2025 The Unforeseen Wilderness: Nature, Bookbinding, and Photography with Eliot Dudik
July 6 - July 12
Join a small group of folks for a six-day intensive workshop exploring an unusual confluence of interests: bookbinding, photography, and nature walks in one of the most profound places on Earth: Acadia National Park. Tranquility and focus will be our guide as we lodge and work on the Schoodic Peninsula, often referred to as the “quiet side” of Acadia, dividing our time between classroom bookbinding sessions and stepping out into a wonderland of spruce, granite, and sea.
The workshop is led by bookmaker, photographer, and educator Eliot Dudik, who directs the photography program at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He has spent every summer and winter in Maine for the past decade working on his own long-form photography projects, teaching photography and bookbinding workshops, and exploring the coast of Maine, especially the dreamscape of Acadia National Park. He has been visualizing this unique workshop for years and is excited to work with you this summer!
The structure of the course: Throughout our week together, we will meet in our workspace to explore bookbinding basics including methods, materials, and book structures. All bookbinding tools and materials will be provided. We will practice four different bindings over the course of the week, each building on skills learned in the previous lesson. These books will be blank and can be used as journals or sketchbooks.
Each day will be split between classroom bookbinding tutorials and nature walks in the woods of Acadia National Park. Excursions will include morning or afternoon walks, as well as full day trips to the busier and more popular/populated parts of Acadia on Mount Desert Island. On these nature walks, we will attempt to take in the famously breathtaking beauty while using cameras, pencils, or other artistic tools and Wendel Berry’s essay: The Unforeseen Wilderness to inspire our individualized experiences.
At the conclusion of our week together, we will each create a short edit and sequence of photographs, writings, sketches, collages, or other artworks made in Acadia and produce small books of the work. The photographs can be made with cell phones or more sophisticated digital cameras. Participants will bring their own cameras and ideally a laptop with Adobe Photoshop installed.
The available lodging and meal plan complete this unique and immersive experience, allowing us to disconnect from our everyday lives and truly experience something special, uniquely embedded inside the national park. This workshop is intentionally limited to a small group of participants to enhance the individualized experience; don’t delay signing up as this workshop will fill quickly!
For any questions regarding the workshop, please contact Eliot directly at eliot@eliotdudik.com.
2025 The Unforeseen Wilderness: Nature, Bookbinding and Photography
July 6-12, 2025
