Tag Archives: workshops

Art & The Heart

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One of the things I really love doing is helping people chase their dreams, helping turn what they are passionate about into a career, to see their businesses blossom and see them succeed.  Five and a half years ago I returned to Australia after doing a stint of working aboard in London. I absolutely hated my time working in London. I worked for large companies where the supervisor in my department would not even know my name. I worked for a company who’s business was about the promotion of something that was against my beliefs. I knew after returning to Australia I was never going to be employed by anybody else again. I was going to make my business idea work. So many people told me along the way that becoming a self employed photographer was a bad idea. I am glad I am stubborn enough to never listen to them :)

Last year, my dear friend Dan O’Day and myself launched a workshop series called Art & The Heart. The workshop is about inspiring, pushing and challenging other photographers/creative’s to create both the photography work and business they wish and strive for.

In January of this year, we hosted our first workshop in Melbourne at the amazing Dear Patti Smith gallery in Fitzroy. The 3 days were an amazing experience for myself and Dan. We both gained so much of this experience, we both became stronger, more inspired and hungrier for our craft and helping people with theirs.  I am so grateful to the lovely Aimee, Jodi, Jess, John, Mitch, Myekal, Debs, Marina, Michelle, Tracy, Tristan, Gemma, Emily, Stewart, Bettina, Michelle, Shaun, Suellen,  Julianna and Sally for attending the workshop and becoming my new friends. Also, I would like to throw a thank you to our good friend Christine for helping us out over the 3 days.

In a fortnight, Dan and I  will be heading off to host Art & The Heart in New York (June 12 to 14) Cork, Ireland (July 2 to 4) and then off to London (July 10 to 12). There are still a sprinkling of seats left at each workshop, so if you feel like coming along for the ride and meeting a bunch of new friends who like the same stuff you do (while of course refining your craft and your business), head over to www.artandtheheart.com and register. I’m so excited for what lies ahead in the next few months. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to see if it is all real life :)

We have also just launched a new Australian workshop date (October 8-10) that is going to be held in the beautiful Southern Highlands in New South Wales. We have hired an amazing house to host the venue. We have almost sold out this workshop, with only two seats remaining, so if our workshop seems at all appealing, get it contact with us as soon as possible to get one of the lucky last seats :)

Below are a bunch of pictures (taken by both myself and Dan) of the amazing attendee’s of the Melbourne workshop and also the lovely models who gave up their afternoon to stand in front of 23 people to have their photograph taken. Not at all intimidating :) We thank you Dijana, Crawford, Matt and Olya!  x

We launched a new blog for Art & The Heart ( www.artandtheheartajournal.com ) to document our adventures on the next crazy few months :)

Love you all and hope to see you in New York, Ireland, London and the Southern Highlands!!

♥♥♥

art and my heart

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Late one afternoon in a land far far away (Tokyo), sitting with my dear friend Dan O’Day, sipping sake, discussing all things worldly and photography related. It soon become clear that we, two like-minded explorers/photographers had a lot to offer each other and shortly came to the conclusion, a lot to offer others. We discussed how amazing it would be to hold a photography workshop together that would combine the things in life, art and business that we are most passionate about.

Art and the Heart : a 3 day photography workshop by Dan O'Day and Samm Blake. Melbourne, New York and London 2012.

dan and samm in japan. shortly before or after discussing all things worldly. june 2011


Many bottles of sake, a couple of months of planning, lots of miles traveled and many late night skype sessions later, “Art and the Heart – A Photography Workshop by Dan O’Day and Samm Blake” is born.

We launched the workshop website a few days ago and we have been overwhelmed with the response we have received so far. Melbourne is almost sold out, and we have a waiting list of people for the New York and London workshops. We are so excited incredibly excited for everything we have planned for these workshops.

If you are interested in the New York or London workshops, send us an email so you will be one of the first to be notified when we announce the dates and registration opens.

If you are interested in our Melbourne workshop, get in contact with us quickly to get one of the last tickets :)

You Thought You Knew You : a blog cooperative to inspire, renew, discover and stimulate creativity. ❤

 

I have also been working on another project with Dan, collaborating together on a blog cooperative, You Thought You Knew You, to inspire, renew, discover and stimulate creativity. The project was introduced while Dan was speaking at the AIPP event “Hair of the Dog” in Brisbane, in February. It seeks to be an inspirational home for all types of creative photographers, so to challenge one another in thinking of new creative patterns and ways of looking at sometimes not-so-creative things.

The blog is to serve as a reminder of the importance of working on personal projects and getting a little “uncomfortable” when exploring creativity & art and exercising “seeing”. It ultimately seeks to bring out the best in us publicly – to an audience of like minded peers and colleagues, family and friends, or even to our clients.

Every week one artist will be selected and given a photography brief (created by YTYKY Creative HQ OR by a creative brief submitted by the public). The artist will be given seven days to complete the brief by providing around 10 images in response to their particular assignment. Each artist will also submit a written post, explaining their experience with the assignment as well as their thoughts on the experience as a whole.

To stimulate as much “uncomfortableness” as possible, the selected artist must shoot in a style or method outside their usual area of expertise. If, for example, the brief is “Blue” and “Grass” and the artist selected is a wedding photographer who shoots with a Canon 5D Mark II, YTYKY does not wish to see images of blue wedding shoes sitting in fields of grass shot on a DSLR. Instead, YTYKY seeks to push the boundaries of whatever “norms” the artist of the week is most comfortable with. Shoot blue garden gnomes with a Polaroid camera. Be as different as possible. Extend the imagination as far as it will go. Steer away from what feels “natural” and discover another side to your creative potential.

The site is to also serve as a hub / portal to inspire us all even further, featuring many links to videos, books and awesome sites that feature amazing photography projects.

Come join our facebook page or follow us on twitter to keep in the loop about what we are up to. We would love for you to become involved… come nominate a photographer who you would love to see issued with a challenge (or get someone to nominate you if you would like a challenge!)

My project I have been working on over winter is currently the feature of the week on YTYKY :)

❤❤❤