Reserve a Place
€1.250
3 days · 6 spots remaining
§ Workshop — Foundation
BODIES, STONE & SEA
Alicudi, Italy
Departs · 05 December 2026 · 3 days
Participants · 6 · Spots remaining 6
Master · Luca Monti
Inside an iconic Aeolian house facing the Mediterranean, we will explore the nude as landscape, gesture and quiet human presence. Morning light will enter through cool rooms; vine shadows will move across the terrace; at sunset, the body will meet the blue immensity of the sea.
This is an intimate fine-art retreat for photographers who want time to observe, direct and create—not simply accumulate images. Working with three professional models in groups of only two, each participant will develop a personal photographic story shaped by Alicudi’s architecture, colour and elemental silence.
A closed set. A respectful collaboration. A small island and enough light to remember it by. An intimate photographic retreat inside an iconic Aeolian house suspended between volcanic stone and the Mediterranean. Three adult professional models, a maximum of six photographers, and three days devoted to natural light, the human figure and the slow rhythm of Alicudi. The island is not merely the location. It is the fourth model.
The concept
The workshop explores the nude as presence rather than performance: the body in dialogue with architecture, wind, shadow, water and silence. The visual language will be poetic and Mediterranean—sun-bleached colours, white walls, deep blue horizons, textured skin, linen, volcanic stone and the tender imperfections of analogue photography.
This is not a crowded “shooting day.” Each participant receives time, space and individual guidance. With only six photographers and three models, we can work in pairs and avoid the dreadful semicircle of clicking cameras—a firing squad with light meters.
§ Essential format
Essential format
Three days and two nights on Alicudi. A maximum of six participating photographers. Three adult professional models. One artistic director and workshop leader. Fine-art nude, implied nude and environmental portraiture. Natural light, with discreet reflectors and minimal continuous lighting. Digital, film and Polaroid photography welcomed. Intermediate and advanced photographers; serious beginners may join. Working language: English, with Italian and French support if available.
§ Artistic objectives
Artistic objectives
Participants will learn to direct a model clearly, gently and collaboratively; develop images rather than simply collect poses; use the geometry and colour of the house as part of the composition; photograph skin in hard sunlight, open shade and window light; balance the figure against a large Mediterranean landscape; work with gesture, stillness, movement and negative space; create visual continuity across a photographic series; and edit a small, coherent portfolio at the end of the retreat.
The three visual chapters
1. The House — Interior intimacy, doorways, white walls, faded colour, cool rooms and reflected light. The body appears quietly within the domestic architecture: reclining, passing through, partially concealed or framed by shadow.
2. The Terrace — Pink walls, yellow floor, vine-covered pergola and blue horizon. Here we explore the tension between saturated colour and the simplicity of the human form.
3. The Island — Volcanic stone, paths, sea, vegetation and late-afternoon wind. The body becomes less portrait and more landscape—something elemental, fragile and timeless.
Working structure
The six participants are divided into three pairs. During rotation sessions, each pair works with one model at a separate location. This creates calm sets and gives everyone meaningful camera time. At selected moments, photographers work individually while the remaining participants observe, assist or edit. Nobody photographs over another participant’s shoulder without invitation.
§ The Itinerary
The Itinerary
The language of the house.
Afternoon: arrival, welcome and settling into Alicudi’s slower tempo. Introduction to the retreat covers artistic vision and references, a tour of the house and location study, model introductions, consent and boundaries and the closed-set protocol, camera preparation and individual creative intentions. Late afternoon brings the first light session: three groups of two photographers rotate between window light and interior shadow, doorways and architectural framing, and the shaded terrace beneath the vines. The first session concentrates on observation and communication—no hurried posing; each image begins with an idea, a gesture or a relationship to the space. Sunset: a short collective session overlooking the sea, using silhouettes, reflected light and the horizon. Evening: welcome dinner followed by an informal projection of Mediterranean photographic references. Each participant selects one visual intention for the following morning.
Body, colour and Mediterranean light.
