A letter from Rikki Ward

As a fellow photographer, you really should know about this awesome photo workshop I took this weekend. Its called “Wandering in the Company of Strangers,” its run by an amazing group of photographers called Black Boots Ink.
The workshop ran from Friday evening until Sunday evening and was totally packed with action and really well-structured.Friday we met up and introduced ourselves and talked about the way the program would run. Saturday the majority of the day walking all around San Francisco making photos and then looking at each others work. Sunday we spent all day editing the work we made. It was intense!
But the organizers were fantastic. They were super talented and super helpful. Emilio Banuelos and Ibarionex Perello were great co-Instructors, each had really strong skill set that complimented each other really well.
I also love the whole philosophy of civic engagement and world citizenry that Black Boots Ink seems to operate under. They seem to think of photography as a two way conversation in which both the photographer and the photographee are engaged, sharing with each other and learning from one another. Sadly, I think this view of and approach to the craft is uncommon these days. It seems that many photographers are more interested in boosting their egos than taking the time to try to connect with people they are photographing.
The other folks who participated in the workshop also seemed to share this idea. They were great to work with, and for the first time, I actually enjoyed shooting with other people.
The whole experience has really invigorated my desire to shoot for love and not just for money and made me remember why I started doing this in the first place.
We are having a show of the work made on the wall at 23rd and Valencia that will go up next week and be up until the prints disintegrate. Please come by and check it out. I know you will love it! I hope you are well. You should really check out Black Boots Ink website@ www.blackbootsink.com . Let me know if you want to take one of their upcoming workshops together.

Cheers Riki