This last weekend was our Discovery Workshop in San Francisco, CA. Thirty one people, 23 attendees and 8 instructors/helpers, came together to take a risk–to dive into oneself in a way they had never done before. The results…how does one summarize?
At the Meet and Greet on the eve of our workshop, I don’t think any of us knew how powerful the next few days would be. But we knew we were off to a good start when women said, “I’m ready for this!” “I’m here to go for it!” “I have no idea what the workshop is going to ask of me, but I’m willing to take a risk, to let go.”
Garrett Burdick, Rick Chapman, Brian and myself started planning a “different” kind of workshop six months ago. There are plenty of advanced photography workshops that cover advanced lighting techniques and post process. But the essential piece, the one element that fuels all our work, is connection to the artist within. The four of us are passionate about this and started a dialog.
What would it be like to take a group of women and help them discover their inner artist on a level they had never known. Some criticized the idea. Others questioned it. But we went for it. And 23 women trusted us and signed up for the workshop.
Our biggest fear was one thing. Would we be able to create an intimate setting with so many women? The workshop was going to demand each woman to risk, go out on a limb, do an exercise in creativity that would take them out of their comfort zone. Could you cultivate an atmosphere for each woman to feel safe with that many strangers?
Julia Cameron writes, “Creativity flourishes when we have a sense of safety and self acceptance.” With tears in my eyes, I can say creative flourished this weekend in ways that left us speechless. Here is a window into the first day. (Day 2 and 3 to follow.)
The first day was titled: Discovering the Artist Within. The women were given homework before they came to the workshop. They were asked to bring a self portrait of themselves that represented where they are at in life right now. Self portraits can be challenging and uncomfortable whether you’ve done one or a hundred. But the women honored the assignment, and thus, it all began.
Garrett, Rick, Brian and myself, all felt that if we needed to open ourselves up first, if we were going to ask them to open up with us. So with the lovely guidance of Rick and his wife, Leslie, we started off Day One by sharing our own self portraits.
Each of us shared the meaning behind our self portraits, and then we modeled how to give feedback. The tears started right away as we opened up our lives to the women and each other. It was only 9:30am, and we were already molding as a group.
We then broke up into small groups, and each woman had a chance to share her self portrait. These images symbolized where she is at in life, what she hungers for, and feedback from everyone in her group.
Some women took a picture of themselves,
others took a picture of an object that was symbolic of where they are at in life,
There was tears, laughter
and most of all, there was understanding.
The next step was an exercise in creativity that involves movement. That’s all I’m going to share, so I don’t ruin the surprise for those of you who come in the future.
After the movement exercise, we gave the women big sheets of paper and wax crayons.
Our next exercise was to draw our self portrait–a portrait of how we were feeling right then about ourselves and our lives. Oh, I cringe at the idea of drawing b/c I stink at it. But all the exercises that Leslie and Rick had developed brought us to a place of safety, that we all dove into our drawings. You could smell the scent of growing discovery all around us.
From here, we had the opportunity to share our process and new discoveries.
None of us will forget Garrett sharing with such honesty. Garrett, you are AWESOME!
From our drawing, we were guided on how to create three statements about our drawings. Leslie, the woman in white,
then took her own statements and did something amazing. Not knowing any of us, she turned her statements into an interpretive dance. To say it was powerful, doesn’t quite give it full credit.
The rest of us took the next step and created a new self portrait with our camera.
But Leslie’s movement/dance piece really struck a cord with me. I’ll come back to that later.
We ended our first day FULL, exhausted and alive. Dinner was at a quaint Italian restaurant in Mill Valley, and the next morning we all made our way through the snake turns to Stinson Beach for Day Two.
