Doctors, teachers, students, architects, among others, left their comfort zone and their countries to meet other photographers to go to an unknown part of the world. 12 hours a day taking photos, then editing them to get to enjoy the cherry to the cake, meeting Nikos every evening to share all the results of each productive day. A whole week of pure pleasure to those passionate about photography. The guidance received by Nikos after first seeing our portfolio made us be prepared for the days to come. The feedback received every night not only by him but also by the other photographers, helped us continue to improve our way of photographing. Exchanging views with the others was a very enriching experience, both personal and professionally. Nikos’ sensibility and the encouragement he gave us made us realize that he is not only a great photographer but also a humble and considerate friend. I highly recommend this workshop to those lovers of photography and to those seeking to move on or searching for new ways. I am looking forward to joining more workshops with Nikos in the near future.

I have enjoyed so much the workshop in Athens. My photography has become more compact and coherent and I have been able to focus on something more specific in photographic terms -there are even some good portraits in my portfolio! New questions arise such as the contradiction between reflecting the misery of the people and have pleasure of taking pictures of it. I can see a background in my photos of emptiness, artificial spaces, simulation, loneliness, people with strange feelings…Everybody reflect their own personality in their pictures.

I participated in the workshop in Athens and I was so thrilled about that.
Nikos Economopoulos is a unique and authentic photographer and an inspired teacher.
He doesn’t only speak about the importance of the background, the proper light in photography, and the way to make a good composition, he puts his views of life across in meetings, and speaks about the importance of freedom in everyday life.
He guides you along the photography to your inner self, and tries to reveal the most important elements of your personality.
In simple words it’s not only a workshop in photography, it is a workshop how to make your life more inspired by keeping the most important things and put them onto your frame.

I feel really blessed to be part of the community of “ontheroad”. Nikos is an extraordinary mentor for everyone no matter which level one is working on. And, besides the joy of the journey it’s the great company of all the warm people you meet in this workshop. The things we have learned from Nikos are starting to work in my mind and i hope to begin seeing not just recording something. I really enjoyed it a lot. I really look forward to the next workshop.

The Trapani, Sicily workshop was the first I had with Nikos. The group was mixed with novice, very amateur and also more experienced photographers. Being an amateur photographer made me feel nervous in the beginning of the workshop. Rather than embarrassed on the first day I was quite happy and ready to go the next day. This feeling was related on how Niko created the environment, how he explained the portfolio and what he wanted from the novice participants in his workshop. The workshop really helped me to understand and feel the street photography and so it paved my path to a kind of photography which I really like. Niko’s does not go out with you and photograph with you, he let your instinct and mind to guide during the day while helps you in the afternoon during which he selects and edit the photos. The way he describes the art of photography was very helpful for every one of us and helped us to grow and to see the world in a different perspective. You always have something to note or keep in mind even if that comment was directed to a more experienced photographer.
“On the Road” helps every photographer to create new goals to achieve and also give to you the critical viewpoint for the photography. 
Another skill that you learn or handle better is the editing and the creation of a portfolio. Every day when you sit with Nikos to see and edit the photo he shows how a portfolio is create and is managed. Or maybe how a picture is edited. I am a black and white photographer and the workshop helped me to give the right tone and contrast for the photo in the editing process. In the end, Niko shows to everyone what he expects from them. Ending my comment I would suggest this kind of workshop not only for the accuracy Niko’s chooses the place, but even more of how he treats the participants (we spend quite a lot time together discussing as a community), how he treats photography and how it expresses and helps you gain at least a new level. Niko’s workshops help you to find a goal and work to achieve it but in the same time it gives to you the feeling of wanting to go to a new one. So, you can show to him if you have mastered the goal he posed before you. Looking forward to catch another wonderful and very helpful workshop with Niko very soon.

Here is some feedback on the Oaxaca workshop. Simple and short – the workshop was absolutely amazing. Excellence defined.
The feedback sessions in the evenings were transforming with deep inspiration continuing as a growth journey day by day. I highly appreciate the way Nikos gives feedback and shares his amazing vision and way of seeing, it is clear and to the point, with the beauty of the creative process not being jeopardised. A way of life, how to shoot, when not to shoot, and how to discipline your mind loosing the experienced feeling of time. I definitely left Oaxaca with deep and new inspiration.
Excellent workshop. Amazing atmosphere.
Great workshop set up – with a feeling of freedom in the creative process and flow during the day.
Unique feedback sessions in the evenings with firm and clear communication.
Tailored feedback how to improve day by day Again. Just great. Difficult to describe in words!

