Traces and Echos: Building a Photographic Portfolio

Photography is more than single images—it’s about building meaning over time. In this six-month online workshop, you’ll move beyond isolated photographs and commit to creating a cohesive project that reflects your vision. Through guided assignments, critiques, and community conversation, you’ll learn how to shape your work into a body that speaks with clarity and depth.

To anchor the creative journey, participants will explore one of four core themes—Intimacy, Resistance, Memory, or Landscape as Witness. These themes serve as starting points, offering structure while leaving space for each photographer’s unique interpretation. Whether your work is deeply personal, socially engaged, historically rooted, or environmentally focused, you’ll find guidance and support in shaping it into a project that holds together visually and conceptually.

By the end of the workshop, you will have developed a refined portfolio, a stronger editing practice, and the confidence to present your work to audiences ranging from peers to galleries. More importantly, you’ll leave with the tools to continue building meaningful projects long after the course ends. This is an opportunity not only to make photographs, but to grow as an artist with the support of an engaged, thoughtful community.

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Included

What’s included in the workshop?

Over six months, you’ll be supported through every stage of developing a photographic project—from the first idea to a finished portfolio. The workshop combines teaching, critique, and community to give you both the structure and flexibility needed to create meaningful work.

Live online sessions

Over the course of 24 weeks, we’ll meet online for lectures, discussions, and guided exercises. Each session builds toward helping you shape your project step by step, while leaving space for questions and conversation.

Regular Image Critiques

You’ll share work-in-progress and receive constructive feedback from both the instructor and peers. These critiques help sharpen your editing skills, clarify your project’s direction, and strengthen your ability to evaluate your own work.

Final Review and Presentation

At the end of the workshop, you’ll present your completed project in the format of your choice: print, PDF, or online. You’ll leave with a refined portfolio and feedback on how to share it with audiences ranging from peers to galleries or publishers.

Writing Support

Alongside the photographs, you’ll develop the texts that support your project: artist statements, project descriptions, and portfolio narratives. We’ll explore writing as a creative extension of your visual practice, not just an afterthought.

Chance to build community through shared dialogue

You always can use more friends who can support your art and photography. Just think just of the reunions you’ll have.

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Workshop Pricing

$2500

Early Bird Saves $250

You have the option to either:

Pay in full at the time of registration, or
Pay $500 upfront with balance due 60 days before start of workshop.

Your registration (either option) includes a $500 non-refundable fee, which is part of your initial payment and will be applied toward the total cost of the workshop.

If the balance is not received by the due date, your registration may be forfeited and your spot offered to someone on the waitlist. Additional information about refunds, travel insurnace and policies are listed below. Cancellation with less than 60 days will only be refunded if the spot can be filled from a waitlist. Please look into travel insurance.

*WA residents now subject to sales tax

The early-bird pricing workshop fee is $2250 for the entire six-month program. This covers all sessions, group critiques, writing support, and your final portfolio presentation.

Workshop begins in April over zoom. Meetings will be on Wednesday’s from 3:00-5:00 pacific time.

April Session is Sold Out. Waitlist available and new section to be announced soon

The first version is currently sold out. I am going to be adding a second session shortly that will start later in 2026. Email me at [email protected] to be added the waitlist or to get early notice on the next workshop dates before they are released.

Who’s this workshop for?

This workshop is designed for photographers who are ready to move beyond individual images and commit to building a cohesive body of work. It is not about technical mastery of the camera. It is about shaping your vision, developing a project, and creating a portfolio that carries meaning.

It is a good fit if you:

Have been making photographs for a while and want to take the next step toward a focused project.
Feel stuck showing only single images and want to explore sequencing and narrative.
Are curious about developing your work around themes like intimacy, resistance, memory, or landscape as witness.
Want regular critique, accountability, and a supportive community to help you refine your work.
Are interested in producing a portfolio that can be shared with peers, galleries, publications, or simply as a more complete expression of your practice.

What to Expect?

This six-month workshop is structured to guide you from the very first spark of an idea to the completion of a finished photographic project. Each step of the journey is designed to give you structure, support, and space for experimentation so you can create work that feels personal, intentional, and ready to share.

Core Themes

Participants will select one of the following to guide their project:

Intimacy – personal connection, vulnerability, closeness, and the unseen.
Resistance – struggle, tension, defiance, and acts of persistence.
Memory – traces of the past, nostalgia, archives, and loss.
Landscape as Witness – the environment as document, stage, or testimony to change.

You can expect online meetings that combine instruction, discussion, and critique. Some sessions focus on developing ideas and exploring the four core themes of intimacy, resistance, memory, and landscape as witness. Other sessions emphasize editing, sequencing, writing, and presentation. Over time, the emphasis shifts from idea generation to refinement and final portfolio building.

Assignments and exercises will help you stay engaged throughout the process. In the early weeks, you will generate images around your chosen theme and learn how to recognize the threads that connect them. Later in the workshop, you will practice editing, sequencing, and pairing words with images. Each assignment is designed to move your project one step forward while allowing flexibility for your unique approach.

