Color! – A Conversation With Eric Meola @ Santa Fe Workshops

 

Wednesday, Dec 10 @ 8pm EST, 2026

Creativity Continues at Santa Fe Workshops with a conversation about Color!
Savor a deep dive with two photographic masters, Eric Meola and John Paul Caponigro.

Our hour of inspiration will begin with a short presentation of images.

Next, Eric and John Paul will share and discuss their insights about color. After hearing their insights about how other artists use color and how they use color, you’ll leave inspired to explore how you use color (even if you’re a black-and-white photographer).

Finally, we’ll finish with a lively question-and-answer session open to all participants.

Color is such a deep subject, and these artists’ passion for color is so strong, it’s sure to run long.

Join Santa Fe Workshops’ worldwide community of photographers and writers as Creativity Continues.
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Photographer Eric Meola’s new book, BENDING LIGHT: The Moods of Color, showcases his use of light and color throughout his career. In a five-decade career that defines the use of color as art, Meola examines the history of color and redefines it in the medium of photography. In dozens of stories and anecdotes, he recounts his journey using color, its symbolism, and how it affects our moods. “Light and color are my subject as much as the subject itself. They resonate with our moods, reflect our emotions, and define the way we see.”

Eric Meola studied photography at the Newhouse School of Journalism at Syracuse University and graduated with a B.A. in English Literature. Meola’s photographs are included in the archive of the American Society of Media Photographers, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the International Center of Photography in New York, and the George Eastman Museum. His previous books include Last Places on Earth (GRAPHIS, 2004), Born to Run: The Unseen Photos (Insight Editions, 2006), INDIA: In Word & Image (Welcome Books, 2008), and FIERCE BEAUTY: Storms of the Great Plains (IMAGES Publishing, 2019). He has received numerous awards, including “Advertising Photographer of the Year” in 1986 from the American Society of Media Photographers, a “Power of the Image” George Eastman award in 2014, and, in 2023, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Professional Photographers of America.

 

View 12 Great Photographs by Eric Meola

Read 14 Great Quotes By Photographer Eric Meola.

Read our short Q&A

Read our extended conversation.

Discover more by Eric Meola.

 

Finding Faces in the Rocks – John Paul Caponigro & Joel Simpson

“If you look very intensely and slowly, things will happen that you never dreamed of before.” This Aaron Siskind quote neatly sums up the deeply contemplative discussion we had with landscape photographers John Paul Caponigro and Joel Simpson in this week’s podcast.

  • 3:30: Joel Simpson describes his early landscapes as a way to re-experience being elsewhere.
  • 9:24: Pareidolia: what it means and its relationship to Joel’s photographs.
  • 13:24: John Paul’s relationship to the term pareidolia: a way to find patterns and make sense out of chaos.
  • 19:12: The influence of Gestalt psychology when interpreting abstract patterns.
  • 24:55: Differences between pre-visualization vs going in empty. Plus, getting beyond imitation.
  • 35:58: How do you know when your unique vision is ready to be released into the world?
  • 42:12: Episode Break
  • 43:24: John Paul’s approach to post-processingusing the tools as a laboratory to make multiple iterations.
  • 47:00: Joel describes the discoveries he made finessing photos of Zhangjiajie, China.
  • 50:21: How does AI factor into crafting an authentic vision, plus the mind as the original AI?
  • 1:03:18: Using photography to tap into things that haven’t yet been discovered and elicit wonder.
  • 1:06:50: Joel and John Paul talk about the places that inspire their respective photographic projects.

 

View images here.

Find more about Joel Simpson and his book Faces In The Rocks here.