Participants’ feedback (class 2018/2019):

I have enjoyed this past year so much. When beginning the Masterclass I felt stuck in my way of working and had almost lost my joy in photography. The tutors have been so encouraging (as was the group) and they really guided me towards a different working process.

I think I have learned to approach photography, and art in general, in a different way. To be more playful and most importantly, to have fun in the process of making new work, and not to focus too much on the end-result.

It was very useful to me. I think the whole process is great and goes beyond developing a complete project. It was super interesting in the development of my practice in general, in thinking deeper about my themes of interest and developing them. I also enjoyed that this masterclass is a place where you can build a lovely community around photography that will hopefully last for a much longer time than the masterclass itself. I think the organization was fantastic and that everything has gone smoothly and pleasantly. So again thank you!

This masterclass has been a very helpful and inspiring experience for me. The fact that the sessions in Kuldiga are relatively long, definitely contributed to a 'warm' and supportive group feeling which has been very important to me. The Skype sessions helped to continue working in between the meetings. In the last session I loved the cozy meetings and dinners at the tutors’ house. The organisation was just perfect. Thank you so much!

It was a massive learning process in the group, including also other people’s work, which is a great experience and will help when working on any future project. Feedback from teachers and other participants was very helpful. And thanks to this I did something I have never done before.

For me most of all it was about finding a community of like-minded people who share common interests and are dedicated to what they do. It's about this safe but at the same time inspiring environment which can now exist on its own beyond the masterclass framework which I find great. I feel this year helped me very much with finding a way out of creative confusion and stupor.

Really interesting experience, I learned a lot from others, and especially in witnessing the evolvements of everyone. I'm onto a new mental process with my work and the programme gave me more precise aspects about it and how to make it evolve. Thank you for running this!

Discussions in the class, speed dating, presentations - every opportunity helped me to think about my work deeper. And the exhibition experience was an important practice.

The most helpful for me was to work on understanding how to communicate about my work with so many people and to show my previous and present work to other people. I didn't finish my entire project, but an important part of it - and I am very glad about the results.

Professional attitude from mentors side. Respect, strictness, fruitful discussions or how to approach ideas, how to edit work from formal and artistic perspective to communicate idea in a visual form, what to look for. Very organized team leading. I appreciate that!

Very helpful and resultful. In random order: 1) meeting and getting to know international colleagues, receiving feedback from them, 2) the presence, help and feedback of another such a different class, 3) concentration on work, 4) doing such an intense exercise, with experts and colleagues, during all stages of a project, from conception to the construction of an exhibition, 5) extreme professionalism of everyone, both experts and the staff, 6) perfect organization of everything from the staff (practical information, support towards the work, advice and welcome).

It was a great experience for me. The masterclass re-oriented the way that I think about photography, and greatly extended the possibilities of how to work with the medium outside of simply taking photos and being the 'author'. Thanks to conversations with the mentors and other participants, I feel very much inspired to continue working in this field and further develop my work.

I got answers I was looking for! Thank you! It was a good training and direction pointer. The group was pretty fantastic and supportive throughout the year.

It was perfect for my working method, for improving my project: content, focus on target, and practical aspects, for better understanding my shortcomings and mistakes, as well as my fears, and facing them, and also for better understanding my skills and strong points. Very helpful and very inspiring. 

Though I have not finished my project it was incredibly helpful. I wanted to gain a network of friends in the photography world and the people involved in the masterclass are so kind, generous and respectful! The experts have been particularly helpful and put me in touch with some great people. Our mentor has been incredibly generous by extending his relationship with the whole class on a continual basis, which is mind blowing really. Lastly, I have been nothing but astounded as to what ISSP has created and I feel truly honored to be part of it's history in some way. I really hope we can meet again in the future :)