But before we share Day Two with you, what did all these creative exercises have to do with becoming a better photographer? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Discovery ladies, we are all missing you terribly. What an amazing weekend. Per your requests, I’ve created a Facebook Group that is only for you. This way you can continue to stay in touch and grow together. Search on Facebook for “Me Ra Koh Discovery Workshop 09”. xoxo, Me Ra
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**As promised, we have a new idea for making Mother’s Day perfect! Tomorrow morning, we are releasing the Mother’s Day Discount Registration Price for our next workshop! Instead of $999, you can register your wife for $799. It’s just a thought. I know some of you have been waiting for us to bring the workshop back to Seattle for months. Today alone, I got three emails from women saying that they dream of attending the workshop. How many moms would love to find out there spending the weekend away, to become a better photographer, get pampered, be inspired and meet new friends for their Mother’s Day gift! If Brian told me I was going to a workshop, and he had signed me up, wow…he would have some SERIOUS points in his bank! 🙂
The workshop is going to be on our own stomping ground in Seattle. We will go all day on Saturday and Sunday, June 6th and 7th. Check your calendars! And oh, I almost forgot! On Friday night, the workshop attendees and their spouses are invited to join us for a Meet and Greet with wine and appetizers in the privacy of our home. Registration details start tomorrow on the blog! See you then!
I love this! I feel inspired just by reading about it.
A few days ago a ran across an old journal I kept nearly ten years ago. I spent quite a while going through it – children’s stories, short story ideas, half finished songs, drawings. I closed it with tears in my eyes thinking “where has that woman gone?” It seems like the world has clamped itself onto me and slowly drained me of the raw creativity I used to have. I would have loved a weekend designed to draw that back out.
Major kudos to you guys for giving that to those 23 women. And thank you for sharing it with us. Maybe your next DVD series should be something like this?
Can we all just meet on the beach again?
The quote by Julia Cameron is so right on! I did feel so safe. And in that safe place I was able to grow so much. So, SO, much more then I thought. The missing piece to my puzzle was found… and I had it the whole time.
I can’t say thank you enough to all the instructors and to the other ladies there…
Seeing everyones faces makes my heart ache! I miss you all so much!
I love it! So good and fun looking for familiar faces in the group! I am so glad it was amazing!
Wow, wish I could have been there. What a blessing for everyone who attended!! Thank you so much for sharing.
I know there are a few ladies here in San Diego that have been dreaming of attending one of your workshops…ME being one of them. Hope you come down here!!
Again, thank you for sharing in this post, touching and awakening!!
Wow, sounds amazing! I’m looking forward to reading on! Thank you for sharing, for inspiring so many.
I’ve always been captivated by self portraits, and have been hesitant to try my hand at them. I’m not sure why, but I’m giving myself a goal of shooting one or two this week, thanks to this post.
To take a stab at answering your question…. My guess would be that if you don’t know who you are, how are you supposed to be able to recognize how to photograph others? Essentially, if I can’t recognize what I want to photograph to show who I really am, I can’t capture the ‘true self’ in others, either.
“…now everything has changed, things will never be the same…we will never be the same.” -DCB
As one of the few who didn’t have a photography business and as someone who never asked anyone to even smile for the camera much less move or pose or look at me or look over there or close your eyes or whatever, this workshop pushed out of my element entirely – and I loved it!
It’s true that you have to learn to capture yourself before you can capture others. We also learned that who you are and where you are in life can really impact who you are as an artist and what you create with your camera.
Thanks to everyone involved in this weekend for letting me think of myself as an artist. You are all amazing!
Can I say that I opened up my suitcase this morning and bawled my eyes out? The flood of memories and lessons learned are going to last well beyond the last grains of sand that I’ll shake out of my sandals after our walk on the beach together.
Thank you MeRa, Brian, Rick, Garrett, Lesley, Matt and Jason for a time together that I’ll never forget. And now I have a clear path on which to travel my journey as a photographer, designer, mom, and artist. It’s an awesome feeling!
