Intervención Fotográfica

Photography is most often presented as a two-dimensional art form, but there are ways to craft photographic images into three-dimensional sculptural pieces. Participants will be asked to bring several 8x10 prints with them to experiment with in creating tabula scalata and other 3-D techniques. There will be a presentation in the beginning sharing examples of three-dimensional and sculptural photographic works, as well as time for everyone to introduce themselves and their work, and the remaining time will be dedicated to hands-on learning. Participants will mak informed choices as to which images to pair for their tabula scalata and spend approximately 1 – 2 hours making them. The remaining time will be spent experimenting with different ways to create sculptural works, including cutting and reassembling, structural creation.

Outline

1. Introduction and Presentation: Presentation on three-dimensional photography techniques and photographic sculpture. Examples of three-dimensional and sculptural photographic works. Explanation of the tabula scalata technique and other three-dimensional techniques.

2. Participant Introductions: Each participant will have the opportunity to introduce themselves and briefly talk about their work and expectations for the workshop.

3. Image Selection and Preparation: Participants will choose the 8x10 prints they wish to use for creating their tabula scalata. They will be guided in selecting images that complement each other well for the sculptural process.

4. Creating Tabula Scalata: Participants will spend between one and one and a half hours creating their tabula scalata (three-dimensional photographic structures). Materials and tools will be provided for cutting, assembling, and mounting the images in different forms and layers, giving them the freedom to experiment with texture and composition.

5. Experimenting with Sculptural Techniques: Time dedicated to experimenting with other techniques to create three-dimensional photographic works. Participants will explore cutting, reassembling, and creating structures to transform their images into sculptural pieces.

6. Closing and Reflection: A space for participants to share their creations, reflect on the process, and discuss the challenges and discoveries made during the workshop. An opportunity to ask questions and receive feedback on their work.

Each participant should bring at least six prints to work with, ideally 8x10” in size.

Este taller propone explorar el bordado sobre fotografías como una herramienta de intervención artística, utilizando archivos históricos como medio de conciliación. A través de esta práctica, se busca disolver las barreras étnicas que han perpetuado la división y el abuso, generando un espacio de reflexión y conexión entre diversas visiones culturales y ancestrales. El bordado sobre fotografías servirá como una forma de visibilizar las emociones, historias y luchas que atraviesan las imágenes históricas, dándoles un nuevo significado y valor en el presente.

Cronograma

1. Introducción: Introducción sobre archivos históricos, su valor como patrimonio y como la intervención artística, puede ser usada como medio de conciliación que nos ayude a disolver las barreras étnicas que han perpetuado la división y el abuso.

2. Sesión de “Mama Ruku”: Se realizará una sesión grupal de lectura del oráculo amazónico “Mama Ruku”, que permitirá conectar con nuestras emociones y recibir consejos en relación con los archivos a intervenir desde la mirada ancestral peruana. Generando un espacio de vulnerabilidad, reflexión y unión de miradas latinas y occidentales.

3. Bordado sobre fotografía, se enseñarán técnicas de bordado sobre fotografía divididas en:

   • Elección de colores y partes a intervenir según lo que busquemos transmitir.

   • Como punzar correctamente el papel.

   • Puntos de bordado plano.

   • Puntos de relieve que no dañen el papel.

Los participantes deben traer fotografías, flores y hojas secas. (auque la organización del festival dispondrá para este taller de agujas, tijeras e hilos los participantes puede traer los suyos)

Considering photography as an object is exploring its materiality: working with the volume, thinking of the back and the texture. An object is made to be touched, and this sense is full of emotion. You will build your own photo-objects concerning the story being told to you by the images. Found photos are full of mystery. Who, where, when, why? All stories can be imagined. The Artist will invite you to choose your favorite found photos among a large choice, or bring your own, and let your emotion and imagination run wild. During this workshop, you will learn how to assemble found photos with non-photographic elements to make meaning and feeling. You will know how to gild and patinate a photo, how to include pearls, ribbons, embroideries and others simple objects to create a mixed-media piece. This workshop is the opportunity to discover together the soothing effect of creating an emotional object with found photos.

Ouline

1. Introduction: Talk about materiality of photography and the idea of Photo-Object. The particularity to work on found photos and unknown people. Working on an original or on a copy? Overview of my own work and other artists integrating similar concept.

2. Technical Introduction: A few esthetic basic rules. Presentation of the materials, the found-photos and the outline

3. Gilding and Patina: Presentation of my experimentation’s notebook. How to gild with gold or pink gold leaf and how to patinate to get an aged look: Demonstration and exploration by the participants.

4. Assemblage: Showing embroidery stitches and other ideas. Encouraging participants to follow the emotion from their chosen found-photos and trust their imagination.

