masterclass
Visual Storytelling
Yuri Kozyrev/Noor
ORIGINAL MASTERCLASS with
YURI KOZYREV /NOOR IMAGES
IN VILLAGE SHENAKO, TUSHETI, GEORGIA
Visual Storytelling
Saturday July 22nd to Thursday, July 28th 2017
For its 8th edition, Tbilisi Photo Festival partners with AtlasGlobal to hold its Original Masterclass in the remote village of Shenako, 2000 meters high in the Greater Caucasus mountain range. This awe-inspiring hamlet of shepherds and horsemen was chosen for its breathtaking landscape and its photographic legacy in the name of Shalva Alkhanaidze, whose brilliant mid-20th century images of Tushetian life reveal a world of raw passion and somber frankness.
The Masterclass aims both to help photographers develop a personal photographic language and to discover Georgia by exploring one of its most enchanting regions.
This year, Tbilisi Photo Festival has invited YURI KOZYREV, an internationally-acclaimed photographer to conduct the Masterclass workshop. He has keen ability to communicate his profound knowledge of photography with others and is intimately familiar with Caucasus region and Georgia.
Yuri Kozyrev is a NOOR photographer who started his career as a photojournalist twenty-five years ago, documenting the collapse of the Soviet Union and capturing the rapid changes of the former USSR for the LA Times throughout the 1990s. In 2001, Yuri began to cover international news, working first from Afghanistan and then from Iraq as a contract photographer for Time Magazine. Since the beginning of 2011, Yuri has been documenting the “Arab Revolutions” and their aftermaths in Bahrain, Yemen, Tunisia and Egypt and Libya in paerticular. Yuri has received numerous honors for his photography, including several World Press Photo Awards, the OPC’s Oliver Rebbot Award, the ICP Infinity Award for Photojournalism, the Frontline Club Award, the Visa d'or News and the Prix Bayeux-Calvados. In 2011 he was named Photographer of the Year in the Pictures of the Year International competition. In 2015, Yuri began covering the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the migrant crisis in Europe.
VISUAL STORYTELLING MASTERCLASS IN SHENAKO
WITH YURI KOZYREV
During the six days, Yuri will collaborate closely with each photographer on developing and refining their individual photographic stories. He will also share with participants his professional expertise and discuss the ethics of “getting close.” The workshop will include theoretical discussions, portfolio reviews and practical shooting assignments, making this workshop a fascinating learning experience.
At this Masterclass, Yuri will also present his stories produced for the world’s leading publications. He will focus on editing and image sequencing and discuss how to get into places, how not to run after spot news and tell the story that is unseen. He will also explain how to approach personal stories and stay human to the subjects of your story.
THE TBILISI PHOTO FESTIVAL
The Tbilisi Photo Festival was launched in 2010, in partnership with Les Rencontres d’Arles. It is the first annual international photography festival in the Caucasus and has proven to be not only the most respected festival of photography in the region but one of the most highly esteemed cultural events in the Caucasus.
The festival is significant for being a central meeting point for photography from the west, along with Asia, Iran, Turkey, Russia and the Arab world. Each year, the Tbilisi Photo Festival attracts internationally renowned photographers, curators, photo editors and leaders of other major photo festivals to the Georgian capital, along with thousands of photography fans. Tbilisi is fast becoming a hub for new ideas in photography.
Artistic Director Nestan Nijaradze co founded the festival with Lioenl Charrier – French photographer and currently Photo Editor at Liberation in 2010. Trained in Paris, Nestan has curated many major international exhibitions and reviews portfolios in prestigious festivals around the world.
She has tapped into Tbilisi’s long-standing distinction of being an east-west crossroads by inviting both internationally famous photographers and those who are virtually unknown in the western world, yet are equally committed to photography and produce world-class images.
PARTNERSHIP WITH ATLASGLOBAL
– 30% ON AIR TICKETS for Masterclass participants
TBILISI PHOTO FESTIVAL Masterclasses takes pride in ensuring that participants are completely taken care of from the moment of their arrival until the time of departure. This year, Tbilisi Photo Festival has partnered with AtlasGlobal Airlines, who will provide all participants a 30 percent discount on flights from every European city to Tbilisi.
To benefit from this offer participants must email to:
georgia@atlasglb.com
with “Tbilisi Photo Festival workshop/Tusheti ” in the subject heading.
(office tel: + 995 599 32 2 25 03 30 ) from 10 am to 7 pm Tbilisi time.
The philosophy of these Masterclasses is to combine a friendly atmosphere in a country where people are famous for their hospitality with hard-working sessions to give shape to one's inner eye. Developing photographic language requires being engaged on the ground and understanding how crucial editing is to creating a coherent series.
Participants will be driven up to an elevation of 2000 meters along a breathtaking road through the Tusheti National Park to Shenako, where they will be lodged at a family-run guest house. Days will be spent exploring ancient villages made of slate, stone and wood with respect to local customs and traditions (a mix of Christian and pre-Christian paganism). In these protected areas settlements cling impossibly to the sides of mountains while the people are true mountaineers who have been forging their lives in tune with the rugged natural environment for generations. Participants will be flown out of Shenako by helicopter, weather permitting.
WHO CAN JOIN THIS WORKSHOP?
Anyone who has a passion for the still image: professional and amateur photographers, artists and students of photography and art.
We believe that every individual has the capacity to build their own visual language when passion for the imageco-exist with the proper guidance.
FINAL PRESENTATION
Each participant will prepare a slideshow from the final selection of their work, with the assistance of their instructors. These slideshows will be publicly projected on the last evening of the Masterclass on a wide screen. For Shenako’s residents, it will be the first ever public photography screening in the village and a unique opportunity to see firsthand their guest’s perceptions of their remarkable world.
WHAT TO BRING
- A portfolio of approx. 30 images, including few photographic stories and singles
- Your digital camera, one lens only & its accessories (extra batteries, memory cards, cable for image transfer to a computer, USB key, external hard disk, etc).
- A notebook or recording device to facilitate note-taking during the Masterclass.
- Your personal computer, if possible.
- Clothing suitable for the mountains, including appropriate footwear. Remember, night time can get quite chilly.
SPOKEN LANGUAGES
English, Russian, Georgian
MORE INFORMATION
Contact Elina Valaité, Masterclass coordinator (she speaks English, Russian and Georgian).
email: masterclass@tbilisiphotofestival.com
ACCOMMODATION
In Tbilisi, participants will stay at a modern, comfortable and secure hostel conveniently located in the center of the city. Fabrika is an old Soviet sewing factory that has been repurposed into a fabulously modern hostel and cool urban space in an old Tbilisi neighborhood.
http://fabrikatbilisi.com/hostel/
In Shenako, participants will stay at a rustic family-run guesthouse.
PRICE
The coast of the 6 days of masterclass is 950 euros
The accomodation ready package price is 600 euros including:
- Transfers from and to Airport in Tbilisi
- Accommodation in Tbilisi and Shenko
- Trips by car during the masterclass in Shenako
- 3 meals per day during the stay in Georgia
- Travel from Tbilisi to Shenko by car and from Shenako to Tbilisi by helicopter
The number of participants is limited to 8.
The participants that will register before May 15th , will get the special 10% discount on the price of the masterclass.
For more information and schedule of masterclass activties contact :
Elina Valaité, Masterclass coordinator (she speaks English, Russian and Georgian).