Aspiring photographers invited to capture Easter in Tbilisi in workshop by Thomas Dworzak

Aspiring photographers can develop their skills while exploring a celebration of Orthodox Easter in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, in a workshop to be led by Magnum Photos agency photographer Thomas Dworzak this spring.

Dworzak, who has featured the South Caucasus region extensively in his work, will share his experience with participants during the four-day workshop in April, as the latter travel to the city to document the annual religious festivities.

The World Press Photo award-winning German photojournalist, who has referred to himself as “Prisoner of the Caucasus” to highlight his fascination with the region, is collaborating with the Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum for the project.

The German photojournalist has captured people and locations of the South Caucasus for decades. Photo: Thomas Dworzak.

[The workshop] offers a rare chance to discover the various layers that the Georgian capital can offer to the visitors while improving your practice,” organisers said in preview for the event.

Beside shooting the festive events, participating photographers will also have lectures and collective critique sessions during their time in Tbilisi.

Two of the best portfolios created within the workshop will be selected by Tbilisi Photo Festival Artistic Director Nestan Nijaradze to be screened at the annual Night of Photography event of the festival later this year.

The Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum is also collaborating with the Magnum agency to run a scholarship for one participant of the workshop.

Dworzak, who is set to lead the aspiring professionals, spent extensive time residing in Georgia between the tumultuous time of civil war in the country in the early 1990s, and the early 2010s.

His experiences have led to vivid photographs depicting the region and its people in locations including Chechnya, Daghestan and Georgia.

Dworzak’s photographs of the Georgian capital went on display last week in a separate exhibition bringing together snaps of the city by renowned names including Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

The German photojournalist was also in Tbilisi in 2017 to mark the 70th anniversary of Magnum Photos, an internationally recognised agency.

The same year he also teamed up with British reporter Julius Strauss to re-trace a 1947 journey across the Soviet Union by famed photojournalist Capa and author John Steinbeck.

Their resulting work, featuring photographs and stories from cities of former Soviet states, was published as Russian Journal Revisited, in a nod to the title of Capa and Steinbeck’s travels.

Dworzak will lead the workshop in Tbilisi between 26-29 April.