Photo Expedition
Mystical Javakheti
Discover Georgia's ancient land through your lens, with the first-ever photo expedition in Javakheti, one of the most precious and least-known parts of Georgia. This unique workshop mixes portrait, landscape, and social photography. Run by two Georgian artists and photographers Ana Patladze and Elene Glonti, and a Ukrainian wine specialist Anna Popruga.
Ana and Elene are an artistic duo, who have spent years working in the suburbs of their country - Georgia, while Anna Popruga is a wine expert and has been working with Georgian winemakers village by village. Our expedition aspires to be an authentic experience, a combo of the capital city Tbilisi and two regions Javakjeti and Meskheti. Locals will guide us through the hidden gems of their villages, gastronomy, and legends.
If you want to join us click the button below.
September 1st-6th 2023- $2200
During our days in Tbilisi, we will focus on street photography as we explore the town, old and new. We will also explore it narratively by hearing the unique Tbilisi tales of Georgia’s best contemporary writer.
In Javakheti we will visit its secluded towns and will hone our skills in social and portrait photography. We will rest and discuss at St.Nino nunnery in Poka where our lunch will prepared from wholly local foods in the monastery by the charming nuns who live and work there.
The next day in Meskheti we will discover a magical haven in the cave town Vardzia for still Life photography, discuss our work, have a masterclass and do some shooting inside the ancient caves.
For the unscheduled part of the tour, participants are free to explore and experiment.
On our last day, back in Tbilisi, we will have a final masterclass with leading Georgian photographer Giorgi Shengelia about developing and experimenting in the darkroom.
Not only will we print our own photographs from the tour, but we will be able to infuse them with different meanings and expressions through the darkroom experimental techniques we learn in the masterclass.
Included
Not included: flight, insurance, airport-hotel pick up and drop off.
Ended
2,100 Georgian laris
First-ever Photo expedition
in Georgia
In all of Georgia's long and heavy history, Javakheti is probably one of its most expressive and unexplored regions - its borders were closed up until 1991 even within Georgia - resulting in a land only 2 hours from Tbilisi but furthest from its people - the mystical, untouched both pained and tender it offers breathtaking views, history counting back to 12 century B.C. people of different races and religions living in the same village on the coast of lakes that seem to flow within one another forming a road leading our expedition to Vardzia - a monastery carved in caves where 500 monks used to live and pray in the 11th century.
The road once famous as a Silk Road - connecting Europe to Asia - Arabian Caravans to French couture passed through Georgia, through Javakheti. Georgia is believed to be the cradle of wine and wheat - born in Javakheti.
For us, it is crucial to see and show the real stories, the real people behind these landscapes, and have authentic experiences through true connections with the locals, where we will have the chance to touch their lives and learn from them. Our host in Javakjeti will be Vardzia Resort, carved in the mountains with breathtaking views of the Vardzia Cave town.
The first floor of the Writer's House Tbilisi is the cultural mecca of today's Georgia, the evenings and nights are booked up with cultural gatherings, poetry readings, and discussions, and the second floor offers you the Museum of repressed writers of Georgia and the third floor - a residency, making it the best place to stay and experience both the contemporary cultural life of Georgia and its historical past. The trip will start with a welcome breakfast at Writer's House Garden and a guided tour of Tbilisi by one of its greatest Georgian writers.
Join us on this amazing journey, let's explore where do we come from, where do we go....
