La Luz Workshops is an educational company specializing in photography. We design and produce learning experiences with some of the world’s leading photographic artists and industry experts.
We offer an environment where students can immerse themselves for a period of time and focus intensively on making new and better photographs, reflect on their work, generate ideas, and grow their practice.
Our company is built on a foundation of integrity, service, collaboration and community. We are devoted to personalized attention and taking care of every detail to provide the best possible learning and life experience for our students.
THE FOUNDER
My name is Selma Fernández Richter and I am a photographer, educator and producer. Originally from Oaxaca, México, since 2011 I have been living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with my husband, photographer Andy Richter and our son Julien. We spend our time between Mexico and the United States.
My career began in 2001, primarily working on editorial projects for magazines. The desire to improve my photography led me to search for the most effective way to learn new skills. I found that photography workshops were an ideal way to do this. They provided an opportunity for me to immerse myself in a relatively short period of time, learn from the best teachers and photographers in the world, and apply the knowledge to my profession upon returning home. I was fortunate to have Mary Ellen Mark as my teacher, who ran an amazing workshop for nearly 20 years in Oaxaca, my home town.
A desire to continue learning kept me close to the world of photography workshops. In 2007, I started working as Teaching Assistant for the Santa Fe Workshops and National Geographic Expeditions, also in Oaxaca, where I had the opportunity to work with photographers Raul Touzon, Eniac Martinez, David Alan Harvey and Kenneth Garrett, among others. With time, I started to develop photography classes locally for advanced enthusiasts. Facilitating the learning process and bearing witness to student growth brought me great fulfillment and joy.
In 2011, I was invited to produce Mary Ellen Mark’s workshops which turned out to be the best school I could ever attend. Not only did I learn about photography, but also about her commitment to her students and her close relationship with the community. She always pushed students and staff to their full potential. I was fortunate to also assist her on assignment. Working in Oaxaca, where I was born and raised, is something that has always made me proud. I aim to share it with our students, who come from all over the world, in an authentic and intimate way.
For many years, I collaborated with Photo Xpeditions, the company who produced Mary Ellen’s workshops. I started working with photographers Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb, Maggie Steber, Tino Soriano, among many others. This work has also allowed me to get to know hundreds students, many of whom I consider friends today, which is another great part of working in this industry—you connect with a lot of interesting, creative, and wonderful people.
Grateful for all these years of experience, the natural next step was to establish La Luz Workshops, a company that truly reflects my values around photography and teaching. We are thankful to be working with some of the world’s leading photographers and experts in the industry.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, we were forced to make the difficult decision to cancel our in-person programming. Yet, this created an opportunity as well, and we started to shift our attention to creating online educational experiences. We have found out that these workshops are a wonderful way to learn, create, and connect during this challenging time.
Please check out what we have to offer. We look forward to working with you.
Please reach out with questions, comments, or to share ideas via email to selma@laluzworkshops.com
Stay in touch via Facebook & Instagram
You can also learn more about my photographic work here: selmafernandezrichter.com
COLLABORATORS
Mariana Rodriguez Fernandez is a graphic designer, illustrator and ceramicist who lives and works in Oaxaca, Mexico. She holds a BFA and a bachelor's degree in Literature, Journalism and New Media with an emphasis in graphic design, visual thinking and cultural marketing from Unarte.
Since 2016, she has been teaching illustration and editorial design at Anahuac and Unarte Universities, as well as private and governmental cultural institutions such as the Secretary of Culture of Puebla. She has worked with design studios such as Arte Editora, Abracadabra, Guru The Brand Buro, and ILVZ. She also writes and illustrates for a variety of independent publications.
Mariana has been part of several group exhibitions in Mexico, Colombia and Vienna. In 2016, her work was selected to be part of the International Art Show: {im}proper illustration in Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts in Telši Lithuania. In 2015, she participated in the Venice Biennale as part of the Benetton Foundation Collection, featuring 200 Mexican artists entitled “Mexico: The Future is Unwritten”.
She currently owns and operates a utilitarian ceramic workshop (Lemon Crust Ceramics), a tattoo and illustration studio (Costraconlimon) and a graphic design firm (Pale Black Estudio).
Mariana designed La Luz Workshops’ visual identity and website and is also a production assistant for the “Art of Editing Workshop” with Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb.
LINKS TO HER WORK
Eva Lépiz, is a Mexican photographer based in Oaxaca, Mexico. She studied painting and has a bachelor degree in architecture. Her work focuses on issues related to family, ethnicity, spirituality and femininity.
She is also a producer and researcher for photographers, journalists, as well as cultural and educational projects. Since 2008, she has worked with David Alan Harvey, Raul Touzon, Maggie Steber, Ron Haviv, Adriana Zehbrauskas, Michael Robinson Chavez, Stella Johnson, Sean Kernan, Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb.
She teaches photography at the Centro Fotográfico Manuel Álvarez Bravo and Centro de las Artes de San Agustin, in Oaxaca. She was selected to participate in the Contemporary Photography Seminar from Centro de la Imagen and CaSa, the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, and more recently the Documentary Photography Program lead by Joan Liftin and Antoine d´Agata also at CaSa.
Eva is a production assistant for the workshops “Finding Your Vision” with Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb and for “The Engaging Portrait: a Stranger in Oaxaca” with Richard Renaldi.
Eva Lépiz, is a Mexican photographer based in Oaxaca, Mexico. She studied painting and has a bachelor degree in architecture. Her work focuses on issues related to family, ethnicity, spirituality and femininity.
She is also a producer and researcher for photographers, journalists, as well as cultural and educational projects. Since 2008, she has worked with David Alan Harvey, Raul Touzon, Maggie Steber, Ron Haviv, Adriana Zehbrauskas, Michael Robinson Chavez, Stella Johnson, Sean Kernan, Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb.
She teaches photography at the Centro Fotográfico Manuel Álvarez Bravo and Centro de las Artes de San Agustin, in Oaxaca. She was selected to participate in the Contemporary Photography Seminar from Centro de la Imagen and CaSa, the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, and more recently the Documentary Photography Program lead by Joan Liftin and Antoine d´Agata also at CaSa.
Eva is a production assistant for the workshops “Finding Your Vision” with Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb and for “The Engaging Portrait: a Stranger in Oaxaca” with Richard Renaldi.
LINKS TO HER WORK
Taylor Selsback is a documentary photographer from Minneapolis, MN. He has a B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Iceland.
His creative practice has centered around themes of personal experience, identity, social justice and language representation. Through narrative photography and portraiture he intends to create images that reveal an intimacy to the viewer, foster critical dialogue about a subject matter, honor the movements and individuals with whom he collaborates and pushes the boundaries of how images communicate. He is currently exploring how linguistic theory can be used to analyze analogous structural components of language and visual language to edit, sequence, and present images. His practice involves both digital and analog processes.
Taylor is a co-producer and workshop assistant with La Luz Workshops and an associate producer on the PhotoWork Podcast with Sasha Wolf.
