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The Journey

Location:
San Juan, Puerto Rico

Dates:
November 8-14, 2020

Cost:
Tuition: $3900
A deposit of $1000 is due upon registration.

Limited Enrollment:
15 available spaces

Project Puerto Rico 2020

Working with Nonprofits

After our company co-founder returned from teaching this workshop in 2018, Jamie was quoted as saying, “This was one of the most profoundly moving workshop experiences we have had in ten years of Momenta.” The nonprofit staff and Momenta photographers worked side by side to illustrate the dedication and passion of the people of Puerto Rico for the past two years and this coming workshop is sure to produce equally powerful work.

Momenta stands with its fellow citizens. As the people of the island continue on their path to recovery from the hurricane, Momenta will be there to document their resilience and partake in the recovery. The nonprofits benefit from your brilliant photos by using them to tell their story to the world and you will learn real-world skills to documenting humanitarian issues.

You can be a force of change in Puerto Rico. On this inspirational workshop, you will be matched with a local nonprofit to create a powerful photo essay about their staff and all their efforts to fulfill their mission. We will have lectures, hands-on instruction, as well as daily one-on-one editing sessions. We will end our week together with a celebratory slideshow of the amazing nonprofits from your projects for the public!

Scroll down this page to learn about your instructors, the details, and see the trip details.

Please note: Last year, this workshop was one of our most popular trips and we expect it will fill up quickly. Place a deposit your space as soon as possible to avoid the wait list.

Your photography skills have never been more needed.

This workshop will inspire, challenge, and motivate you like no other.

Work directly with local nonprofit staff and clients to support the recovery efforts
1-on-1, personalized editing for each student, every day for an hour or more
Lectures on inspirational, nonprofit documentary photography
Our public slideshow party wraps up the week in San Juan

Be a Force of Change!

The Destination

San Juan is one of the oldest European settlements in the Americas and the capital city of Puerto Rico, an island oft-overlooked but amazingly welcoming for tropical visitors. While Puerto Rico is still recovering from the devastating impacts of 2017’s Hurricane Maria, officials and experts agree tourism remains vital to support the local economy. Even after all the island has endured, San Juan’s harbor, beaches, and neighborhoods are bursting with color, lush with vegetation, and brimming with welcoming residents.

At Momenta, we believe in the power of photography as a force of change, and the residents of Puerto Rico need that supportive change right now. More than a million residents of the island remain without access to constant electricity, while other services and infrastructure remain in need. Even still, the people and nonprofits on the island work tirelessly to rebuild their homes in the face of adversity and neglect.

Join Momenta on this unique workshop to participate in the reconstruction efforts and show your support in their time of need. Volunteer your time and skills to document the tremendous hard work and resilience of Puerto Ricans on their long path to recovery. You will be a part of the effort to help our citizens overcome these challenges and move to a successful future. You, in turn, will walk away with a successful photo package to use in your portfolio to market yourself to other nonprofits clients and collaborators.

We will focus our work with local NGOs and nonprofits of varying specialization and scale. From health organizations to community outreach and rebuilding efforts, workshop attendees will be given the task of creating compelling visual or multimedia narrative packages in collaboration with their assigned nonprofit.

What To Expect

An unparalleled chance to use your photography skills to help the devastated island recover by showcasing its residents’ tireless work
You will receive your own nonprofit partner to work with based on your answers to a detailed pre-workshop student questionnaire
Momenta will handle all pre-workshop logistics, including setting up each student with their own nonprofit to photograph
You keep the copyright to all your photographs. However, each attendee donates a license to a collection of images to your local nonprofit partner so they can use them to promote the great work they are doing
Your photographs will be part of a collective effort to bring light to the persisting conditions in Puerto Rico as its communities struggle to return to normal
We will provide you with supportive direction and intensive instruction on photo workflow and file management
You have the option to participate in nighttime group discussions throughout the week
You will receive at least one hour per day of 1-on-1, private editing sessions with an instructor to help build your style and skills
Orientation lectures guide you on narrative storytelling, elements of a photo story, the importance of documentary photography, & much more

Join Us for Project Puerto Rico!

Meet Your Puerto Rico Faculty

Jamie Rose

Jamie Rose is a co-owner of Momenta Group LLC. She has worked as an international photojournalist on five continents and has been a contract photographer and communication strategist with some of the world’s largest nonprofit organizations.

In 2011, Jamie was awarded the United Nations’ IPC’s Photographers Leadership Award. She has also won awards and grants for her documentary and nonprofit work including from…

Learn More about Jamie Rose

…The Alexia Foundation, and the prestigious White House News Photographers’ Association Project Grant for her portfolio of nonprofit work from Africa. Jamie received her Master’s Degree in photojournalism from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University and her bachelor’s degree from American University. She completed her Master’s thesis photographing volunteer health care workers in the West Bank and Israel. This project established her passion for working with nonprofits and covering humanitarian issues, while earning her a place in the prestigious agency team at Aurora Novus.

Her work has been published in National Geographic Books, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, O Magazine, Rolling Stone, Better Homes and Gardens, Newsweek, TIME Magazine and others. Her nonprofit clients include The Global Fund, Doctors Without Borders, The Calvert Foundation and Physicians for Human Rights among many other local and domestic organizations. Her photo editing skills were rewarded when she was asked to be the lead photo editor National Geographic’s “American Heroes” book.

