14 June 2019
Art of Seeing: how it all started
Around the year 2000 I came across photos by Peter Sanders that caught my attention. I saw people and places I had never seen before.
Read more — Art of Seeing: how it all startedJournal
How Art of Seeing began, and the journeys that followed.
Art of Seeing began in 2010, when Faisal Mirza met Peter Sanders properly for the first time and put a proposal to him: a series of journeys, travelling together to photograph and to learn. He saw the opportunity to put his organizing skills to work and build a platform, so that everyone else who wanted to learn from Peter could come on board too. The first journey left for Istanbul in May 2012.
What follows is the record of every journey that travelled — where it went, who taught, and how many people came. Each entry opens for the detail. The longer stories are underneath.
Nine journeys
Between 2012 and 2019, Art of Seeing travelled to 4 countries with 129 photographers.
2012
Photographed 18 May 2012
Istanbul — The first journey
The first Art of Seeing journey. Around thirty photographers flew in from across the world to spend six days in Istanbul with Peter Sanders — the trip that established the format everything since has followed.
- Where
- Turkey
- Taught by
- Peter Sanders
- Format
- Journey
- Participants
- 28
Istanbul — The second, the same year
A second Istanbul journey five months after the first, in the same year — the pace of that opening period.
- Where
- Turkey
- Taught by
- Peter Sanders
- Format
- Journey
2013
Photographed 12 May 2013
Morocco — Marrakech and the south
Ten days beginning in Marrakech and moving south through Aït Benhaddou, the Dades valley, Kelaat M’Gouna and Boumalne — the longest journey Art of Seeing has run.
- Where
- Morocco
- Taught by
- Peter Sanders
- Format
- Journey
- Participants
- 11
2015
Photographed 25 October 2015
Istanbul
A return to Istanbul after two and a half years, and the first journey with a second instructor alongside Peter Sanders.
- Where
- Turkey
- Taught by
- Peter Sanders · Floris Scheplitz
- Format
- Journey
- Participants
- 20
2016
Photographed 4 April 2016
Morocco — Marrakech, Aït Ben Haddou, Boumalne Dades
A week through Marrakech and the rural south with three instructors — the most heavily documented journey in the archive.
- Where
- Morocco
- Taught by
- Peter Sanders · Hannan Mian · Floris Scheplitz
- Format
- Journey
2018
Photographed 16 April 2018
Granada — The Alhambra
The first of two Granada journeys, working in and around the Alhambra. The largest group Art of Seeing had taken since the opening Istanbul trip.
- Where
- Spain
- Taught by
- Peter Sanders · Hannan Mian · Floris Scheplitz
- Format
- Journey
- Participants
- 21
Photographed 24 September 2018
Hunza Valley — A Hands-On Expedition
Six days in the Hunza Valley and Lahore, working in the field rather than in masterclasses. The film Fatima’s Journey was made on this expedition.
An expedition rather than a journey — hands-on fieldwork in Karimabad and Gilgit-Baltistan, led by Atif Saeed. Peter Sanders did not travel on this one.
- Where
- Pakistan
- Taught by
- Atif Saeed · Floris Scheplitz
- Format
- Expedition
- Participants
- 15
Istanbul — A two-day workshop
A short, concentrated workshop in Istanbul — the shortest format Art of Seeing has run.
- Where
- Turkey
- Taught by
- Peter Sanders
- Format
- Workshop
- Participants
- 14
2019
Photographed 21 April 2019
Granada — The Alhambra
A second Granada journey, twelve months after the first. The most recent Art of Seeing journey to travel.
- Where
- Spain
- Taught by
- Peter Sanders · Hannan Mian · Floris Scheplitz
- Format
- Journey
- Participants
- 20
Stories
14 June 2019
The first Art of Seeing, 2012
Our first Art of Seeing journey was in 2012.
Read more — The first Art of Seeing, 2012
14 June 2019
The second Art of Seeing, Istanbul
Photographs from the second Art of Seeing journey in Istanbul.
Read more — The second Art of Seeing, Istanbul