APF Holi, Art of story telling workshop, 22nd-25th Feb 2018
The challenge, the spontaneity, the joy of capturing that perfect moment when light, texture and all the elements coming together in that one frame.
WORKSHOP MENTORS
Vineet Vohra, APF Co-founder, Official Leica Mentor
Rohit Vohra, APF Co-founder, Official Leica Mentor
Join us as we head for a 4 day workshop in Barsana/ Nandgaon/ Vrindavan.
The Holi Master Class will be limited to an intimate class of max 8-10 passionate individuals who want to polish their skills and break out of their comfort zones. We’ll talk about street, documentary and travel photography. This workshop is designed to help improve your photography, enhance your style and find your vision by providing expert advice and knowledge specifically aimed at helping you achieve success in your work. Participants will work on forming a photo essay in the 4 days.
During this Intensive 4-day workshop, we will focus on the following topics:
Travel Photography and art of story telling
How to work towards a theme and focus on projects…
How to edit your images to enhance the final result…
Photography assignments to put theories to work while walking with the mentors on the streets of Barsana…
The mentors will work with students both in critique sessions and in the field, sharing their working knowledge and techniques.
During the course of this workshop, the mentors will discuss technique, composition, vision and intent and how to use the camera and lens in a creative way. They will discuss careers, talk about how to get published and how to work on a story.
Participants will stay in Vrindavan.
We will head for Barsana, full day excursion to photograph the Lath Mar Holi in Barsana Village. This colorful celebration is the fight between friends of Krishna and Radha.
Men from Nandgaon village dress in their traditional clothes and adorn the role of Gopas (friends of Lord Krishna), while women from Barsana adorn the role of Gopis (friends of Radha). The men throw colors on women and the women fight back with batons. The aim of the men is to install a flag on the temple of Radha at Barsana and claim victory.
Both Men and Women prepare for Lath Mar holi much in advance and each year they employ new methods to outsmart each other.
We spend the day in Barsana, shooting the streets, head back in the evening for Vrindavan. An interactive session with review of images in the evening follows.
The next day we leave for Nandgaon, spend the day shooting the lanes of Nandgaon, this is a full day excursion to photograph Lath Mar Holi in Nandgaon. Holi in Nandgaon is the return visit for the Gopas of Barsana to play Holi with Gopis of Nandgaon. This time it’s the men from Barsana who carry a flag from their village to the Shriji Temple in Nandgaon and the women from Nandgaon try to stop them.
The occasion is marked by singing folk songs and is an experience to be treasured.
We head back to Vrindavan in the evening for a an extensive selection process from the images shot during the day. Mentors spend time with each participant one on one and cater to their specific needs and provide direction.
Last day, Morning half day shooting around the Bankey Bihari Temple in Vrindavan. The term Bankey suggests “bent at three places” and Bihari refers to “the supreme enjoyer” Thus, Bankey bihari is the benefactor of bliss and pleasure. On Holi, Bankey Bihari is supposed to play holi and the whole town of Vrindavan gets submerged in colors.
We head back for a final presentation and review session with the mentors and each participant presents their work.
The top essay also gets a chance to be featured in the Magazine.
Option 1
LEICA Feedback Friday Winner, Koushik Sinha Roy
APF is pleased to announce the first Leica Feedback Friday winner, Koushik Sinha Roy. Feedbackfriday has been one of the most unique features of the APF Magazine Street Photography Group, one of the largest and most active Street Photography groups in the world today with over 134K active members from 100 different countries.
The idea behind LeicaFeedbackfriday is simple, to provide meaningful feedback to members, an hour is dedicated to providing critique and having a meaningful dialog. Leica was kind enough to back us up and present one of the most iconic books, Leica Practicum – Theory and practice of LEICAgraphy – silver halide and photo detector imaging with Leica M cameras by Erwin Puts.
We will like to take this opportunity to thank Leica for their commitment to the craft and always being generous to the community.
We are also proud of Koushik Sinha Roy for his continued effort and showing improvement in leaps and bounds. He is a hard working photographer and we wish him all the best. Congratulations once again. This particular image presented for feedback.
