The Red Thread with Awoiska Van Der Molen

Find your artistic root

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GOAL

* Discover the hidden red thread in your fascinations that form the root of your artistic expression.

* Gain awareness of long-standing clues within your persona that explain and validate your intuitive creative choices.

* These newly discovered insights will be of help to understand how to strengthen and sustain your artistic expression.

The expression “red thread” originates from the Greek mythology where King Theseus found his way out of the Minotaur’s labyrinth by following a “red thread”. It is a metaphor on a common thread, a guiding idea that comes back over and over and it ensures the coherency of a whole by being the reference point.

BIOGRAPHY

Awoiska van der Molen (1972) is a Dutch artist known for her monumental black and white analogue images that represent her experience of the primordial and psychological space in the world she photographs.

She began her studies in Architecture & Design but did not complete the program, eventually finding her true means of expression through photography. She studied photography at Minerva Art Academy in Groningen and at Hunter City University in New York and graduated with a MFA in Photography at the Dutch St.Joost Academy, Breda in 2003.

Van der Molen was shortlisted for the Prix Pictet Award in 2019. In 2017 her exhibition ‘Blanco’ was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize and was she the recipient of the Larry Sultan Photography Award in San Francisco. Van der Molen was awarded the Japanese Hariban Award in 2014 and was finalist at the Hyères Festival International de Mode et de Photographie in France in 2011.
Her recent publication The Humanness of Our Lonely Selves was shortlisted ‘Book of the Year’ – Paris Photo / Aperture awards. Other books she produced are The Living Mountain (2021), Blanco (2017) Sequester (2014) all published and designed by Fw: Books / Hans Gremmen.

Program

You’ll be expected to fully immerse yourself, take risks and push your boundaries in order to move forward into another level in your photography.

This workshop is not necessarily about the act of photographing itself but rather about gaining a deeper understanding of the knowledge that already exists—within yourself, within your work.

We aim to achieve this through individual assignments, revisiting your existing work, adding new made photographs. Participants are encouraged to bring work-in-progress, previously completed projects, and single images that have yet to find their place.

During the four days, a safe and supportive space will be created for sharing and exchanging ideas and thoughts to fully immerse yourself, take risks, push your boundaries, and, most importantly, trust your creative instincts.

ASSIGNMENT BEFORE THE WORKSHOP:  An assignment will be given to the participants a few weeks before the workshop begins.  Participants are invited to bring to the workshop their photographic work (finalized ‘series’ and work in progress) books or dummies plus the assignment that was given before the workshop.

Day 1:
9:30-12:30 - Masterclass – Projections

Awoiska van der Molen will talk about her photography projects, share her sources of inspiration, and provide examples of her own discovered red thread and how this gave her guidance and confidence by uncovering clues that explained her creative choices.

13:30-17:30 - Participants works reviews

Each participant will introduce us to their work in a short 30 min session each.

Day 2:
9:30-17:30

Today all participants will have each a one-hour individual session with Awoiska to identify their red thread in response to the assignment provided a few weeks prior to the start of the workshop.

In the meantime the rest of the participants will work on an exercise given by Awoiska in response to the assignment provided a few weeks prior to the start of the workshop.
Existing image material of each participant is used for this, but also new images can be made.

Day 3:

9:30-12:30

Awoiska will speak about the process of creating her photo books. She will tell about how she developed her artistic practice and will offer tips and suggestions on how to navigate and find your artistic path in ‘the world out there’. Also participants are invited to share their experiences.

13:30-17:30 - Creative sessions

The participants will continue to create work inspired by their insights and knowledge they have gained so far from the exercises these days.
Existing image material of each participant is used for this, but also new images can be made.

Day 4:

09:30-17:30 - Participants works reviews

This last day participants are invited to present the work they have accomplished during the workshop's week. This can be image sketches, writings, collages, a dummy. Anything that was formed by their insights, knowledge and discoveries they have gained from their work this week, based on the the red thread they have discovered.

Teaching language: English.

Workshop hours: 9h30-17h30.

Jul 16 - Jul 19, 2025
4 days in Amsterdam - 1550 €

Early Bird 1450 €
before Apr. 16th

APPLY

Conditions

- Only 9 students will be admitted for each session. Students will be granted admission to the workshop based on a review of a selection of 10 of their photographs.

- The 1.550€ fee does not include transport, accommodation nor on the ground expenses. For participants coming from outside the European Union, please be aware that there is a bank fee when making the payments via bank transfer. In order to avoid them, you can use alternative systems such as Transferwise.

- In order to confirm your application, an advance payment of €100 is advised. Once the application is completed, we will send an email via PayZen to the participant in order to settle the payment. If the candidate is accepted, this amount will be deducted from the overall cost of the workshop.

- In case the participation is not confirmed, he will get a full pay back of the 100€ fee.

- If accepted, the participant will receive a course contract confirming the success of his application by email.

- To confirm registration, the participant must return this contract to us, signed, within ten days, along with payment of 30% of the cost of the workshop. The participant will also receive an invoice.

- The rest of the fee must be paid by the first day of the workshop at the latest.

- A dossier in order to get prepared for the workshop will be sent to the participant at least two weeks before the workshop begins.

- If you're willing to participate in more than one workshop, we do offer a 10% discount on the following workshops' price.

Pre-requisite

- Successful candidates will be expected to arrive with all their works ideally in printed format. They'll also have to arrive comfortable with their equipment and ready to photograph.

- Participants working digitally should bring their own laptops, and everything needed for digital editing.

- Participants are required to find their own accommodation in Amsterdam.

Education material

- Photo books

- Projector and screen

- 1 MAC computer

A technical assistant will be present during the workshop.

After the workshop

- The portfolios produced by each participant will be published on the site of Eyes in Progress.

- Mentors are photography experts such as a photo editors, journalists, creative directors, gallery curators, they will review these portfolios.

- Video interviews in which the students discuss their work, their motivation as photographers, as well as what they learned during the workshop will also be posted on the site. In case the participant is not willing to have his video online, we won't publish it, however, we do encourage to record the video anyways as a practical exercise on how to orally express himself as a photographer.

- Each participant will be given a certificate of completion of the course.

- The participants will be required to evaluate the workshop when it has been completed, to show their level of overall satisfaction and the extent of their acquisition of new skills. These evaluations will help us to improve our workshops.

- If the participant is not willing to have his profile online (portfolio, review, video), we will of course respect his decision and will not publish it.

Deadlines

Applications will be open until June 16th 2025.

- Eyes in Progress reserves the right to cancel groups with less than 7 participants. Students will be given either a full refund or offered a place with an alternative photographer. In the event of a cancellation, students will be given at least 3 weeks advance notice. Eyes in Progress reserves the right to change or alter the program advertised.

- If a participant decides to cancel for whatever reason, this must be confirmed in writing:

. Eyes in Progress will reimburse all the registration costs except for the €100 administrative fee, if the participant informs Eyes in Progress of cancellation at least 3 weeks before the first day of the workshop. Beyond this time limit, Eyes in Progress will charge the following:

. 50% of the cost if cancelled between 6 and 20 days before the workshop commences.

. 100% of the cost if cancelled less than 5 days before the workshop commences.

. All workshops that are commenced but not completed through the fault of the participant need to be paid in full.

- Eyes in Progress is not responsible for reimbursement of travel expenses in case a workshop is cancelled. We recommend that you buy refundable air tickets and/or travel insurance.

SPECIAL NEED ACCESS

Eyes in Progress is committed to using all possible means to enable beneficiaries with disabilities to participate in the workshops. For this, the director of Eyes in Progress will assess all required adaptations and implement them.