Name: The Spirit of the Place: A Photographic Immersion
Start: 2024-11-20
End: 2024-11-24
Location: Domaine de Cazenac

Jean-Christophe Béchet is a French photographer born in 1964 in Marseille. His work focuses on street photography and urban landscapes, capturing everyday moments with sensitivity. He has authored several books and shares his approach to photography through various workshops. This immersion at Domaine de Cazenac is an opportunity to benefit from his experience in a setting conducive to creativity.

Within the historic Domaine de Cazenac, a photographic immersion will take place under the guidance of Jean-Christophe Béchet. From Wednesday, November 20 to Sunday, November 24, 2024, this workshop offers a stay in the heart of the Périgord Noir, where participants will explore photography in an inspiring setting. The 14th-century château provides modern facilities, including digital and analog labs, allowing participants to develop and print their work directly on-site.

Duration: Wednesday, November 20 to Sunday, November 24, 2024

Accommodation: Château de Cazenac, prestigious rooms

Activities: Photography at the château and its surroundings, digital and analog lab, editing, black & white prints

Services: Gourmet meals, access to sauna, pool, and tennis

Leica cameras will be available on site for those who wish to try them (2-3 models)

1 500 € per participant, including accommodation and meals

The Spirit of the Place: A Photographic Immersion

Bordeaux St-Jean - Le buisson de Cadouin: 2 hours by train (TER) then 15 minutes by road to the Domaine.

Guests can arrange taxi bookings in advance for their journey to the Domaine.

Paris Montparnasse - Bordeaux St-Jean: 2 hours by TGV-LGV

Paris Orly to Brive la Gaillarde: 1 hour flight + 1h30 drive to the Domaine.

Paris CDG to Bordeaux Merignac: 1h15 flight + 2h15 drive to the Domaine.

From Bordeaux

From Paris

Hélène DUPLANTIER has been teaching for 35 years at the Ateliers du Carousel in Paris, which is part of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD).

She has taught drawing, urban landscapes, travel journals, watercolor, and mixed techniques to children, teenagers, and adults.

She has organized workshops in art centers, at La Fémis, and the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art. She has exhibited in various galleries in France and Spain.

In March 2024, she will exhibit at the Eric Licoys Gallery in Paris.

After the success of the first edition, Domaine de Cazenac and Hélène Duplantier invite you to the second edition of their watercolor workshop, from Monday 21st to Saturday 26th of April 2025, in the heart of the Dordogne Valley.
This workshop offers you the opportunity to work in a natural and inspiring environment The artist’s studio, dedicated to creativity, will be at your disposal, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in your practice.
Passionate about landscape painting, Hélène Duplantier will guide you with care and attentive insight, encouraging you to capture the beauty of the surrounding landscapes. Whether you are a beginner or more experienced, you will learn to work in harmony with nature, exploring the fluidity and lightness of watercolor in an exceptional setting.

This workshop is open to those who have already practiced painting or drawing.

Accommodation at the domain in prestigious rooms

Access to Tennis, Sauna, and Swimming Pools

5 Days – Arrival Monday afternoon, departure Saturday after lunch.

- 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM: Final morning session followed by lunch.

The price is €1500 per participant, for accommodation in the château, and €1300 for accommodation in the Domain, in a single room, including meals from Monday afternoon to Saturday lunch.

Marjan Seyedin, a Franco-Iranian artist born in 1979, has been practicing engraving and drawing for over twenty years. Her prints, primarily monochrome animal portraits, have earned her multiple awards in France.

After obtaining a Master’s degree in Graphic Arts at Azad University in Tehran, Marjan Seyedin moved to France in 2003. She graduated from the École des Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg and earned a Doctorate in Fine Arts in 2017 at Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg.

She has participated in three artist residencies: at the Dufraine Foundation (Vexin, France) with a grant from the Academy of Fine Arts, in China at the Guanlan Printmaking Base, and in Spain at the Casa de Velázquez (French Academy in Madrid) from 2015 to 2016.

Marjan's work has been recognized with the Grav’x 2007 award in Paris, as well as the Pierre Cardin Prize from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2010. She has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in France, Iran, and the United States. After presenting a solo exhibition in 2017 at the Shirin Gallery in Tehran, Marjan Seyedin’s works were showcased in 2018 in her first solo exhibition in France at Galerie Documents 15, where she will hold her second solo exhibition in September 2025.

Marjan reinterprets traditional engraving techniques—primarily etching, aquatint, and drypoint—through a contemporary and poetic lens. In her works, animals play an essential role, serving as allegorical and symbolic representations, reflecting human nature through their depiction. Marjan draws her inspiration from the animal world—a realm of dark, silent creatures, moving in compact groups or wandering alone, with closed or wide-open eyes—allowing her to express a certain vision of humanity and human nature.

Following this path, she has begun a new series in which she intertwines various literary and visual references. By linking them to autobiographical elements, she creates a theatrical pictorial narrative. This is a theater where the actors—sometimes humanized animals with masked faces—draw the viewer into the depths of human existence, confronting them with the ambiguity of the human soul. It is a “human comedy” where realism merges with allegory and symbolism to explore the universal themes of humanity: inner conflicts and the dualities that define human beings—reason and madness, good and evil, knowledge and ignorance, light and darkness.

