Mark Power

WALKING THROUGH HISTORY 
“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.” – Henry David Thoreau

Μark believes that the best way to connect to a place is by walking. Moving slowly, quietly, and with the heightened concentration that comes from being alone you tend to see differently and can think with greater clarity. If you have some knowledge of the history of where you are walking – of what happened there – the experience is heightened still further. That’s why this workshop will begin – even before you get to Santorini – with historical research. You’ll receive a link to a short film, and be recommended some suggested reading (not too much, but enough to give you a reasonable grasp of the island’s remarkable history by the time you arrive, as well as various information)

Armed with what you’ve learned, you’ll be encouraged to make at least two self-guided walks throughout the island. Some paths are well known, others less so; some easy, others more challenging. Where you go, is entirely up to you.

On alternate days you’ll gather as a group to look closely at the work you’ve just made, and Mark will present two lectures, one about his work in general and the other about sequencing. You’ll also discuss photographic subjectivity, and how one chooses to look at a ‘landscape’, all in an attempt to better understand how you might connect to the spirit of a place, its genius loci, and to make pictures of it. At the same time it’s important to remember that none of you are on a commercial assignment. Therefore you might, if you choose to do so, search for a contrary vision to that of a commercial photographer working for the Santorini tourist board. The island you depict might instead appear to be an uneasy, unsettling place where all might not be as it seems.

Which approach, after all, is closer to the ‘truth’? Or are they both fictions which are less about the place they depict and more about the decisions we all make when we take pictures.