“If you sit on the bank of a river, you see
only a small part of it’s surface. And yet,
the water before your eyes is proof of unknowable depths.” (Anita Diamant – The Red Tent)
These past couple of days we sat at the banks of each others’ rivers and dipped into those waters together. Now we can fill our creativity again and again with what we know is beneath the surface. Humble thanks to Me Ra, Brian, Garrett, Rick, Leslie, Matt, Laura, Genie, and Jason.
I wanna come back =( Thank you all so much for opening up with us and teaching us so much about ourselves! As i said as my final sentence “I have a piece of everyone of you with me.” I miss everyone so so much! not to mention school is lame! Thank you again for everything!
How we feel about who we are effects every little thing we do…exploring it myself has been an irreplaceable journey. I’m so struck by the intention you’re all directing towards the process and it’s relation towards your own creativity. How you feel & how you see things are intertwined just like the stripes of a candycane. Look I’m getting all creative just commenting on this post. lol
I left without saying goodbye. I told myself that it would be better this way so as to not interrupt the flow of the last couple of hours. But, really, I didn’t want to feel the funk of saying goodbye.
When my husband picked me up from the airport, he asked: “So, how was it?” Without thinking, I answered, “It was wonderful. I discovered a very important piece to my life’s road map.”
I’m still processing the weekend and marinating in everything that is coming up for me. It’s a start. It’s a really good start.
Thank you — Me Ra, Brian, Rick, Garrett, Lesley, Matt & Jason!
p.s. I’m glad the chicken wasn’t dry. =)
Photography whether we realize it or not expresses a piece of “you” in every photo you take. The subject may not be you but somewhere in that image is “you.” This weekened was a life altering and eye opening experience for me. I am still ona high and so afraid of coming down and get back into my same ole same ole.
Thank you from the deepest part of my heart Brian, MeRa, Rick, Garret, Matt, Laura, Leslie, & Jason. You are all truly special people. I am so thnakful to know you and to have spent time with you.
OH and one more thing…. “I DIDN’T PASSOUT or BARF!” lol
Thank you for posting this, and thank you to everyone for sharing everything that you did at the workshop. I’m still trying to hold on to and process all the stuff that came out of me this weekend. If only more of my life could be so deep and provoking. You all really challenged me.
(Has anyone else had problems finding the Discovery Workshop page on FB?)
Wow!!!! What an amazing experience! I hope to participate someday!
gosh, it feel so not worth it to only say ‘thank you’ … seems there so much more to be said. my gratitude goes to deep & far for words i suppose.
i left the workshop changed. absolutely changed. i will never forget the experience or the lessons learned.
my hope is to share a piece of my new found knowledge with all that cross my path.
thank you, thank you, thank you …
I’m totally with you Tracie… I wish there was something more profound for me to say than “Thank you”. This experience has truly changed my thinking and my outlook.
What an amazing group of women! Though I’m home now and thousands of miles away, I still feel that electricity of connectedness with all of you. I’m so excited to see us all take that leap forward into our new lives!
MeRa, Brian, Garrett, Rick, Leslie, Matt, Jason, & Laura — you opened your lives and hearts to us in a powerful way and you are the change that has begun to inspire 23 others! A thousand thank you’s. I miss you all…. 🙂
Touched. Moved. Inspired. I am truly grateful for having been a part of this magical weekend. It was thought provoking and touched me on so many levels.
From thinking about a self portrait, who I am right now today, to sharing the creation of vision boards with some of you, to spending time with Matt, alone and being photographed. The entire experience was amazing.
I can’t thank you Me Ra, Brian, Rick and Garrett enough for opening your hearts and your arms to me and allowing me to participate in this vision you created.
Thank you to all of the wonderful, fabulous women that were there. Thank you to the women who photographed Matt and I. That was a special moment for us and our marriage. Thank you for capturing it! Thank you to the women that were in my break-out session. I hope that your vision boards are coming along and I would LOVE for you to send me a photograph of them when you’re done.
I look forward to what the future holds, for each of us and the connections that we’ve made.
THANK YOU!!!