Experience a unique artistic journey in the heart of the Dordogne Valley, from Monday, April 28 to Saturday, May 3, 2025.

Domaine de Cazenac and Marjan Seyedin invite you to participate in an engraving workshop.

The workshop takes place in the enchanting setting of the estate, where you will enjoy bright and comfortable spaces to express your creativity. A dedicated artist studio will be at your disposal—a true haven of inspiration, perfect for artistic exploration and creation.

Under the guidance of Marjan Seyedin, you will have the opportunity to refine your engraving techniques or simply let your imagination run free. A privileged moment to learn, experiment, and create in an exceptional setting.

5-night workshop with accommodation in prestige rooms.

Access to the sauna, swimming pool, and tennis court.

Arrival: Monday, April 28, 2025, from 2:00 PM.

Departure: Saturday, May 3, 2025, after breakfast.

During the engraving workshop, participants will explore the technique of intaglio printing. The design is engraved onto a metal plate, the surface is prepared, the drawing is transferred, and ink is applied to the engraved plate. A historic press once owned by Aldo Crommelynck, renowned for his collaborations with Picasso, will be available in the studio for printing the works on paper.

Workshops will be held in the morning from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM and in the afternoon from 2:30 PM to 5:30 PM.

The cost is €1,500 per participant, including accommodation and meals from Monday evening to Saturday morning.

Within the historic Domaine de Cazenac, a photographic immersion will take place under the guidance of Jean-Christophe Béchet. From Wednesday, October 29 to Sunday, November 2, 2025, this workshop offers a stay in the heart of the Périgord Noir, where participants will explore photography in an inspiring setting. The 14th-century château provides modern facilities, including digital and analog labs, allowing participants to develop and print their work directly on-site.

Duration: Wednesday, October 29 to Sunday, November 2, 2025

Jean-Marie Laclavetine was born in Bordeaux in 1954. A novelist and short story writer, he has been a member of the editorial committee of Gallimard Publishing since 1989. In this role, he has helped bring many French-language writers to prominence (Jean-Christophe Rufin, Carole Martinez, Jean-Baptiste Del Amo, Muriel Barbery, Boualem Sansal, Dai Sijie, David Foenkinos, Tristan Garcia, Leïla Slimani, Joffrine Donnadieu…). He has won numerous literary awards, including the 1999 Goncourt Prize for Lycéens for Première ligne and the Grand Prix for short stories from the French Academy for Le Rouge et le Blanc, a collection of short stories about the world of wine. He is also an Italian translator.

His last two books, Une amie de la famille (Marguerite Duras Prize) and La vie des morts, were published by Gallimard in 2019 and 2021. Since 2012, he has been leading writing workshops at Gallimard Publishing.

Jean-Marie Laclavetine, one of the leading contemporary French novelists, invites you to take part in his writing workshop from Monday 17th to Friday 21st of March 2025. This highly anticipated first workshop, already meeting with great success, offers a unique immersion in the art of storytelling.
Over five days, in a calm and inspiring environment, Jean-Marie Laclavetine will guide you through practical exercises and group workshops to explore the mechanics of narrative, the structure of storytelling, and the craft of writing. 

Whether you are a beginner or a more experienced writer, this workshop will help you develop your own voice and refine your style under the guidance of a recognized author.
This workshop is an opportunity to create, share, and grow alongside a passionate and experienced writer.

This immersion workshop offers participants personalized guidance in the practice of literary writing. The goal is not to provide an infallible recipe for writing a novel, but to help each individual to move forward in their personal reflection and develop their own tools for crafting a novel, a story, or a short story. The work will be based on texts produced on-site, or on excerpts from ongoing literary projects. Learning to write is, above all, a personal journey. It is about becoming aware of the unique powers of writing: a tool for exploration, understanding of the world, a source of anxiety, but also an instrument of pleasure, surprise, and laughter.

The proposed exercises will provide a foundation for reflection applicable to any literary writing practice: choosing the right word, seeking conciseness, precision, and effective metaphors, etc. We will also focus on more specific aspects of novel writing: the opening (incipit), the various phases of narrative development, the ending, choosing a title, using tenses, intermediate scenes, the issue of narrative point of view... 

The exercises will be tailored to the personalities of the participants and the evolving dynamics of the group. The objective is to enable each participant to progress on an ongoing literary project or to initiate a new project, inspired by the reflections generated during the workshop.

Duration: From Monday, March 17 to Friday, March 24, 2025

Accommodation: Château de Cazenac, prestigious rooms

Activities: Immersion and personalized support in the practice of literary writing.

Services: Gourmet meals, access to sauna, swimming pool, and tennis.

Price: €1500 per participant includes accommodation and meals from Monday evening to Friday morning.

The Spirit of the Place: A Photographic Immersion

By Jean-Christophe Béchet

The Workshop

Stay essentials

equipment

Rate

About
Jean-Christophe Béchet

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By Hélène Duplantier

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The Spirit of the Place: A Photographic Immersion

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The Art of Storytelling

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The Spirit of the Place: A Photographic Immersion

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The Workshop

Stay essentials

equipment

Rate

AboutJean-Christophe Béchet

More workshops

Watercolor Workshop

By Hélène Duplantier

Engraving Workshop

By Marjan Seyedin

The Spirit of the Place: A Photographic Immersion

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The Art of Storytelling

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About
Jean-Christophe Béchet