Helmut Newton and the Chianti Landscape

Helmut Newton and the Chianti Landscape
3-day workshop about photography of the wom an and landscape on
the trail of the Pirelli Calendar 2014
M ay 2 - 3 - 4 2014, at Podere Terreno alla Via della Volpaia, 53017
Radda in Chianti (SI) - Italy
Photographer Helmut Newton, despite being a cross-genre photographer, was the most
influential trait d’union between trendy European photography of the 30s and the fashion
photography of the 80s, 90s, and today. Famous for his fashion and glamour photography,
Newton rendered his body of work an intersection and blend of portrait, landscape, nude,
fetish, and other photographic genres - in an irreverent, unique style.
In 1985, Pirelli’s Italian branch hired Newton to shoot their 1986 calendar, but for reasons
that remain unclear the photographs weren’t used. Years later the photos resurfaced and
were eventually published in the 2014 Pirelli 50th Anniversary Calendar. Most of the
photographs were shot over a two-week period in Radda in Chianti, Tuscany, where the
agriturismo resort "Podere Terreno" served as the crew's base camp, hosting Newton, his
models, and assistants.
This three-day workshop will follows this photography tale where it happened and aims to:
1) Identify, understand, and practice the photography of the woman and landscape
photography in any desired blend;
2) Single out, recognize, and work on formal content factors that may allow a kind of
photography that is self-aware, built upon irony and self-deprecation, intellectual honesty
and the willingness to tell our own stories with a personal language;
3) Achieve an ad hoc photographic essay (through photographic sessions collaborating with
a professional model* and make-up artist), taking into account the conclusions (albeit
temporary) from the first two points.
Participants will experience presentations by professionals and "witnesses" connected to the
story of the "censored calendar.” The professionals will also work closely with participants to
brainstorm ideas, advise, and assist in setting up and implementing a photographic project
that is solid, personal, and mostly honest.
* If the maximum number of participants is reached and at the discretion of the organization,
there could be two models instead of one.
Pasquale Maria Salerno
Via dell’Albero, 4 50123 Firenze
mobile +39 3285672517
[email protected]
W HO :
Luca Del Pia is a professional photographer who combines commercial photography in the
field of music and portraiture with a deep and abiding interest in the avant-garde theater
and art photography. He collaborated for over 15 years with the Societas Raffaello Sanzio
with which he produced exhibitions and shows, among other things, for the Exhibition Palace
in Rome and at the MOMA in Chicago. In 2008 he presented in the Actes Sud ITINERA with
images from the "Tragedy Endogonidia". In 2011, he implemented a project about the
Overground Italian performance scene with the volume of the same name and an exhibition
at the Fondazione Fotografia in Modena, during the Festival Vie, and at the Science Museum
of Milan, during the Uovo Festival.
Pasquale Maria Salerno is a trained philologist and textual critic, film photographer and
darkroom printer; he specialized in Paris at INA (the french Audivisual National Institute) and
taught film photography techniques at Art.e school in Firenze. In 2008 he founded
impossiblephotos.com, a small and agile reality for conceiving and fulfilling and producing
unusual photographic works.
Giuseppe Meroni is a journalist, writer, and communication and marketing consultant;
among other works, he wrote the investigative book "Helmut Newton e Pirelli - Storia di un
calendario censurato", the only report about that story to date.
Roberto Melosi and his wife Sylvie are the owners of Podere Terreno, where Newton and
his crew lived and worked for a couple of weeks in the spring of 1985, and they will host the
workshop.
W HY
Technological evolution of contemporary digital photography - with its consequent mass
diffusion ( smartphones, tablets , etc.) - has led to an unprecedented omnipresence of
images, which, however, does not correspond to a similar evolution of its production, nor to
a widespread culture of photography. Web and social networks, built right around this usergenerated content, amplify and make acceptable a photography disrespectful of both
photography itself - as a means of expression, of knowledge and self-knowledge - and the
world around us.
This workshop offers an opportunity to work on awareness, the meaning of photography,
and to analyze and discuss some elements of the photographic culture, using as a starting
point the tale of the censored photographs shot by Helmut Newton in Chianti.
W HEN
May 2 - 4, 2014
W HERE
Podere Terreno alla Via della Volpaia, 53017 Radda in Chianti (SI)
AVAILABLE PLACES
Max 12 people.
Pasquale Maria Salerno
Via dell’Albero, 4 50123 Firenze
mobile +39 3285672517
[email protected]
TERM S
The workshop will include a minimum of 8 and maximum of 12 participants.
The entries are made in order of request, and are subject to availability.
The enrollment form can be downloaded at the following link:
http://www.impossiblephotos.com/pages/seminars-workshops/
CONTACT DETAILS
Pasquale Maria Salerno
Via dell’Albero, 4 - 50123 Firenze
Tel. +39 3285672517
[email protected]
Podere Terreno alla Via della Volpaia
53017 Radda in Chianti (SI)
Tel. +39 0577738312
Fax +39
0577738400
[email protected]
PROGRAM **
Friday, M ay 2, 2014
9.30am
Meeting and registration at Podere Terreno in Radda, Chianti ( SI)
10.00am
Opening of the workshop, theoretical session : Introduction to the
workshop and overviews
10.30am
Speech by Luca Del Pia: HN in contemporary photography :
influences , genres, heritage
11.30am
Projects : Comparison with and between the participants
1.00pm
Lunch Break
2.00pm
Preparatory activities Projects (theme , storyboarding , test shoots).
4:00pm
Photo session
6.30pm
End of session
8.00pm
Dinner and after dinner (reading and editing portfolio )
Pasquale Maria Salerno
Via dell’Albero, 4 50123 Firenze
mobile +39 3285672517
[email protected]
Saturday, M ay 3, 2014
9:30am
Meeting at Podere Terreno
10:00am
Photo session
1.30pm
Lunch Break
2.30pm
Photo session
6.30pm
End of session
8.00pm
Dinner and post dinner (editing)
Sunday, M ay 4, 2014
9:30am
Meeting at Podere Terreno
9.40am
Speech by Giuseppe Meroni , author of the book "Helmut Newton & Pirelli.
The story of a censored calendar"
11:00am
Discussion and editing
1.00pm
Lunch Break
2.30pm
Discussion and editing
5.30pm
Presentation of works : comments and final confrontation
6.30pm
End of workshop
** Participants are advised that the program may undergo minor adjustments and changes
before the date of the workshop. However, any changes will be communicated in a timely
manner .
Pasquale Maria Salerno
Via dell’Albero, 4 50123 Firenze
mobile +39 3285672517
[email protected]