Vineet Vohra and Rohit Vohra – This is a great shot, going in close and getting the picture in the phone as well. Works on many levels. Great layers, the water droplets and details, everything adds to the composition. Eye moves nicely from right to left. The eye just keeps moving in a circle not letting the viewer out of the frame.
Thanks admins for always taking the time out and making this a success.
To know more about Leicafeedbackfriday, join our community here.
Have a great weekend everyone.
The Pushkar Photography Masterclass, 27th -29th Oct 2017
The challenge, the spontaneity, the joy of capturing that perfect moment when light, texture and all the elements coming together in that one frame.
Here is a story by Vineet Vohra from Last years Pushkar Festival for the Leica Blog
Held each at the time of the Kartik Purnima full moon, Pushkar Camel Fair is one of India’s most highly-rated travel experiences, a spectacle on an epic scale, attracting more than 11,000 camels, horses and cattle and visited by over 400,000 people over a period of around fourteen days.
For visitors it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the colour, spectacle and carnival of one of the last great traditional melas, which brings livestock, farmers, traders and villagers from all over Rajasthan.
APF is organising a 3 day intensive Photography Master Class which is tailor made to cater to needs of anyone who wishes to train their eyes to find order in chaos of Pushkar Mela.
WORKSHOP MENTORS
Vineet Vohra, APF Co-founder,Leica Brand Ambassador and Mentor
Rohit Vohra, APF Co-founder, Leica Brand Ambassador and Mentor
The Pushkar Master Class will be limited to an intimate class of max 8 passionate individuals who want to polish their skills and break out of their comfort zones. We’ll talk about street and travel photography. This workshop is designed to help improve your photography, enhance your style and find your vision by providing expert advice and knowledge specifically aimed at helping you achieve success in your work.
During this Intense shooting 3-day workshop, we will focus on the following topics:
Travel Photography and art of story telling
How to work towards a theme and focus on projects.
How to edit your images to enhance the final result.
Photography assignments to put theories to work while walking with the mentors in Pushkar.
The mentors will work with students both in critique sessions and in the field, sharing their working knowledge and techniques.
Each day will include shooting and theoretical session on all you need to know about Street and Travel photography, dos and don’ts, ways to overcome the fear of getting close, detailed look into various composition aspects and the common mistakes while composing, understanding layering in photography, Gestalt vision and its application in photography, developing ones own style, understanding peripheral vision, ways to see and treat light, video documentary of how their images are made as they shoot and how they fine tune their vision and more.
During the course of this workshop, the mentors will discuss technique, composition, vision and intent and how to use the camera and lens in a creative way. They will discuss careers, talk about how to get published and how to work on a story.
On the final day we make a presentation and have an in depth review session with the mentors and each participant presents their work.
The top essay also gets a chance to be featured in the Magazine.
Fee:
Workshop Charges : $500/ Rs 33,000 (Workshop only)
Charges are for workshop only, The participants are responsible for travel costs, visa, air tickets, train etc, accommodation and local transport. Staying in Pushkar is fairly reasonable and airbnb starts from under Rs 1000 ($20) a night. If you want any assistance regarding your stay, you can mail Mehar at contact@artphotofeature.com
There are no pre-requisites for attending this workshop. The workshop will be best suited for photographers who have some understanding of how to operate their camera, have had some experience in photography and want to take their skills to the next level. If you are unsure as to whether or not the workshop may be a good fit for, please contact us at contact@artphotofeature.com for a consultation.
You will need to bring the following to the workshop: A digital camera (DSLR, Leica, Micro 4/3rds, Point & Shoot, etc). You can use a film camera, but you must get your film processed overnight and scanned to present on the last day of the workshop. You should bring your laptop with editing software to edit images. Also, please bring a notebook to take down notes during the workshop. If you have any questions or inquiries, please email us at contact@artphotofeature.com and we will do whatever we can to help!
WORKSHOP TIMINGS
27th Oct 2017 : 12:00 pm – 7:30 pm
28th Oct 2017 : 7:00 am – 7:00 pm (lunch 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm)
29th Oct 2017 : 5:30 am – 2:30 pm (lunch 12:00 pm – 12:45 pm)
REGISTER NOW!
