Photography: Creative Exercises

Entry requirements: you will need prior experience in photography and a digital camera with manual exposure settings (such as P, A, S, M modes). You will also need some time during the week to complete the assignments, and some budget to print your photos every week. 

This course is created for (beginning) photographers that know how a camera works, but wants some inspiration and incentive to keep using it. During the course you will get inspired by the work of professional photographers (or other artists), and get encouraged to go out and create by receiving weekly assignments. These assignments are designed to give you plenty of creative freedom, while also providing some guidelines to help you stay on track. Every week we will discuss the work you’ve made, which will give you insight in how someone else perceives your photographs.

What you will learn 

• How to use different photography techniques to make photos that tell a story 

• How to quickly go from assignment to images 

• How to analyze and discuss photographs 

• How others perceive your photographs 

• What styles of photography you like (or dislike), and where you like to focus on 

• Additional techniques knowledge that comes up during the work discussions 

• About the teacher

  Jasper Zijlstra (1990) is a “photographic explorer” dedicated to inspiring wonder and improvement through his work. He uses his camera to gain access to complex, unknown, or hidden worlds, ranging from sterile laboratories to personal stories. Since 2021, he has focused on making scientific research more accessible by collaborating with researchers to visualize their methods and results in new images. At Parnassos, he teaches both photography courses and – surprisingly – bookbinding.

  For more information about the teacher, visit www.jasperzijlstra.com.