We stayed a couple of extra days, so I JUST got home. Am still processing. Be back to be deep later.
But can I just say, how HILARIOUS is that first picture? You mostly just notice the sparkly, glamorous people and the pretty light, but what are Aaron and I doing? That’s right. That’s us up front changing a diaper. 🙂
Me Ra, PLEASE make more workshops I can go to! I think it would be so cool if you and Brian kept putting together these awesome advanced workshops, with different themes and different teachers. (Or even the same teachers! They were all WONDERFUL.)
To all our beautiful workshop ladies, Garrett, Rick, Brian and I all miss you! What an amazing weekend we have together. Addie, your quote couldn’t be better stated. I just love that. And Alex, I remember realizing you were gone. I can’t believe you snuck out without saying a hug! Next time.
I’m so glad we wrote ourselves the letters. The transition of bringing all that you’ve learned back into your daily life can be a bit bumpy, but change happened. It was real. We’ll be mailing your letters soon, so keep your eye out. Love you all!
Thank you to Me Ra and Brian, Rick and Garrett for putting this amazing workshop together. What a self-discovery… I left feeling wide open! A special thanks to all of you that fully shared yourselves with us. I feel blessed to have been a part of such a great experience. I am really looking forward to the next workshop! See you all there!
Muchos gracias, muchos amor to you all! That was the BEST time, so out of my element yet so useful for my future. Being another ‘undeclared’ photographer, I loved the directions this is inspiring in me and look forward to what emerges. Miss you all! And, wow, what images are going to be posted soon!
and, Addie & Chelsea did you have fun at the airport? Where was dinner Tracie & Cathy? I’ll go to FB to find out…
Thank you is not a phrase that can sufficiently express how I feel. I have been in a daze since I got home.. I can’t even bring myself to unpack. I am still processing all that I learned about myself, about others, about discovery. There were so many layers revealed and boy did that first day get the peeling going! I miss you all!
I cant wait to read more about the next days – I love the self portrait idea! It looked amazing!
The workshops are amazing! I’m so bummed I didn’t get to go to the Discovery Workshop and I have to say I’m slightly jealous of where this workshop takes place..the natural light is amazing compared to our wonderful “studio” in Chicago. I have to say though overall our location was beautiful Gretchen,just the room we had for our photoshoot was a little challenging however it total pushed us to totally grasp the concepts being taught. CAn’t wait for MeRa and Brian to host an advanced workshop in Chicago!
[…] in such things, Me Ra Koh, the photographer who put it on, did a post about the first day here. It’s a great post with lovely pictures detailing our first day of the workshop, and also the […]
[…] have to tell you, the Discovery Workshop has left me changed. As each day goes by, I can tell the change is lasting. Even though I was […]
[…] and Brian built the Discovery Workshop was so every day would build on itself. Day One: was Self Portrait focused. It was abstract and pushed the ladies outside of their comfort zone on many levels. Day […]
[…] us came away transformed and inspired by all of you. Thank you for not holding back, for jumping, for trusting, and for setting aside time to Discover the Artist Within Yourself and the World Around You. May […]
[…] here are two blog posts to enjoy! One is my own exercise in Self Discovery, and the other is what 31 women discovered at a recent workshop we […]
[…] the Artist Within. If you didn’t get to see the two previous posts about Day One, click on 31 Discoveries and My Self Portrait. But since this was a three day workshop, do you mind if I keep telling you […]
I am an admirer of your website. Persist in up the good work.
This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like ‘Mixview’ that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you’re listening to. Clicking on one of those will center on that item, and another set of “neighbors” will come into view, allowing you to navigate around exploring by similar artists, songs, or users. Speaking of users, the Zune “Social” is also great fun, letting you find others with shared tastes and becoming friends with them. You then can listen to a playlist created based on an amalgamation of what all your friends are listening to, which is also enjoyable. Those concerned with privacy will be relieved to know you can prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits if you so choose.