If you would like to register, send an email to contact@artphotofeature.com. After you register, we will send you an email regarding the deposit and payment options. To secure a spot in the workshop, you must send a deposit. Register soon, we anticipate spots will run out quickly for this workshop.
About the Mentors
Vineet Vohra
Born in Delhi/India, Vineet did masters in fine arts from the prestigious college of arts. He is a self-taught photographer and street photography is a passion that he follows like a discipline.
Vineet started shooting as a wild life photographer for two years and then switched on to street in 2001, it instantly became his passion.Vineet considers street photography a journey that he travels everyday. He believes in learning and unlearning and thrives to improve with each shot. Life in general which is so unexpected, he tries to be as honest through his lens as he can. His main focus is on how to make ordinary moments look extraordinary.
Currently Vineet presents workshops globally and has judged MSPF ( Miami street photography festival ), currently judging San Fransisco street photography festival and conducting a seminar and a workshop in SF. His works and stories have been published on various prestigious magazines all over the world including National Geographic. He is part of the famous collective www.streetcollective.com which comprises of only 8 members from the world and a part of APF collective which has 20 members.
In 2015 he was placed 5th in the top 20 most influential street photographers.
http://www.streethunters.net/blog/2015/04/08/20-most-influential-street-photographers-2015/
In 2016 has is placed 3rd in the top most influential street photographers.
http://www.streethunters.net/blog/2016/05/27/the-20-most-influential-street-photographers-for-2016/
His portfolio : http://www.vineettvohra.com/
He is a Leica Brand Ambassador and Mentor
Other publishes :
Leica Blog : http://blog.leica-camera.com/2016/05/13/otherwise-quaint-town/
http://121clicks.com/tutorials/getting-layers-right-street-photography-vineet-vohra
http://www.thestreetcollective.com/vineet-vohra
http://m.yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/profile/240352/#/photos/
http://121clicks.com/photo-stories/terminal-street-photography-essay-by-vineet-vohra
Rohit Vohra
Rohit Vohra is a street/ travel photographer, educator and Co-founder/ Editor in Chief of APF Magazine. In a search for methods to read the city, his photographs are often about contact with humans and basic living elements. He received his BFA from College of Arts, Delhi in the year 1997 and has been photographing for over 15 years.
He is one of Asia’s most prominent street photographers. His works have appeared in numerous Newspapers/ Magazines all over the world.
Among other commercial work, which includes product and fashion, he personally likes street photography because of the uncertainty, the challenge, the joy of capturing that perfect moment, perfect in terms of light, texture, and elements all perfectly in place.
For him street photography is one of the purest forms of photography. He says, “It is also one of the most difficult forms of photography. It’s difficult because we usually don’t have much control over the environment, well at least as much as we might like.”
He is a Leica Brand Ambassador and Mentor.
Follow him
https://www.instagram.com/rohit_apf/
He was placed No. 1 in the top 20 most influential street photographers in 2017.
http://www.streethunters.net/blog/2017/02/11/the-20-most-influential-street-photographers-for-2017/
Some of his interviews
http://121clicks.com/showcases/rohit-vohra-a-passionate-street-photographer-from-delhi-india
An Interview with Eric Kim
http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2013/11/20/reading-the-visual-layers-of-new-delhi-rohit-vohra/
Some Articles (2016-2017) for Huffington post
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/rohit-vohra/stolen-serenity-in-varanasi-photos/
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/rohit-vohra/a-window-into-hong-kong_b_9667366.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/rohit-vohra/grandiose-of-calcutta_b_9475426.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/rohit-vohra/lathmaar-holi-behind-the-_b_9529950.html
At Bored Panda
http://www.boredpanda.com/120-hours-in-hong-kong-photographer-comes-back-with-this/
He is on the judging panel of some of the top Photography awards in the world. Including IPA, PX3, SIPA, MIFA, Tokyo International Foto awards, Photogravphy Grant etc.
http://www.photoawards.com/rohit-vohra/
https://sipacontest.com/contest/jury/more.php?id=39
http://grant.photogrvphy.com/page/jury
http://www.urban.dotart.it/jury.html
http://www.moscowfotoawards.com/jury.html
To find out more about APF workshops , you can visit
http://www.artphotofeature.com/apf-magazine-street-photography-workshop-bangkok-6th-8th-june-2014/
APF Varanasi Workshop, 23rd-25th June 2017
Fee:
About the Mentors
Urban Awards 2017, A urban photography contest
In conversation with Angelo Cucchetto. His Bio
Call for entries of your International Contest URBAN Photo Awards 2017 has started, what are the numbers of past editions?
