Hi there, I wanted to do a broad shout out and tell you about my latest project/endeavour: Culture Focus: Photography tours & travel.
Now some of you may have seen some posts or visited the Instagram account, they were our ‘teasers’ this message has more details, including when, where and how much. I’ll also include some links to our social media and website for further information.
Our first photo based tour, Berlin-Paris-Arles will start in Berlin on Saturday 24th June 2023 and will conclude in Arles on the 7th July 2023. Here is a direct link for the itinerary : https://www.culturefocus.com.au/2023berlinparisarles
You may have seen the tag line Learn + Shoot + Critique + Connect, this is really important as it sums up the tour. We want you to Learn - new approaches to shooting, new skills, new techniques, new ideas, we want you to Shoot, this is not a passive gallery tour (of course we will visit galleries and cultural sites), this tour is about making! Critique, while on tour we hold group and one on one critique sessions. Giving feedback, advice and assistance throughout the tour. While I’m a big believer in group critiques I know they are not for everyone, we plan to keep the group small so each participant can get individual attention. And finally Connect, now when I first came up with this model I was thinking connect was all about the festival Arles https://www.rencontres-arles.com/en but it's a lot more than that, it's about connecting with the tour leaders, the group and the myriad of connections we’ll make along the way.
We want this trip to be fun and challenging, we want to see you love the experience and to see you grow creatively as a photographer; and we want to help you achieve your creative and photographic goals. Our tours are guided by our 5 Principles of Practice:
Pre-departure workshops and social events
Creative rigour working with, and developing, contemporary photographic themes to guide your practice
Planning and creating a body of photographic work
Post tour workshop
Exhibition (or publication) of works
In addition to the tour itself, we will run sessions (face to face or online for inter-state or international participants) prior to departure to help develop your ideas and plans for what you want to achieve. On our return we will work with you, through a post tour workshop and assist in achieving a final presentation of the work, be that group show, solo show or publication.
Ok, so I hope this has piqued your interest, I’ve done this trip 4 times and it’s truly an amazing experience. You will also have noticed I’ve jumped from I to we a few times, sorry about that. I am Bronek Kozka, my partner in this endeavour, and fellow tour leader is Dr Shane Hulbert and we are Culture Focus. If you want to check out our profiles here is a link: https://www.culturefocus.com.au/guides We have both had a lot of experience with these kind of tours, we both love photography, teaching and sharing. We plan in keeping the group small, max 14, this will allow for a more personal one on one, and the small group experience we believe is crucial. The all inclusive ground cost of the trip starts at AUDS$12,700 twin share, with single available with a supplement.
We also have a great partner to handle to your travel arrangements , Reho Travel. They manage study tours, travel, exchange etc. for most of the big universities as well as business travel. They are a great company, B-Corp certified and fully understand what makes for a great trip.
If you are interested in this experience, please contact me directly via email: info@culturefocus.com.au or call 0414438199.
All the Best
Bronek Kozka
