Top Photograph -- Barnbaum - Montisi Mural behind Trees, 2023

Bruce Barnbaum and Alexander Ehhalt are again offering our wonderful workshop based in the magnificent center of Italy, Toscana (Tuscany).

The workshop begins the morning of Sunday, March 23 but we ask all participants to arrive no later than 7 p.m. Saturday, March 22 for our get-together dinner prior to the start of the workshop.

The rolling landscapes, the ancient hilltop villages, the morning fog and afternoon sunlight, the incomparable food and wines, all make Toscana an experience of a lifetime, especially in the springtime when the landscape is rich with new growth. You’ll be taken through this magnificent region by two of the finest photographers and instructors on this planet: Alexander Ehhalt of Heidelberg, Germany, and Bruce Barnbaum, from Washington State, USA. Both are internationally recognized for the stunning photography in both color and black and white, both with traditional film/darkroom and digital approaches. It would be difficult to match better photographic opportunities with instructors ready, willing, and eager to help you at every step along the way.

The workshop is based in the charming, tiny hilltop village of Montisi, located within easy reach of the larger, more famous towns of Montalcino, Pienza and Montepulciano, plus, the larger city of Siena. Marvelously lush landscapes surround Montisi, spreading throughout Toscana in all directions. It’s hard to go wrong in Toscana. And it’s well known that the food and wines are incomparable, so there is no downside to this workshop.

For Americans, Now is the best possible time to enroll due to the relatively close parity between the dollar and euro. Sometimes the two monetary systems are far apart. Not now. Currently they are quite close, so the cost of the workshop, as well as the price of everything within the Eurozone—including Italy— makes it a real good bargain. It may never be this way again, so consider the double value this workshop offers: the educational value and the monetary benefits.

The extraordinary city of Siena, with its narrow, dark streets, its stupendous open plaza, and its duomo (cathedral), which was never completed to its original, monumental dimensions, will be one of our outdoor field session sites, a city so rich that it could be a multi-year project in itself.

In addition to assisting students with their own interpretations during our outdoor field sessions, Alexander and Bruce (together with your fellow students) will thoughtfully review the photographic work of every student. These reviews go well beyond the typical once-over that characterize so many workshops, and they become the heart of your educational experience. These marvelously enjoyable “idea sessions” (as we refer to them, because they open up new idea and new approaches to everyone) will open you up to your photographic strengths, and take you to a higher plane of meaningful photography than you thought possible. We ask all students to bring a minimum of ten photographs for review. Photographs can be actual prints (mounted, if possible; unmounted also fully acceptable) or digital images on a flash drive that will be fully reviewed, opening insights to you about your own work that you may have been unaware of. These sessions prove to be highlights of the workshop, with a great deal of camaraderie and support from all to all.

Both instructors will be also showing their work, inviting any and all comments and questions about their thinking, their approach and workflow, their materials, and anything else you may wish to know. They have no secrets, and are eager to share their vast store of photographic expertise throughout the workshop. Whether you are engaging in digital approaches or traditional approaches, you will have the answers to your questions from these instructors.

Accommodations, as well as our workshop conference room, are at the Villa Maddalena, an exquisite privately-owned villa in the center of Montisi. Accommodations begins the same night as our get-together dinner, Saturday, March 22. The rooms, and the setting, could not be more comfortable or beautiful. The price of room is 90€ per night, which is roughly $100 per night, a low price that cannot be matched, nor can the ambiance. You’ll love your stay at Villa Maddalena in Montisi. The workshop closes with a fabulous final dinner the night of Friday, March 29. Accommodations continue through that night. We depart the morning of Sunday, March 30. (And yet, the workshop never ends, as we can remain in contact indefinitely, as you’ll learn during the workshop.)

You can sign up, prepare for the workshop with full anticipation of the wonderful time we’ll have together. If you have specific questions, please contact Bruce by phone at (360) 691-4105 or by email at barnbaum@aol.com.

To register for this workshop via the website, please pay the full amount (1.790€ = $2,035 …as of May, 2024, though this may vary in time, but will not change for our workshop) or the deposit ($250) using your Visa or Mastercard credit card. (NOTE: The full payment is due 10 weeks prior to the workshop—approximately January 10, 2025—but you will be given ample notice several weeks prior to that.)

Alternatively, to register by regular mail:

Download the workshop application to your computer from here: 
Workshop Application.doc  or a PDF version: Workshop Application.PDF

Print it out, fill it in, and send it to:

Bruce Barnbaum Workshops
P.O.Box 1791
Granite Falls, WA 98252