URBAN sees every year thousand of participating pictures and hundreds of photographers from all over the world. It is an always growing international contest, one of the very few that goes “over the boundaries” of Internet offering to photographers real visibility through dozens of international photo exhibitions. Only in 2016 URBAN saw more then 3.500 pictures uploaded, by more then 900 participants, focalized mostly in Europe, USA and Eastern Countries (India especially), and realized 32 exhibitions displaying about 700 pictures. The Total price value was more then 5.000 €. Behind it all, there is always the pursue of enhancement of photographic talent and quality.
What is the subject of the Contest this year?
URBAN 2017 is dedicated to Urban Photography. The aim is to explore the contemporary through all forms of photography based in the urban fabric. The star of the show: the City. Daily life in the city and in small villages, artistic views, architectural geometries, the fragments of colour that break the city greyness.
The thematic areas are seven: Street Photography, the many aspects of the urban fabric and the lives that inhabit it; Architecture, buildings, streets, urban geometries; Social City, places, events and gatherings in the City; Urban Art, the relationship between people and art in the City; Transport, different style of mobility in the city; Green Life, green areas, places, projects and sustainable lives and the last one Visions, that is a new area thought as a laboratory of artistic and experimental photos outside previous thematic areas (the main theme is always Urban Life). In this case the post-production is allowed. Moreover there is a section for portfolios and projects, where each participant can submit a series of images oriented to show his or her idea through photographs.
Who can participate and how?
Call for entries of your International Contest URBAN Photo Awards 2017 has started, what are the numbers of past editions? URBAN looks for talent and quality both among professional and amateur photographers, offering them an international stage from which to get noticed.
Are there any fees to pay for participation?
For THEMED PHOTOS the participation costs € 10 as entry fee for the first picture; further photos may be entered at a cost of € 5 per photo.
For STORIES & PORTFOLIOS, the participation costs € 10 as entry fee for portfolio, regardless of the number of photos that make up the portfolio (min 3 photos, no more than 12). Each participant can submit a maximum of 5 portfolios.
How will winners be selected?
The presented works will be selected by dotART and judged in a final manner by a prestigious international Jury.
Finalists will be published on the website in alphabetical order, without ranking at the end of July 2017. The absolute winner of Urban 2017 will be personally chosen by Jury President Maurizio Galimberti and he will be awarded personally by him during the award ceremony during the International Photo Festival Trieste Photo Days at the end of October in Trieste, (IT).
Final ranking will be published on URBAN website and Facebook page.
What are the prizes and what is the total amount?
First prize for the contest winner will be of 1.000 € plus accommodation in Trieste for the winner. The other prizes will be 24 along with 16 Honourable Mentions for a total prize of more then 4.000 €, and the chance to be chosen for Urban 2017 Summer Exhibitions around Europe.
Why to apply? Why to partecipate? What is the visibility of winning photographs?
The highest placing works will be published on the competition’s website and will be displayed in a collective exhibit on October/November 2017 in Trieste during Trieste Photo Days 2017.festival together with publication of the winners on our media partners world wide Magazines. Some of the submitted photos may in addition be selected for exhibits in Italy and abroad.
Among partners, other than Image in Progress, I can see many international names…
Even if it is too soon, how will you manage the Winner’s Exhibition and the Awards Ceremony?
From April we will be working on details about TPD Festival. I can already tell you that we will have a public free call for dummy about a personal photo book, with a winner also selected by Maurizio Galimberti and produced by dotART, a nice price for a nice urban photo project…
How do you live along with in the city of Trieste? What is the cooperation until now by the City Hall?
Hopefully this year we will have a good support from the City Hall and Government Region, with nice and important locations for personal exhibition. It seems that they finally understood the potential of this initiative.
Italy has an important historical tradition about photography, what is happening now?
A lot of local initiatives, done with a lot of passion, low budgets, often missing a central coordination; as usual in Italy, government policies are not oriented to professionals but to friends and political issues.