5. Finishing the Golden Photos: Observing the results and comments. Continuing the work by adding other elements

6. Conclusion: Looking at all creations as a collective collection. Distributing a summary document.

   
   

If they prefer, participants can bring their own found photos.

This workshop is an alongside activity of “The Customers” series by Wai Hang Siu, which is exhibiting in Experimental Photo Festival 2025. Receipts are often the first items discarded after purchase. Yet, they serve as unique records of our daily consumption, capturing preferences, routines (such as where, when, and what we buy), and sometimes even more personal or social insights.

In this workshop, participants will bring their thermal paper receipts collected from their daily lives, whether from recent transactions, items kept at home, or sourced within their community. By stitching these receipts together and feeding them back into a commercial receipt printer, participants will imprint their portraits onto the receipts, visually exploring how consumerism shapes identity.

At the workshop's conclusion, each participant's work will be preserved, scanned, and included in the Customers series, offering their narrative as part of this collective project.

Outline

1. Introduction

   • Workshop as a parallel activity to The Customers series by Wai Hang Siu

   • Part of the Experimental Photo Festival 2025

2. Concept: Receipts as overlooked but insightful records of daily consumption

   • Purpose and Concept

   • Exploring consumerism and identity through receipts

   • Receipts as personal and social documentation

   • Transformation of disposable items into artistic and narrative expressions

3. Workshop Process

   • Collection of Receipts

   • Participants bring thermal paper receipts from daily life

   • Sources: recent transactions, old receipts, community-sourced receipts

4. Artistic Process

   • Stitching receipts together

   • Feeding them back into a commercial receipt printer

   • Printing participants' portraits onto the receipts

5. Conceptual Reflection

   • Visual representation of consumer habits and identity

6. Workshop Conclusion

   • Preservation and documentation of participants' work

   • Scanning and inclusion in The Customers series

   • Contribution to the collective narrative of consumer culture

Participants mus bring Thermal Receipts (Super Market, restaurant, shop….) collected in daily life, we need a lot, so bring as many as they can, at least 30.

“Folding Landscapes: Intersecting Art and Place” will guide participants through a process of transforming photographic prints using folding techniques. The workshop will encourage participants to explore the relationship between image and form, offering insights into the cultural impact of landscape representation and allowing participants to create their own folded image compositions.

Outline

1. Participants will print their images using a digital printer

2. We will look at the images and discuss their location and the participants relationship to the landscapes.

3. The Artist will demonstrate various paper folding techniques

4. We will rephotograph folded prints taking into account lighting and framing

5. We will print rephotographed photographs

Participants should bring digital files to print sized at A4 at 300ppi.

Photographic intervention is an artistic practice where photographs are altered using various materials and techniques to transform their meaning, composition, and aesthetic. By combining traditional photography with mixed media, photographers push the boundaries of the medium and create unique, one-of-a-kind pieces that express personal stories and emotions in new and innovative ways. In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn how to use paints, inks, and other materials to manipulate images, emphasize certain elements, obscure others, and create a more expressive visual narrative.

Outline

1. Introduction to Photographic Intervention

   • Discuss the role of mixed media in photography, and how altering photographs can create new artistic statements.

   • Introduce artists who have contributed to the development of photographic intervention.

2. Understanding Materials and Tools

   • Types of Paints and Pigments

   • Paper Types

   • Tools for Intervention

3. First Interventions: Working with Black and White Prints

   • Focus on enhancing the contrast, adding texture, and highlighting specific elements (such as faces, landscapes, or patterns) of the photograph.

   • Discuss composition and how to guide the viewer’s eye using color, texture, and layering.

4. Second Interventions: Working with Color Prints

   • Focus on how the interventions can either complement or contrast the existing colors, creating a cohesive yet transformed visual experience, applying a mix of acrylic paints, markers, and pastels to alter and reimagine the image.

   • Encourage participants to experiment with methods that either emphasize certain elements or obscure them.

5. Final Touches and Presentation

   • Once everyone has completed their interventions, each participant will have the chance to present their work and explain the techniques and creative process used.

   • Group discussion on the different methods and approaches, offering insights into how materials and personal creativity were combined.

   • Feedback from peers and the instructor will encourage further exploration and refinement of skills for future work.

Participants Must Bring: black and white and color photo prints on different papers. For exploring a bit more postcards, magazine cuts, and polaroids are welcomed as well.

This workshop proposes to explore embroidery on photographs as an artistic intervention tool, using historical archives as a means of reconciliation. Through this practice, the aim is to dissolve the ethnic barriers that have perpetuated division and abuse, creating a space for reflection and connection between diverse cultural and ancestral perspectives. Embroidery on photographs will serve as a way to bring visibility to the emotions, stories, and struggles embedded in historical images, giving them new meaning and value in the present.