Early morning, soft light: three simultaneous stations of approximately forty-five minutes each—white linen and quiet interior portraiture, figure against the pastel architecture, stone and plants and the awakening sea. Groups rotate so every photographer works with every model. Late morning brings a direction masterclass: a practical session on communicating an emotional intention, moving beyond conventional poses, directing hands, gaze and weight, knowing when not to direct, and creating implied nude images through framing and fabric. Midday: a long lunch and rest. The Mediterranean sun at noon is a magnificent tyrant; we admire it from the shade. Afternoon: the principal editorial shoot. Participants develop short sequences around colour, form and the horizon—one model against the geometry of the house, two-figure compositions, movement beneath the pergola, skin and vine shadows and saturated colour, minimal figures within the immense seascape, golden hour and blue hour. A carefully choreographed group session with all three models is followed by individual ten-minute shooting intervals. Evening: dinner and first edit. Each photographer presents five images. Discussion focuses on rhythm, repetition, visual authorship and what the series still needs.
From photographs to a body of work.
Early morning, personal assignment: each participant creates a final six-to-eight-image story with one chosen model and location. Possible themes include after the siesta, the woman and the island, salt on the skin, rooms facing the sea, and Alicudi before departure. Each photographer receives a private shooting period without other cameras present. Late morning, experimental session: a choice of Polaroid and instant-film portraits, slow shutter and movement, mirrors and fragmented reflections, fabric and transparency and implied nude, or high-contrast black-and-white studies. Afternoon, editing and sequencing: participants select and sequence a final portfolio of eight to twelve images. Individual feedback addresses image selection, colour consistency, narrative order, retouching restraint, and publication and exhibition possibilities. Closing presentation: a private projection of the six completed series, followed by a conversation with the models about collaboration and representation. The retreat closes with a shared aperitivo facing the sea.
§ Participant experience
Participant experience
Each photographer receives a pre-retreat creative questionnaire, a recommended equipment and packing guide, three days of guided shooting, sessions with all three models, at least one private directed shoot, an individual portfolio consultation, a group editing and sequencing session, a post-retreat online review within four weeks, and a small digital booklet containing the final collective selection, subject to model approval.
§ Ethics and closed-set policy
Ethics and closed-set policy
Respect is part of the photographic language, not an administrative footnote. All models and participants must be eighteen or older. The models determine their individual nudity and posing boundaries. Consent is specific, ongoing and may be withdrawn at any time. No participant may touch a model without explicit permission. No phones, spectators or behind-the-scenes recording on closed sets. Images may not be published, exhibited, sold or submitted to competitions outside the agreed model-release terms. Selected images intended for publicity should receive model approval. No generative-AI training or synthetic alteration of a model’s body or identity. A private changing and resting area must always be available. Models receive proper breaks, meals, accommodation and transport support. Alcohol is served only after photography has finished for the day. Before each session, the artistic director holds a short consent check-in covering wardrobe, nudity level, location, participating photographers and intended images.
§ Gear Requirements
Gear Requirements
is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using 'Content here, content here', making it look like readable English.
§ Travel Conditions
Travel Conditions
is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using 'Content here, content here', making it look like readable English.
§ Accommodation
Accommodation
The ideal experience includes shared accommodation in or near the house, breakfasts, lunches, dinners and non-alcoholic refreshments. Because Alicudi is remote and physically demanding, the booking information must clearly explain ferry and arrival arrangements, steep paths and limited transport, accessibility constraints, luggage recommendations, weather-related itinerary changes, and medical, dietary and emergency information. The programme should retain enough flexibility to follow the light and sea conditions. On Alicudi, the schedule proposes; the island disposes.
§ Safety & Accessibility
Safety & Accessibility
is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using 'Content here, content here', making it look like readable English.
§ Post-Workshop
Post-Workshop
The journey does not end when we leave the house and Alicudi. After the workshop, each participant will be contacted by email and invited to join a private online group created exclusively for the cohort. For six months, this shared space will remain an extension of the workshop: a place to stay connected with fellow photographers, revisit the experience through images and conversation, and remain in direct contact with your tutor. You will be able to submit photographs for review, continue discussions that began in the field, seek guidance as your visual project develops, and ask for advice when planning future independent journeys. This six-month continuation, included in the workshop fee, is designed to allow the work, the relationships and the photographic way of seeing cultivated during the journey to endure long after the return home.
§ The Light Map
The Light Map
is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout.
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using 'Content here, content here', making it look like readable English.