Masterclass Mark de Paola
09.05.2026 - 10.05.2026
10:00 - 17:00
Masterclass Mark de Paola
Mark de Paola
Fotograf
Mark de Paola is a New York City-based fine art and fashion photographer and director with over 30 years of experience shooting campaign and fine art commissions for the likes of Vogue Spain, Vogue Mexico, Gucci, Oscar de la Renta, Prabal Gurung, David Koma, Roksanda, and Saint Laurent.
De Paola has directed several hundred television spots in the fashion/beauty sector including those for Giorgio RED Perfume (Bergdorf Goodman windows and MoMA NY), Ducati, Leica Camera, Sony, Neutrogena, and Ford Motorsports.
De Paola's fine art work is included in public collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Getty in Los Angeles, the San Diego Center of Photographic Arts, and the TOP Museum in Tokyo. His photography monographs Recent Work I (2018), Recent Work II (2019), and Five Years and Sixty Seconds (2020) can be found with Leica Camera retailers in major cities worldwide. De Paola's solo exhibitions have traveled around the world including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dali (China), Tokyo, Milan (Triennale Museum), and at home in New York City.
Zürich
Schweiz
DESCRIPTION
May 9-10, 2026 join world renowned fashion and fine art photographer and director for a weekend of building narratives through portraiture with Leica Akademie.
The masterclass will focus on capturing portraiture stories, dissecting the anatomy of character and plot development, as well as exploring both the literal and abstract possibilities of crafting story with photographs. Students will come away with at a minimum of two distinct narrative sequences of photographs.
Set against Zurich's iconic urban facades, you will work on assignment to adapt each assigned character to your own authored story. This masterclass is catered to photographers both beginning their artistic journey as well as those more advanced in the medium. Mark will explore how implementing and understanding how sequencing a narrative applies to many photographic genres and is critical to creating a completed body of work.
De Paola is long known for his fashion and fine artwork that has been revered as portraiture first, always striving for the most authentic and truthful essence and expression from a collaboration. This understanding of providing a space of safety and freedom in a creative space is a critical topic of discussion that each student will also explore with Mark and each portraiture collaborator.
Do not miss this unique opportunity to join Mark de Paola and the Leica Akademie this May in Zurich. You are sure to come away with powerful and poignant photographs, reunite with your own unlocked sense of play and story, and immerse further into discovering your truest unique photographic style and connection in portraiture.
TOPICS
- Building, deconstruction, and abstracting a narrative in portraiture
- Mark’s creative process from concept to completion in photographic storytelling
- Character development
- Working with natural light on-location
- Capturing motion or suspense in a still image
- Understanding the collaboration between photographer and subject
- Adapting a creative concept to your own visual style
- Composing photographs to elicit tension or suspense as plot point
Number of participants: 10
Saturday, May 9, 2026
10AM - Start time, Location TBA
10:00AM-11:30AM - Mark de Paola Lecture on Imbuing Narrative In Portraiture
11:30AM-12:00PM - Student Introductions
12:00PM-1:00PM - break
1:00PM-5PM - Photo Shoot #1: Each student will present this 5-image story at the end of the masterclass during group review.
Sunday, May 10, 2026
10AM - Start time, Location TBA
10:00AM-1:00PM - Photo Shoot #2: Each student will present this 5-image story at the end of the masterclass during group review.
1:00PM-2:00PM - Group Lunch
2:00PM-4:00PM - Group Student Reviews with Mark de Paola/Students Deliver Final Portfolios to Leica Akademie Schweiz
4:00PM-5:00PM - Final Group Review/Students present their portraiture narratives shot over the course of the two days together.