Critique is a central part of the workshop experience. You will receive direct feedback on your images and statements, not only from me as the instructor but also from your peers. These sessions are constructive and supportive, encouraging you to refine your vision and see your work through new perspectives. Learning to both give and receive critique is one of the most valuable skills you will carry forward.

As your project develops, you will also explore different ways of presenting your work. Whether you are preparing a portfolio for review, designing a sequence for a book or zine, or simply building a project for personal growth, you will gain practical strategies for sharing your work with confidence. We will look at examples of successful projects and talk about how to choose the right format for your own goals.

By the end of the workshop, you can expect to have a cohesive project of 15–25 images supported by a written statement and sequencing that communicates your intent. Just as importantly, you will leave with a deeper understanding of your own practice, the confidence to continue developing projects on your own, and a community of peers who have shared the journey alongside you.

What will the group meetings be like?

Each sesssion we meet online for two or so hours in a focused, supportive environment. The sessions include short talks on project development, guided exercises, and group discussions that connect your work to the larger themes of intimacy, resistance, memory, and landscape as witness.

Every meeting also includes time for sharing photographs. Some weeks the emphasis is on critique, where we look closely at images and sequencing. Other weeks focus more on writing, research, or editing strategies. The balance shifts as the workshop moves forward, beginning with idea generation and shooting, and later moving into editing, sequencing, and final portfolio preparation.

The meetings are interactive and conversational. You will get direct feedback from me as the instructor as well as from your peers. This format creates a community of accountability and support so that each participant can grow their project with clarity and confidence.

What might the work look like?

Each project will look different depending on the photographer, but all share a common thread of building meaning through a sustained body of work. Some projects might be deeply personal, such as a series exploring family connections or the quiet spaces of daily life. Others may focus on broader social questions, documenting acts of resistance or capturing the traces of history and memory in a community.

A project could also take shape in the landscape, treating the environment as witness to change, resilience, or loss. Some photographers may work in a traditional documentary style, while others might experiment with abstraction, conceptual approaches, or mixing text and images.

The goal is not to fit into a single mold. Instead, it is to create a set of 15–25 photographs, supported by a clear sequence and a short written statement, that together form a project you can present as a portfolio, book, or exhibition.

Can I be put on a waitlist?

Absolutely. Life happens and we want to make sure that we can get you in a workshop if at all possible. If the workshop is full, we will take down your name and contact you if a spot becomes available.

Are there prerequisites for this workshop?

For almost all of the workshops there are no prerequisites, and that includes this one.

In the event a workshop does require some advanced or prior knowledge it will be specifically called out on the workshop registration page.

If you are ever concerned about the specific topics or technical requirements for a workshop, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will do our best to answer any of your questions so that you can feel great about your decision to sign up.

Do you offer payment plans?

Some workshops do have a non-refundable, transferable deposit, but unless noted, a workshop payment is due in full at the time of registration. We do understand that sometimes it makes sense to be able to pay for the cost of a workshop over time. If you want to discuss that as an option, please contact us and we can figure out something that will work for you to be able to attend the workshop.

What happens if I sign up and then can't make it to the workshop? Are there refunds?

The short answer is we don’t provide refunds on workshops, classes and courses.

Our approach is that your payment for the program is a commitment to participate, just as it is our commitment to provide the best experience possible. It is a commitment on both our parts.

If you need to cancel, there’s a $500 non-refundable fee, but that can be applied to future workshops if you cancel with at least 90 days notice. Cancellations made more than 90 days before the workshop start date are eligible for a full refund or a credit toward a future workshop (minus the fee). Within 90 days, no refunds are possible. If I can fill your spot, I’ll offer a credit toward a future workshop (again, minus the fee). Credits are good for one year from the original workshop date. If I can fill your spot within those 90 days, I will issue a refund again minus the fee.

Cancellations within 30 days of the workshop are not refundable under any circumstance—it’s just too hard to fill a spot that late in the game. If a true emergency comes up last minute, I’ll do my best to work something out, but I can’t make any promises. Travel insurance can really help cover you in those moments, and I highly recommend it.

What happens if something happens to Daniel and the workshop can't run?

I reserve the right to cancel the workshop if we don’t meet the minimum number of participants (I normally run a workshop even if just one person registrations, there are exceptions to this at times) or in the case of an emergency. If I’m unable to lead the workshop myself, I’ll do everything I can to bring in a trusted replacement first. If for some reason the workshop is fully canceled, you’ll have the option of a full refund or applying your payment to a future workshop. Please note that I can’t cover any travel expenses, so I strongly recommend travel insurance just in case plans change on your end or mine.

Do you offer any discounts?

Some workshops do offer an early-bird rate. The early bird rate, when offered, will be automatically calculated in the price. The rate is available for workshops with early-bird pricing until four weeks before the workshop start date.

I also offer a discount for alums and referrals for some workshops. These are not automatically applied. If you want an alum or referral discount, please get in touch with me before registering for your discount code.

Alum discounts may not be used for any online class or workshops except for the Meaningful Image full-length course.

What about travel insurance?

We highly recommend travel insurance for photography workshops. It can protect your investment in case of unexpected events like illness, travel delays, or last-minute cancellations. Coverage for gear, medical emergencies, or lost luggage can also bring peace of mind—so you can focus on creating great images, not worrying about what-ifs.