Portrait Photography

A portrait is more than just a picture of a person who knows they are being photographed. It is a dialogue between the photographer and the subject, a play of glances, expressions, and atmosphere. How someone uses this moment, how light, composition, and staging interact—all of this contributes to the special power of a portrait. 

In this workshop, participants will immerse themselves in these processes together. Using concrete examples, Peter Rigaud shows how lighting, image composition, and one's own perception can be used to make people visible in a unique way.

As the well-known American photographer Minor White once said, “All photographs are self-portraits.” Here, participants find space to discover and express their own photographic voice—whether on location or in the studio. 

Peter Rigaud was born in Salzburg in 1968 and now lives in both Vienna and Berlin. A workshop under the guidance of Martin Parr was his first introduction into the world of photography. He then went on to study photographic design at the renowned Lette-Verein in Berlin, working as a photographic assistant in NYC, Chicago and Cleveland. In 1996/97 he lived and worked in NYC and since 1997 he works as a freelance photographer in Vienna. His photos appear regularly in international magazines and periodicals such as Vogue, Die Zeit (Magazin), SZ Magazin, Stern, Vanity Fair Germany, profil, amongst many others.