Jamie is considered an expert in nonprofit photography business development. She has been interviewed twice by Photo District News (PDN), News Photographer Magazine, as well as online publications and podcasts about the importance of nonprofit documentary photography. She has been a guest lecturer at Georgetown University, American University, Hiram College, Syracuse University, and Columbia University’s Journalism schools about her work with international nonprofits.

Jamie lives in the heart of the mountain in ski country with her husband and their awesome pound puppy, Cody, in Redmond, Oregon. Her personal work can be seen at http://www.jamierose.net

Gabi Pérez-Silver

Documentary photographer Gabi Pérez-Silver was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She lived on the island until she was accepted intoSyracuse University’s prestigious College of Visual and Performing Arts to study photography.

During her first experience living through four seasons, she was inspired her to focus her career on adapting and adjusting to new environments…

Learn More about Gabi Pérez-Silver

…Her first major documentary project on mental illness inspired acclaimed photographer Annie Flanagan, also a Momenta instructor, to become her mentor and editor. Her long term documentary project on her father’s battle with mental illness, entitled Our Mind; A Weapon, was published in Burn Magazine and by Vice Media. Her work impressed David Allen Harvey so much he invited her to New York City where she joined projects with him and other Magnum Photos photographers on their editorial, production, and photographic support teams. Gabi returned to Puerto Rico after the hurricane, committed to documenting her home and its powerful stories. She works in the film industry as a freelance photographer and is currently pursuing a new documentary project on mental health. You can see her work at http://gbiprz.com and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/gbiprz.

Are You Looking for the Fine Print?

Click through the tabs below for more info.

What’s Included

Workshop Fees Include: daily one-on-one private editing sessions with our instructors and personalized portfolio reviews, workshop learning materials, slideshows and lectures, an opening night dinner, and final night celebration party.

Workshop Fees Do Not Include: international airfare, hotels (available for an additional fee), early arrival or late departure accommodations, visa fees (if applicable), medivac insurance (required), medical or vaccination costs, meals, items such as personal excursions, alcohol, phone calls, laundry, alcoholic beverages, etc.

It’s Easy to Sign Up!

Each workshop requires a minimum deposit to reserve your place in the workshop. To register and hold your place on the workshop, you must put down a $1000 deposit. After you have registered for a workshop, final payments will be due within 120 days of the start of the workshop. Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email from us via our secure registration company, RegOnline.com.

As we near the start of the workshop, you will receive informational documents from our staff including a reading and research list, your final workshop itinerary, and travel guides. We work very hard to insure you are prepared in every way for this learning adventure. Our staff stands ready to answer any of your questions and to help facilitate the smoothest travel experience possible. Please reach out to us with any questions via our Contact page.

Equipment

We require all attending photographers to bring their own cameras, laptop and support gear like external hard drives. Our staff and instructors can offer gear recommendations and help you understand the nuances of your equipment. You will also be able check out a loaner camera and lenses during the workshop thanks to our official camera sponsor!

We ask all photographers bring at least a digital SLR or rangefinder camera with 1-2 lenses. We encourage you to bring a lightweight tripod. Should you choose to participate in a multimedia project, you must come with a working knowledge of the required software programs and your equipment.

Please see our Resources tab at the top of the website for our gear and traveling tips suggestions.

Notes

This course is designed for people who are good natured, flexible, have a working knowledge of photography and are interested in a unique documentary photography workshop experience. We will work with each photographer to improve their photography on any level, and we will find the right theme for your vision. We will provide support every step of the way, but you need to have a positive attitude and work well with a group!

This experience is more of a photo practicum than it is a tourism trip. The educational journey will be amazing and eye opening but it is not easy. You will work long hours. Your instructors will give you daily challenges and push you to new heights with your photography. We will encourage you to stretch and think creatively.

You may encounter people or organizations that are challenging to photograph. You may have to photograph in dark rooms or outside at high noon. You may have stressful days of difficult logistics. While we will be there to help you, support you and give you insight on the best way to handle the situation as a professional, you will need to take as much responsibility for your progress as we do.

Register with security and confidence.

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The Journey

Project Puerto Rico 2020

Working with Nonprofits

Your photography skills have never been more needed.

The Destination

What To Expect

An unparalleled chance to use your photography skills to help the devastated island recover by showcasing its residents’ tireless work

You will receive your own nonprofit partner to work with based on your answers to a detailed pre-workshop student questionnaire

Momenta will handle all pre-workshop logistics, including setting up each student with their own nonprofit to photograph

You keep the copyright to all your photographs. However, each attendee donates a license to a collection of images to your local nonprofit partner so they can use them to promote the great work they are doing

Your photographs will be part of a collective effort to bring light to the persisting conditions in Puerto Rico as its communities struggle to return to normal

We will provide you with supportive direction and intensive instruction on photo workflow and file management

You have the option to participate in nighttime group discussions throughout the week

You will receive at least one hour per day of 1-on-1, private editing sessions with an instructor to help build your style and skills

Orientation lectures guide you on narrative storytelling, elements of a photo story, the importance of documentary photography, & much more