Doug Preston - who is an amazing thriller writer and one of the most thoughtful people I know is teaching a workshop at Abiqui in New Mexico for both writers and photographers, and will be jointly hosted with the renowned photographer Walter Nelson. I would so love to do this if I could.
How Doug describes it:
The workshop will teach writing skills, but it goes beyond the mere technical. This is not a traditional workshop and there will be no ‘critiquing’ of work in classroom-like settings. The goal of the workshop isn’t so much to teach participants how to write but how to see. To do this, the workshop will engage body, mind, and spirit in a retreat-like atmosphere at a remote ranch outside Abiquiu, New Mexico. We will work mostly outdoors, in the heart of the high desert country where Georgia O’Keeffe painted her famous landscapes. The workshop involves intensive creative exercises, isolation in the landscape, close observation of nature, and mindfulness. We will employ various techniques to sweep away blockages and overcome fear—with the aim of helping participants achieve a profound creative breakthrough. But the heart of the workshop is something entirely new: the innovative use of photography to push participants into seeing the world in a fresh and original way. (My most influential writing teacher once said to me: You want to be a writer? Then you must become a photographer.)
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