INSIDE THE ACT OF SEEING:
A FOCUS ON LARGE FORMAT PHOTOGRAPHY
with Alys Tomlinson
18 April 2026
Laboratorio Diorama / Museo Nitsch
Vico Lungo Pontecorvo 29/d, Napoli
h 10 am – 6 pm workshop
info and submissions: info.laboratoriodiorama@gmail.com
(max. 10 participants)
The workshop will be held in English
h 7 – 9 pm screening of the documentary Mother Vera
free entry with limited capacity
On April 18th Laboratorio Diorama will host an exclusive, one-day intensive workshop led by award-winning photographer Alys Tomlinson. This session is a deep dive into the meditative and rigorous world of large-format photography. Participants will explore the entire creative process with the artist during a portrait session — from the initial composition to the technical precision required for the final shot.
Workshop will be held in English and divided into two moments: Alys will open the day by sharing her professional experience and the process behind her projects. This session offers a unique insight into how she identifies themes, develops long-term series, and maintains a distinct visual voice. During the second part of the day participants will have the opportunity to be guided by the artist in the making of a large-format shoot. Following the session, the photographs taken will be developed in the darkroom.
From 7 pm the documentary Mother Vera (2024) directed by Alys Tomlinson with Cécile Embleton will be projected in the Capriata Room of Museo Nitsch.
How to Join
This is an intimate learning experience with a maximum of 10 participants.
Participation fee: 50€
For detailed information and submissions, please contact:
📧 info.laboratoriodiorama@gmail.com
Workshop Schedule
10 AM – 12 PM: welcome, artist talk (with visuals) + Q&A
12 – 1 PM: break for lunch (packed lunch)
1PM – 5 PM: large format practical workshop (with focus on portraiture)
5 PM – 6 PM: developing negatives in the darkroom
Special Evening Screening
Following the workshop, we invite you to a special screening of the film “Mother Vera”.
Time: 7 PM – 9:00 PM
Access: Free entry (limited capacity).
Alys Tomlinson is a photographic artist based in London. She works mostly in black and white analogue on a large format camera, exploring themes of faith, ritual and identity.
Alys grew up in Brighton and studied English Literature and Communications at the University of Leeds. After graduating, she moved to New York for a year and was given her first commission for Time Out, before returning to London to study photography at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. She later completed an MA in Anthropology of Travel, Tourism and Pilgrimage (Distinction) at SOAS, University of London, which tied in with her long-term, personal project about pilgrimage.
Her book Ex-Voto was published by GOST Books in 2019 and Lost Summer was self-published in 2020. Alys recently finished work on a feature-length documentary film Mother Vera co-directed with Cécile Embleton. Her latest project Gli Isolani (The Islanders) was published by GOST Books in 2022. She combines commissioned work for editorial, design and advertising clients with personal work, which she publishes and exhibits.
Alys’s work is collected privately and is in the following collections: National Portrait Gallery (London), The Rencontres d’Arles Collection, The Bodleian Library, AmberSide Collection.
Mother Vera (2024), 91 minutes, black and white, co-directed with Cécile Embleton.
In the striking silence of an Orthodox monastery in Belarus, a nun walks quickly toward the place of prayer. Hidden in the folds of her black habit, she kneels and lets out a deep breath, opening the story of an unexpected path—where coming to terms with a dark past turns into a search for her own identity.
Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson follow her with a quiet, attentive gaze, observing her daily life and slowly revealing the more intimate and hidden parts of her story.
Shot in refined black and white, with a precise and balanced form, Mother Vera traces a unique and unexpected female portrait, touching on universal themes of redemption and the search for freedom.