Dates: September 17 - October 15, 2026
Meetings: Thursdays, 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM CST (5 sessions)
Location: Online Zoom Classroom
Cost: $465 (HCP members can receive a 10% discount, Advanced Photography Practices students receive a 15% discount)
Instructor: Arko Datto
Skill Level: Intermediate-Advanced
The world is transformed after dark. Familiar landscapes become uncanny, neon lights and the lingering afterglow of the sun reshape space, and that which remains invisible during the day slowly begins to reveal itself. This course invites participants to develop a photo essay centred on the night, approaching darkness not as a challenging lighting condition but as a unique visual, conceptual and existential landscape. Through lectures, field assignments, image critiques, and discussions of historical and contemporary photographic practices, participants will explore a range of approaches, techniques, and ideas that can inform a sustained body of work.
Alongside practical instruction in working with available light, long exposures, mixed lighting, flash and low-light environments, the course will consider the night as a space of mystery, memory, ecology, ritual, surveillance, and transformation. Students will be encouraged to experiment with both technical and conceptual strategies while refining their own visual language. By the end of the course, each participant will have created a 10-image photo essay (which can be developed further over a longer period of time) that uses the night as both its subject and its medium.
Objectives:
Explore historical and contemporary photographic projects that engage with the night, examining a range of artistic, documentary, and conceptual approaches
Develop a solid understanding of the technical foundations of nighttime photography, including exposure, focusing, colour temperature, available light, flash, and long-exposure techniques
Learn the principles of visual storytelling, sequencing, and editing to create a compelling photo essay or photographic narrative
Develop and refine an individual artistic vision by using the night as a space for experimentation, observation, and conceptual inquiry
Build confidence in photographing in low-light environments while making informed creative and technical decisions
Practice methodologies for developing and sustaining long-term photographic projects, from initial research and fieldwork to editing and presentation
Produce a coherent, original photographic series that demonstrates both technical proficiency and a distinctive artistic voice, suitable for inclusion in a professional portfolio
Prerequisites:
This course is intended for photographers and visual artists comfortable using their camera in Manual mode who are interested in, or already engaged with, nighttime photography and who wish to develop a distinctive body of work. Participants should have a genuine interest in visual storytelling and be motivated to build or strengthen their portfolio.
Course Prep:
For the first class, participants should bring a selection of 10–15 photographs that represent their current practice. While images related to nighttime photography are encouraged, they are not required. Ideally, the photographs should come from a single project or body of work rather than being a miscellaneous portfolio.
Participants are also encouraged to reflect on the following questions before the first session:
What does the night mean to you?
Why are you drawn to photographing after dark?
What themes, places, or experiences are you interested in exploring through nighttime photography?
These reflections will form the starting point for discussions and help shape each participant's photographic project throughout the course.
Dates: September 17 - October 15, 2026
Meetings: Thursdays, 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM CST (5 sessions)
Location: Online Zoom Classroom
Cost: $465 (HCP members can receive a 10% discount, Advanced Photography Practices students receive a 15% discount)
Instructor: Arko Datto
Skill Level: Intermediate-Advanced
The world is transformed after dark. Familiar landscapes become uncanny, neon lights and the lingering afterglow of the sun reshape space, and that which remains invisible during the day slowly begins to reveal itself. This course invites participants to develop a photo essay centred on the night, approaching darkness not as a challenging lighting condition but as a unique visual, conceptual and existential landscape. Through lectures, field assignments, image critiques, and discussions of historical and contemporary photographic practices, participants will explore a range of approaches, techniques, and ideas that can inform a sustained body of work.
Alongside practical instruction in working with available light, long exposures, mixed lighting, flash and low-light environments, the course will consider the night as a space of mystery, memory, ecology, ritual, surveillance, and transformation. Students will be encouraged to experiment with both technical and conceptual strategies while refining their own visual language. By the end of the course, each participant will have created a 10-image photo essay (which can be developed further over a longer period of time) that uses the night as both its subject and its medium.
Objectives:
Explore historical and contemporary photographic projects that engage with the night, examining a range of artistic, documentary, and conceptual approaches
Develop a solid understanding of the technical foundations of nighttime photography, including exposure, focusing, colour temperature, available light, flash, and long-exposure techniques
Learn the principles of visual storytelling, sequencing, and editing to create a compelling photo essay or photographic narrative
Develop and refine an individual artistic vision by using the night as a space for experimentation, observation, and conceptual inquiry
Build confidence in photographing in low-light environments while making informed creative and technical decisions
Practice methodologies for developing and sustaining long-term photographic projects, from initial research and fieldwork to editing and presentation
Produce a coherent, original photographic series that demonstrates both technical proficiency and a distinctive artistic voice, suitable for inclusion in a professional portfolio
Prerequisites:
This course is intended for photographers and visual artists comfortable using their camera in Manual mode who are interested in, or already engaged with, nighttime photography and who wish to develop a distinctive body of work. Participants should have a genuine interest in visual storytelling and be motivated to build or strengthen their portfolio.
Course Prep:
For the first class, participants should bring a selection of 10–15 photographs that represent their current practice. While images related to nighttime photography are encouraged, they are not required. Ideally, the photographs should come from a single project or body of work rather than being a miscellaneous portfolio.
Participants are also encouraged to reflect on the following questions before the first session:
What does the night mean to you?
Why are you drawn to photographing after dark?
What themes, places, or experiences are you interested in exploring through nighttime photography?
These reflections will form the starting point for discussions and help shape each participant's photographic project throughout the course.
Images: Arko Datto
