Alumni Spotlight: Marc Shor

Name: Mark Shor

Current Occupation: Retired / Photographer

Workshops:  Project NOLA 2025

Faculty: Marianne Sabrier, Annie Flanagan, Jamie Rose

1. What motivated you to take a photo workshop, and why did you pick Momenta? 

Short answer: it was a gift from my wonderful wife. Longer answer: I've taken a number of photo workshops over the years, but they've all been about technique and darkroom skills.

About 5 years ago, my wife noticed that I was talking more about using my photography skills in more than just a "take pretty photos" way. She did a lot of research into various workshops, and Momenta stood out for their focus on non-profits, their one-on-one photo reviews, and their location in Texas working on immigration issues. So she gave me the gift of a workshop, but then the pandemic arrived, and I had to shelve the trip. 5 years later, I was in the process of retiring, and looking for more meaning in my life, and I remembered the workshop gift. I signed up, went, and the timing couldn't have been better!

2. What surprised you most about the experience of working with a nonprofit?

Two things:

• How wonderful the person I was working with was. The communications director, Nick, spent a tremendous amount of time with me, and helped me really understand what the non-profit was doing, and what kinds of images they needed. He also spent a ton of time driving me around New Orleans, showing me all kinds of places and neighborhoods, and providing context for them, that only a person born and raised there would know about

• At the non-profit, in addition to documenting their work, which is what I expected, I was also asked to take portraits of all the staff, take some passport photos, and one person needed headshots for their acting career. Jamie warned us about this, saying we would need to set our own limits, but I wanted to be a nice guy and give them everything they needed. I promise to always listen to you from now on, Jamie!

3. What was the best lesson you took away from your workshop? 

That I had the skills to provide non-profits with photos that were helpful. I've been mostly a landscape photographer, and do not have much experience taking photographs of people, especially indoors and with all sorts of lighting challenges. People move around a LOT more than landscapes :) One Jamie comment that really helped me was "The photos you give them will be better than anything they currently have." I'll keep working on my skills and techniques, and will keep improving, but it really helped me to know that I wasn't wasting everyone's time.

4. What was your favorite photograph from this workshop & why? 

Interesting, itt was a photo from a returning student that I saw while getting ready for the workshop. Another attendee, Randy, had been traveling in Cuba, and the photo was of someone taking a photo of someone else. The photographer had his camera within inches of the subject's face, and I thought, "Wow, that would make me really uncomfortable." Which made me realize that I needed to push myself in all sorts of ways, and not just take photos from a distance with the safety of a zoom lens. (It turns out that Randy is a dentist, and his comfort zone with people is very close!) You can see the image here.

5. What would you tell a potential student to help them prepare for their experience with Momenta? 

• Relax---it will be awesome and super fun!!!

• Be prepared to work hard and learn a lot. 

• Try to have your photos reviewed by as many of the instructors as possible. They're all excellent, and they have very different perspectives that you can learn a lot from.

• You don't have to wait until the evening to start drinking bourbon!

The images featured in this story were made on the Momenta Project New Orleans 2025: Documenting Nonprofits workshop in New Orleans, Louisiana in partnership with kid SMart.

Photos © Marc Shor/Momenta Workshops 2025.

Bio

I've been a photographer for about 45 years, and I gravitate towards photos of landscapes and abstract art. I recently retired from a career developing web sites, mostly for non-profits, since they are radically underserved with technical support and the work they're doing is making the world a better place and it's important to me to support them. I live on Bainbridge Island, Washington, just west of Seattle.

website: https://www.marcshor.photography/