About the Italian photography history that has to be written, what URBAN Photo Awards represents?
A very good chance for Photography, as it is Trieste Photo Days: an international contest and a festival focused on Urban Photography. Today, most of the people in the world live in a urbanized area and there billions of pictures are shot every year.
Among your many initiatives, I have become curious about “Foodgraphy”. Considering the international success of TV program MasterChef and the Italian undeniably popolar cuisin, you chose a perfect country and a perfect timing for promoting this kind of photography, both traditional and experimental… what exactly is Foodgraphy?
Foodgraphia is an Exhibion of Food Art & Photography. It comes from my last project www.shootfood.it, launched in September 2016, an authorial project about food photography. I started it because food in Italy is very important. In the last years we saw the explosion of cooking, food blogging, food story telling, etc. but the quality of the visuals often is not at the level of the food and it misses artistic values, so I thought it was about time for an authorial food photography project.
Are you expecting to organize again another edition next year?
Foodgraphia Exibithion went really well, we had a good public success, a lot of visitors, a good press diffusion. A very nice book produced, also published in digital version at https://issuu.com/shootfood/docs/foodgraphia. I understood Foodgraphia answers to a demand, and we see will go for a second edition in 2018.
By the way, in May 2017 there will be Milano Food Week, an important festival about food and Ho.Re.Ca. world, sponsored this year by the City Hall, the Regional Government and other Government Institutions. As Shootfood we are organizing with them two dedicated projects about Food Photography. But this is a gossip J !
What is happening to still life photography right now?
Professionally not a great period, but I see a good potential in B2C cultural activities.
How can our readers be updated about your next projects?
On our websites: Urban Photo Awards 2017 (www.urbanphotoawards.com), Shootfood (www.shootfood.it), on my historical web portal Photographers.it (www.photographers.it) and, of course, Facebook!
XPOSURE, not just a festival but a journey!
I have been shooting streets from past eighteen years and I’ve been practicing, yes practicing! I feel photography is something which we keep practicing all our lives, the day we master we cease to grow, we evolve and start seeing things differently and it reflects in our work. I have met some phenomenal photographers and at the same time have met people who aspire to be photographers, an interesting thing which came up was that lots of budding photographers didn’t even have the answer on whether they picked up photography to relish the art or they just wanted to be known as photographers. They are shooting images from eating in the restaurant to shooting while they were in a gallery looking at Renoir’s work, nothing wrong, but one has to learn to live in the moment to be able to make good street images, if we take street photography as a chore then we are trying to please an audience and look for wow, outstanding, epic, mind blowing, beautiful etc, words to satisfy our ego and enjoy few minutes of fame. If one can’t be a part of moment then the outcome feels as distant as the image and the core idea of any good street image is that the viewer wants to feel as if they were part of the moment.
Lot of us photographers face a photographer’s block which is quite similar to a writers block and to overcome this one should read books, attend seminars, talks, workshops and exhibitions and one extraordinary festival which I attended and was honoured to give a talk and workshop was the first edition of XPOSURE, launched by Sharjah Media Centre, an International Photography Festival which has now become an annual feature in the calendar of professional photographers, photography enthusiasts, filmmakers, students and educators from around the world. From the opening talk to the closing ceremony, every moment spent was overwhelming, every little detail was intriguing, the man behind the show and a dear friend Simon Newton made sure that the event was not only about photography but a platform where photography and photographers were showered with extravagant love and respect. When one is blessed with that kind of honour, it just makes one crave to be a part of that festival and I’m no exception. During the talk and while I was showcasing my work, it just stuck me that my work was predominantly in colour and I was relying heavily on colours to be a integral part of my frames, then & there in my heart I challenged myself for shooting in monochrome for at least a year, and I’m almost mid way through my journey. The JOURNEY which started with the onset of XPOSURE festival and I must say I’m enjoying every bit of it, one doesn’t need to look for an inspiration, inspiration simply finds you, one needs to constantly challenge oneself and the only competition one should have is to be better than the previous image. The joy of street photography is that it is independent and also selective at the same time. There are no “right” or “wrong” ways in street photography, there are ethics which only we decide, do street photography for yourself, be different, be yourself and enjoy the journey called street photography. Sharing few shots I took during this journey.
