9 March 2021
Dear <<First name*>>–
If you've been getting my emails and social media messages for a while, you probably know how passionate I am about creating, teaching and promoting photography as an important form of fine art and personal expression. (If you're new here, thanks for joining us!) In any case, I have something important to talk to you about, so please allow me to provide a brief introduction and background.
Early in my development as a photographer, I was fortunate to have teachers, mentors and friends who instilled in me the belief that photography—as with other art forms—is most productive and meaningful when it is a shared experience. At first, this put me off a little, because one of the most appealing things to me about photography is that I can do it myself.
Following a long career as a graphic designer and digital multimedia developer, I had come to photography through a circuitous journey of exploring all modern forms of visual communication. Most notably, I fell in love with fine art photography when I recognised that I can conceive, produce and deliver finished works myself, without depending on anyone else for specialist support. In this respect, photography as fine art can be very different than other genres; for example, high-end commercial photography—like filmmaking—often requires a team of people, each an expert in their respective domain.
Since I was so drawn to photographic art for its appeal to my introverted nature, it took a while for me to get comfortable with the concept that to develop my art and to have any hope of mastering the craft would depend on the quality of my relationships with other artists.
We simply cannot thrive or reach our potential within a vacuum.
Over the following years, at the same time as I was learning so much from photographic masters, I myself began teaching to both groups and individuals. Becoming a teacher has had a profound effect on my life and it's also helped me advance my own body of work.
More recently, when my wife, Ruth, and I opened a photography gallery and printing studio in England, we knew that teaching would be one of the pillars of the business. But within a few months, we had to close the shop due to the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, we weren't sure whether the closure would be permanent.
(I'm very pleased to report that the gallery is alive and well and, although we have opened and closed several times due to government mandates, we do expect to re-open soon and we see a very bright future for our photographic art business.)
But something changed during the pandemic, and we became acutely aware of it very early on. While we had so looked forward to the personal interaction and building real relationships that a brick-and-mortar shop can provide, we had no choice but to migrate the majority of our business online. And what an astounding experience that has been.
In a nutshell, my photographic art practice and derivative businesses are as strong as they have ever been. This is directly attributable to our willingness to pivot—in some ways very significantly—toward a new direction and wholly different kinds of opportunities.
The Art of Photography Conference coming up on 17th April is a result of this. While I have taught classes and workshops at innumerable live events over the past 20+ years and have also led many online courses and webinars, until now we have never ourselves produced such an extraordinary event to be held entirely online.
These are extraordinary times. Fact is, since early 2020 we haven't been able to host the travelling photo tours, live group workshops or even the one-to-one, in-person mentoring that I've enjoyed so much. We needed to do something else; something truly different. And we were determined that it would provide as much value and be as meaningful as we could muster, both for the attendees participating and the invited presenters.
Including myself, we've brought together a lineup of sixteen of the most accomplished, passionate photographic artists I know. The Conference will be held over a 12-hour period, timed to serve audiences across Europe and North America. But as an online event, global access is now a reality. Most notably, the entire event will also be recorded so that ticketed participants can watch the sessions for an unlimited number of times, for up to 30 days following the date of the event.
Never before has this roster of artists been together in one Conference. If you're a photographer, this is a one-of-a-kind event not to be missed. Even if you're not such a keen photographer yourself but simply love photography, art and the creative life, this is your chance so connect directly with accomplished practitioners and hear them talk about what matters most to them. All the regular sessions will have a live Q&A session following each presentation. And you get all of this with one ticket, priced to provide incredible value for money.
I'd be honoured to have you join us on 17th April starting at 10 am British Summer Time.
Will you join us? Get all the details and register online here
With all my best wishes,
 
PS—Wherever you may be in the world, we hope that you can attend on 17th April. But if you can't, remember that with your paid ticket you are free to view the content from the entire Conference for a month afterward.
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