RETHINK. REFOCUS. RECHARGE.
Applications begin in September 2024.
The Photography Master Retreat, one week in a remote hamlet in the south of France, is the only workshop where photographers are guided by three mentors to reflect on their work and its meaning.
The Photography Master Retreat , founded in 2015,
will be held in person from June 21 to 28, 2025.
The Photography Master Retreat mentors are dedicated to bringing their experience and insider knowledge of the complex world of professional photography to help established and emerging photographers refine their personal vision, reframe their projects and re-orient them to take their work to the next level.
“I wanted to create a gathering where photographers could productively retire for a week, with time on their side. Take a step back and hopefully one giant leap forward to reconnect with their work and process in a new light.”
Meet our three Mentors
Elisabeth Biondi – Independent Curator, Teacher, Writer, and Visuals Editor 1996-2011 at The New Yorker, NY
Lyle Rexer – Critic, Curator, and Faculty at SVA, NY
Martine Fougeron – Photographer, Artist, Faculty at ICP, NY
AN exceptional retreat.
A retreat is a refuge, a sanctuary, a hideaway, a haven. It is also a departure, a different approach, an adventure, a leave-taking, the beginning of a journey, a change from the usual or expected path, a definite time spent away from one’s normal life.
Take your work to the next level
Find out more on our about page.
APPLY tO our 2025 RETREAT
Find out more in How to Apply.
we create community
Find out about our previous five retreats with videos and testimonials.
“A communal atmosphere permeated all that we did – from our sessions and meetings, to the homemade meals, to our walks and talks. This process combined with time to reflect, provided like a cross between a graduate school critique and an artist colony. Extraordinary how every photographer there had an “epiphany”.”
“This is an age of social media and shared images, but rarely do photographers or artists actually get to work together, face to face, to stimulate new ideas and challenge each other creatively… No one leaves Esparon unchanged.
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“This is a very unusual photographic workshop in that it stresses not technical mastery of the camera, nor capitalizing on the Provence location. The retreat already assumes you are an accomplished photographer. Instead, the emphasis is reflecting on one’s trajectory as an artist, rethinking projects, refocusing on clearer directions.”