APF Bangkok Masterclass, 12th-14th May 2017
APF is organising a 3 day intensive masterclass which is tailor made to cater to the needs of anyone who wishes to train their eyes to find order in chaos on the streets of Bangkok. Street photography is very rewarding but at the same time, one of the hardest genres to master. Our workshop would help ease the anxiety next time you hit the streets, would help solve the puzzle of composing compelling images in split seconds and most importantly it would help you to see.
During this masterclass, mentors will take the students out on the streets and pass on their tips and knowledge on capturing compelling images on the street. This masterclass includes classroom and shooting sessions. Detail lectures, critiques and selection process will be part of everyday session. We will also look into various composition aspects and the common mistakes while composing, understanding layering in photography, developing ones own style, understanding peripheral vision, ways to see and treat light, will present a video documentary of how their images are made as they shoot and how they fine tune their vision.
Vineet, Rohit and would also guide you through their signature – Gestalt Vision, widely applied in their images, which basically involves an attempt to organize visual elements into groups or unified whole by applying principles of composition.
Apply here for the Masterclass
The mentors will accompany participants while shooting, observe them at work and give instant feedback and suggestions when required. Students will also have a chance to observe the mentors at work, learn their tricks and techniques.
This masterclass is limited to a maximum of 12 participants,
During this intensive 3-day masterclass, mentors will focus on the following topics:
– Street photography
– The light and how to handle it
– Composition – from simple to multi-layered
– Telling a story with your photographs
– Working on projects
– Developing personal style
There are no pre-requisites for attending this workshop. The workshop will be best suited for photographers who have some understanding of how to operate their camera, edit their photos, have some experience in photography and want to take their skills to the next level. However, inexperienced photographers are also welcome.
Students need to bring the following to the workshop:
– A digital camera with a fixed wide angle lens preferably (a 35mm focal length lens would be best). You are most welcome to get your Long telephoto lenses and zooms for your personal work.
– A laptop with software to edit/tone your images
– A notebook to take down notes during the workshop
WORKSHOP FEE
Tuition for the workshop THB 17,500/ $500
Charges are for the workshop only. The participants are responsible for travel, visa, accommodation and local transport costs. Staying in Bangkok is fairly reasonable and starts from under $25 a night. If you want any assistance regarding your accommodation in Bangkok, you can email Mehar at contact@artphotofeature.com.
REGISTRATION
To sign up for the workshop please email us at contact@artphotofeature.com
After registering we will send you an email regarding the deposit and payment options. To secure a spot in the workshop you must send the full deposit.
To find out more about APF workshops, you can visit
http://www.artphotofeature.com/apf-magazine-street-photography-workshop-bangkok-6th-8th-june-2014/
Mentors
Tavepong Pratoomwong,
A well known and awarded Street photographer based in Bangkok will also present his work and share his wisdom with the participants.
You can find more about him here
Venue : Gaysorn Diamond Lounge, 3rd floor Gaysorn Village, one floor above Leica Store Bangkok
12th May : 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Apply here for the Masterclass
Top 10 Photographers to follow on Instagram
APF, is an entity of Artphotofeature Magazine, a publication that evolved with a strong education imperative at its core. Our team is diverse and we share the same passion and vision of making APF a meeting place where known and unknown artists can share their work and a collective vision of our world.
In this post, we the editors of APF Magazine Rohit Vohra (@rohit_apf) and Vineet Vohra (@vineet_vohra) have complied a list of 10 Photographers to follow on Instagram. Listed in no particular order.
Dave Yoder
Contract photographer for National Geographic Magazine & National Geographic Society Explorer. Hoosier (from Indiana, USA). In Rome these days.www.daveyoder.com
Boogie
Asa Sjostrom
Aik Beng Chia
Tavepong Pratoomwong
Graciela Magnoni
Barry Talis
Xyza Cruz Bacani
Gustavo Gomes
Marina Sersale
Coming up next week is the list of Top 10 Magnum Photographers to follow.
You can follow APF Magazine on Instagram HERE
Who are some of your favourite talented photographers on Instagram you would add to this list . Share the knowledge by leaving a link to their Instagram below!