YOUNG ARTS Photography 2007

Photographic Workshop at The Watts Gallery 9 July 2007

The second half of the FDFAS mini-project for 2007 took the form of a workshop at Watts Gallery on Monday July 9th for twenty Year 9 pupils (14/15 years old) from All Hallows Catholic School, Farnham. The subject was Photographic Portraiture.

The day was led, as were the two Primary School workshops, by Desna Greenhow, Education Co-ordinator for Watts Gallery. We were fortunate to have the expert input of Robin Cruz, a graduate in Photography.

The morning started with an introduction by Desna to the gallery itself, and to its background, custom-built as it was to show the work of the the Victorian artist G.F.Watts, who, amongst his other talents was considered the finest portrait-painter of the nineteenth century. We went on to take a close look at Watts's techniques in portraiture, concentrating on his use of shadow, costume, background, and angle to achieve the results he desired.

After a break, Robin Cruz introduced the students to the possiblities of what they could achieve with their own cameras, and led them into the idea that they could be creative in how they posed their friends, using the ideas we had looked at in the Watts portraits.

A very creative session followed, and some of the results, it is hoped, can be on view in the gallery in the autumn, when there is an exhibition of 'Victorian Artists in Photographs.

After a lunch break, we visited the Watts Cemetery Chapel, where the students found other very different backgrounds and lighting for their photographs.

Their verdict on the day was that they had very much enjoyed it!