encounter and calm sit close together.
Lunch
Let things settle, see what sticks, and then continue.
Sharpening further
You work on photos that make your direction clearer, or a bit more tense.
Final observation
You note what has changed today in the way you look.
Project plan
We close with your plan and a short personal conversation.
Changes to this schedule are possible during the workshop/masterclass, in consultation.
Between the two days, everyone sends in three JPEGs. The next morning all prints are on the table, the same size, nicely concrete.
That notebook in your coat pocket
Everyone receives a compact notebook, a pen and worksheets at the start. That notebook is not a diary full of elegant sentences. It is a place for small observations, doubts and decisions. You write in it at the start, during lunch, at the end of day 1, after the print discussion and at the end of day 2. Sometimes one sentence is enough. Sometimes not even a very beautiful one.
Before we leave
One week before departure you send six of your own photos that belong together, a maximum of one hundred words about what connects those photos, and one question you want to explore. This is not an admission test. Really not.
It is the way I prepare for everyone’s work. Then we do not start completely blank at the table. Also bring a phone, tablet or laptop, so you can select in the evening. At the start you receive a notebook, a pen and worksheets.
After Copenhagen
At the end there is a project plan. Two pages at most, so not a document you first stare at for three months. It contains your working title and research question, personal reason, boundaries, visual approach, what is still missing, your next steps and the first result you want to reach.
Within two weeks you send eight photos, numbered in the order you choose, with a working title, a maximum of one hundred words and your project plan. Within ten working days you receive one written review. About the photography, the selection, the order and the next step.
Included
- Two days of guidance, 10.00 to 15.00
- Preparation based on your six submitted photos
- Notebook, pen and worksheets
- Personal guidance on your series
- Three prints per participant
- Shared print discussion
- Coffee or tea during planned working moments
- One written review afterwards
Not included
- Travel
- Accommodation
- Local transport
- Lunches
- Other drinks and snacks
The group has a maximum of five participants and the masterclass consists of two days from 10.00 to 15.00.
The guide price is around € 895 including VAT.
