A Little Step To The Left Gallery
Cuzco, Peru 2013
® Balbina Sada
Fabulous people and places to photograph a little off most people’s comfort zone. Great group of students, lots of fun, great images to take home. All in all, a great workshop! Balbina Sada
® Norma Deschamps
A few days ago, I had the luck to take a workshop in Peru, an interesting place to visit on your own, but doing it through Ernesto Bazan’s eye was just incredible. A unique and privileged experience, full of nice memories.
It was quite different from what I had expected. Since the very first day Ernesto told us to leave our comfort zone and that we had to use a fixed lens, which was quite different from what I was accustomed to. It was a great challenge! With the passing of the days, I started getting used to the lens and began to see everything with new eyes: I was already looking for cleaner, simpler images, which would touch me and conveyed emotions. Some times in my subconsciousness I’d say to myself: “The image has to have form and content and no distracting elements.”
Many images didn’t make it. I’m not sure how and when, but, in the end, I began to see in a completely different way. I started taking less images and began to be more aware of distracting elements.
Thank you Ernesto for sharing your images and your talent. Your images are and will continue to be a source of inspiration. THANK YOU! Norma Deschamps
® Pilar Caballero
Peru surpassed any of my expectations. I had no idea that I was going to encounter so much beauty… the richness of its natural resources, and the richness of its warm people that welcome you and generously offer to you what they have.
The workshop was a true path of learning. Every day Ernesto expected so much from our photos; he wanted to extract the photographic abilities from each one of us. Thank you Ernesto for this experience that wasn’t just a photographic one, but also a life experience. I hope to return soon.
Pili Caballero
® Pilar Sada
Ernesto after a very long working week I can finally sit down and write a few lines to thank you for teaching me to see through your lens and imagination.
I learnt so much in the workshop, I took many images, but above all I took images that you only take with your soul. I saw places that I’d have never seen and simple and courageous people that I’d not have had the pleasure to meet on my own.
Thank you for a workshop that leaves a trace on my heart and soul. Pilar Sada
® Stan Raucher
My month-long trip to Peru, which began with Ernesto’s Iquitos workshop, came to a marvelous conclusion with his Cuzco workshop. This was my eight workshop with Ernesto, and I can’t think of a better way to advance my photography while having a wonderful time. This workshop revealed the highlands of Peru up-close and personal as we explored well off the beaten track to photograph the potato harvest and the lonesome hillsides of Quechua shepherds. We visited celebrations in small pueblos and interacted with the local residents in an intimate and joyful fashion made possible by Ernesto’s gracious personality. We also photographed poignant religious processions reminiscent of Easter in Sicily. This was one of the most fun workshops I’ve done thanks to the wonderful group of students. It was great to finally meet Willard and to view the images she is considering for her book. I look forward to seeing the photos she took on this trip once her film is developed, contact sheets are printed and her final selections are chosen. The four women from Monterey were particularly delightful. Norma seemed to always be lying on the ground in order to frame her photos from the perfect angle. Pilar and her daughter Pili would keep the group amused with their dry sense of humor. Balbina, who was far out of her comfort zone, quickly made amazing advances in her photography thanks to her hard work and Ernesto’s guidance. Finally, everyone learned that a photo could possibly be improved by taking just one small step to the left. Stan Raucher
® Willard Pate
Little did I know when I took my first workshop with Ernesto in 2001 that I would have added 24 more with him by 2013. But that’s indeed the case; I just marked the milestone quarter of a hundred. Appropriately, it was in the highlands of Peru, my favorite destination. It was also one of my favorite groups of people. The two Pilars, Balbina, Norma, Stan, Ernesto, and I experienced a real camaraderie as we spent our days searching for photographic moments high in the mountains above Pisac and then returned to our lovely hotel for dinners with good conversation and wine.
One day stands out in particular, not so much because we were successful with our photographs, but because we descended (on foot) into a valley that was as close to my idea of Eden as I will ever get. Llamas, alpacas, cows, sheep, and donkeys grazed peacefully near rushing streams, while the occasional shepherdess, accompanied by the obligatory dog, did her weaving as she waited for the twilight hour to signal time for the homeward journey. There were, as is always the case on an Ernesto workshop, other memorable moments. But that is the one I shall never forget. Willard Pate
