Discovering and Sharing
TPW started in 1994: back then, it was only a few classes running in the heart of the summer.
The idea was simple, the times were perfect: we where offering to photographers at any level the possibility to improve their vision, art and technique, by spending a week with professional photographers, glad and willing to share their expertise.
Something very new for Italy and Europe.
More than anything, we started a formula that still holds nowadays: ok, the darkrooms are not there anymore, and we don’t have to send a driver to Florence to have the colour film processed every morning; presentations are done with video projectors and not Kodak Carousel…but the essential spirit of TPW is still here, stronger than ever.
We are not a traditional school: our classrooms and meeting spaces vary from an old castle to farmhouses and old barns, from sunflower fields to a café in the piazza of a city where we have our workshops.
The teachers at TPW are internationally known professional photographers who dedicate a week of their time to the students, in order to share their personal photographic technique and aesthetic.
The week runs in a very simple way: during the workshop teachers examine the portfolios brought by the students, classes on technical and aesthetic matters are conducted, teachers show their work and, with constant help, students produce new photographs while working on new projects. On the last night there is a final slide show presentation of the students’ work, and the morning after is the moment when students and teachers discuss the work developed during the week and make plans for future projects.
The week at TPW does not end in six days. Teachers and students stay in touch after the workshop exchanging ideas, asking opinions about their work, supporting each other on new photographic projects thus creating a dynamic photographic community.
Every years photographers from all over the world join us in our workshops here in Italy and in other different locations around the world: learning, sharing, meeting new friends, expanding their vision…
It sounds like a manifesto from some hippy commune! Maybe is just the passion and enthusiasm that motivates us to create a small world where, for one week, we can immerse totally in photography!
A (almost) Totally Perfect World