Discovering the Italian archipelago in the Adriatic Sea, a place of borders, rugged beauty and deep sea.
And Diomedes cast three gigantic boulders, from which the Tremiti islands were born.
‘How deep the sea is‘ wrote Lucio Dalla. He, one of the most talented and inspired italian songwriter, who had established his personal retreat on the Tremiti islands, managed to describe with great intensity ‘that joke of a land‘ where human beings have laboured for millennia to defend that isolated rock. The three islands of San Nicola, San Domino and Capraia almost touch each other, but then their strips of land run off in three opposite directions and show each other their differences. These three rocks thus encapsulate the intense beauty, melancholy and harshness of the Mediterranean in a single archipelago.
A workshop in the middle of the sea
The Tremiti Islands are an archipelago in the Adriatic Sea, 22 km north of the Gargano promontory and 45 km east of Termoli. These islands, although in a marginal geographic position, have their own unique epic that has spanned the history of our country. The island of San Nicola was colonised as early as the first millennium B.C., but it was only in Roman times that it became a permanent settlement. The stratification of cultures and societies spanned the centuries, bringing to us an abbey perched and defended by high bastions overlooking the sea. That sea from which the British and the Turks attempted an assault, that same sea from which the confined Sandro Pertini could see the heel of Italy in the distance. “These islands are so rich in history, culture and legends that it is worth getting to know them in order to enjoy them to the full.“ Lucio Dalla (May 2002)
This ensemble of legend, history and culture, combined with the beauty of the Mediterranean landscape, makes the Tremiti Islands the ideal setting for documentary photography workshops, where you can learn the strategies for telling the story of an incredible place: the islands of the Mediterranean.
Designing is easy when you know how
During this immersive experience participants will have the opportunity to confront themselves with tutors in order to realise a well-structured personal project, telling the story of the territory where our work will be developed. The aim of this workshop is to provide participants with the basic tools for constructing a story through images, helping everyone to develop their own photographic identity and find their own visual language. Starting from the assumption that “creativity does not mean improvisation without method” (Bruno Munari), we will understand how instead a solid method can stimulate our creativity and help us get in touch with our inner world. Planning, therefore, as a path to knowledge of the sensitive and subtle worlds, of one’s own work and self.
WHAT WE WILL DO
On Sunday 7 May we will arrive on the Island of St. Nicholas and make arrangements for accommodation and the practical aspects of the workshop. Monday 8 May will be dedicated to the introductions of the lecturers and participants, the theoretical introduction of the workshop and a visit to St Nicholas Island. Tuesday 9, Wednesday 10, Thursday 11 and Friday 12 May we will get into the heart of the work and dedicate ourselves to telling the story of the islands. In particular, we will enter the lives of the inhabitants of the Tremiti and what remains of the places of the so-called ‘confined’, we will visit the uninhabited island of Capraia with a boat trip, and we will tell the story of the tourist island of the archipelago, San Domino. We will again breathe in the soul of the place by meeting and photographing local fishermen and will dedicate the last day, Saturday 13 May, to editing and producing the projects of the individual participants.
Each evening we will review all the day’s shots trying to develop everyone’s storytelling skills while enhancing the identity and style of the individual participant. On Sunday 14 May we will leave the Island.
WHAT TO BRING
A camera, a notebook, a laptop and an external hard disk. If participants have already created a work or photographic project, they can bring it in digital or printed form.
COSTS and REGISTRATION
The registration fee for the workshop is € 1000.00 and the number of places available will be limited to 10.
For those who register by 10 March, the registration fee is 790.00 Euro.
What is included: participation in the workshop, all boat trips and the guides who will accompany us on our project.
What is not included: board and lodging and travel expenses to the island of San Nicola in the Tremiti.
From the following link you can download the PDF of the complete ISOLE programme
For further information you can email me at info@marcozorzanello.com or by phone +393485439903.
You can also contact the other lecturer Gabriele Cecconi (www.gabrielececconi.org) at the email cecconigabriele@gmail.com or by phone +393487268169.