Outline

1. Introduction: Introduction to historical archives, their value as heritage, and how artistic intervention can be used as a means of reconciliation to help dissolve the ethnic barriers that have perpetuated division and abuse.

2. "Mama Ruku” Session: A group session for reading the Amazonian oracle “Mama Ruku” will take place, allowing us to connect with our emotions and receive guidance related to the archives to be intervened from the ancestral Peruvian perspective. This will generate a space for vulnerability, reflection, and the union of Latin and Western viewpoints.

3. Embroidery on Photography: Techniques for embroidery on photographs will be taught, divided into the following:

   • Selection of colors and parts to intervene based on what we seek to convey.

   • How to correctly puncture the paper.

   • Flat embroidery stitches.

   • Raised stitches that do not damage the paper.

   
   

Participants must bring photographs, dried flowers, and leaves. (Although the festival organizers will provide needles, scissors, and thread for this workshop, participants may bring their own.)

Este taller propone una exploración profunda sobre el uso de la intervención artística en archivos fotográficos históricos, particularmente a través del bordado y la pintura, con el fin de repensar y descolonizar la narrativa que rodea a estas imágenes. A lo largo de la sesión, los participantes se sumergirán en las dimensiones emocionales, sociales y culturales de las fotografías, interpretándolas y reconfigurándolas desde una perspectiva crítica y reflexiva.

Cronograma

1. Sesión de “Mama Ruku”: Se realizará una sesión grupal de lectura del oráculo amazónico “Mama Ruku”, que permitirá conectar con nuestras emociones y recibir consejos en relación con los archivos a intervenir desde la mirada ancestral peruana. Generando un espacio de vulnerabilidad, reflexión y unión de miradas latinas y occidentales.

2. El archivo como medio descolonizador: Se llevará a cabo una observación detallada del archivo fotográfico para comprender cada momento capturado y las emociones de las personas retratadas, así como, su condición étnica influyó en su realidad. Permitiendo reinterpretar el archivo de manera crítica.

3. Elección de fotografía a intervenir: Se abrirá un diálogo para comprender las razones detrás de la elección de una imagen específica para intervenir.

4. Pintura sobre fotografía: Se enseñarán técnicas para reinterpretar una imagen de archivo a través de la pintura. Se analizará qué partes de la imagen ameritan ser pintadas y los motivos para ello.

5. Bordado sobre fotografía: Elección de zonas a bordar, uso de papel canson para diseño. Punzado correcto del papel. Elección de colores de hilo. Bordado en la fotografía. Aplicación básica de pedrería. Aplicación de naturaleza muerta.

6. Justificación de los trabajos: Los participantes del taller expondrán y justificarán sus obras, explicando las decisiones creativas y técnicas detrás de cada intervención.

Los participantes deben traer fotografías impresas* que los remonten a sus raíces que deseen sanar (no deben exceder los 20*30 cm), pedrería., flores y hojas secas. (la organización del VI Experimental Photo Festival dispondrá para este taller de agujas, acuarelas, aletas de pintura, pinceles, tijeras e hilos)*Si desea pintar y bordar la fotografía debe estar impresa en papel de algodón.

Photography is, first and foremost, an object. For the duration of the workshop, The Artist invite you to consider photography through materiality by creating small photo-objects to explore the precious and the tactile. The touch is a very sensitive sense, full of memory and emotion, a passionate and rare dimension of photography. This process can be considered cameraless as we will not work with negatives but will create images with photosensitive emulsion. Clay is an interesting natural material. We can create shapes and textures as we like. I will explain the process, but I will bring prepared pieces to have time to focus on the other aspects of the project. In this workshop, you will explore how cyanotype interacts with clay, and how to derive a particular aesthetic form. Then you will learn how to gild and to patinate using a simple method to give it an aged look. Finally, you will give your pieces a soft, glossy finish by applying resin.

Outline

1. Introduction: Discussion about the materiality of photography, the notion of photo-object, the sense of touch in photography, the “pocket format” and its relationship to intimacy. Overview of my own work and other artists integrating similar concept

2. Technical Introduction: Explanation about clay. Presentation of the materials and the outline techniques and objectives.

3. Experimenting with Cyanotype on Clay: Discover how to get diVerent eVects using clay cracks, various tools, watercolor, masks and hydrogen peroxide.

4. Gild and Patine: How to gild and patinate to get an aged look? Demonstration and experimentation by participants.

5. Laying the Resin: Prepare and lay the resin. Observe the specific eVects.

6. Look at all creations as a collective collection. Provide a summary document

7. After a minimum of 24 hours drying time, recovery of parts