Those few seconds you waste thinking too much about whether to take that picture or not. This is what you learn to get rid of when joining an On the Road workshop.
In this respect, working with Nikos is a sort of liberating experience. You learn to let it go, to just go with the flow. And you do it because the camera eventually becomes your main means of communication. It’s no more an object you use to do something but, instead, it turns into an essential part of the creative process. You start feeling the images through the viewfinder and not just seeing them.
And, as a matter of fact, this is really good fun!

I’ll never forget that week. It was like a revolution for me. Nikos and his point of view really impressed me and that workshop opened my eyes and showed me new worlds and possibilities. Words can’t express how great everything was. I felt so much free in Istanbul and I was so close to people who I didn’t know very well. It was much more about changing my ideals than my photographic view.

The Myanmar “on the road” trip was such an enjoyable and memorable experience. I really enjoyed meeting Nikos, and all the other participants, and have genuinely learnt so much, which is gradually finding it’s way into my photography. Nikos’s passion for photography was inspiring. I found him to be a great teacher, warm, genuine, direct, and generous in sharing his wealth of insight and experience. Nikos encouraged us to create interesting photographs that went beyond the purely descriptive. Day by day, through the editing process, the resulting portfolios grew to reflect each participant’s personal response to the people and places we encountered along the way. The experience was made all the more enjoyable by sharing it with a group of interesting, creative people. I found the workshop challenging but hugely rewarding, and I know that I will continue to apply all that I have learnt, thanks Nikos!

This is the third time I participate in a Nikos’s workshop. Everybody comes back! Cuba was amazing. The people, the place, the backgrounds, the light, everything was perfect and of course Nikos’s passion for photography, his sharp vision, his keenness to find great images in our work made us produce and achieve great results. His comments are always truly useful and make us see in a different way. This is not a didactic class, this is an awareness journey, this is a personal search of style and meaning for our images. He does not tell us what to do. We ultimately discover it by ourselves and this is truly amazing. It looks like an impossible task but after a few days every body’s work becomes stronger, more compact and meaningful. Nikos is friendly and affectionate to everybody, he tries to understand the needs of every participant. He is generous with his time and he is always ready to help during the day. If he feels somebody needs extra help he immediately proposes a private meeting in the morning. The evening meetings are a delight. To see so many good images, talented photographers trying to improve their work is incredible motivating. I am planning to come to Iran in May and looking forward to it. Thank you Nikos for organizing the workshops and for your enthusiasm in our work. We do appreciate it, hugely.

The workshop in Istanbul with Nikos has been very challenging and enriching experience as I am quite new at photography. When we have to leave our comfort-zone, to see different around us, we struggle to improve and it is never easy. The precious advice of such talented and experienced photographer as Nikos opens up new horizons to work on and sharing comments and time with other partecipants turned out to be very productive and pleasant. I have appreciated so much the method, editing is crucial for any photographer and Nikos helped us understand how to proceed or try it better. I love your attitude and personal approach Nikos, so true … if we’ll be a better a person, we’ll be a better photographer.

The workshop was a great experience for me and I indeed agree that it brought together people who otherwise probably would have never met. And for me, that is what life is all about! (…) The number of people participating in the workshop was perfect. I think the small group is essential to having the opportunity to sit together and give enough time to each person to evaluate and discuss his or her photos. I liked the right mix of freedom and direction. (…) I really feel that I got to know the many faces of the city with its many diverse photographic opportunities. I think presenting other photographers’ work and meeting local photographers contributed to the quality of the workshop. Your honesty and way of critique was constructive and helpful. I feel that I walked away from the workshop with specific ‘phrases’ that I will think about in the future when photographing. (…) Overall, while it might be quite obvious, I learned that photography is very hard work and that you have to take many pictures to have only a few good ones. In the past, I think that taking lots of crappy pictures often discouraged me to go on. This workshop taught me what to look for and what elements in a shot make a good photograph. I also think that I became more comfortable to connect to people through photography. Before this workshop I sometimes felt that I was in a way ‘stealing’ pictures, but when you share a cup of tea with some fishermen and they let you photograph them it feels that our paths have crossed and both sides gave something to the moment/experience. I was inspired to learn more about photography and then focus on a specific project where I can photograph with a specific aim.

I met Nikos last April in Iran’s workshop for the first time.We traveled for ten days and that trip changed my perception of photography. He taught me how to go beyond the limits and break strict rules and let creativity inspire me to create my own photography style. After 7 months,I decided to participate in another workshop and Varanasi was a great choice for me. The city was the most amazing place I’ve ever visited and if it wasn’t for the workshop, I might have never gone there. We had enough time during the day to see the city and the special ceremony which was held in that time. And in the evenings,reviewing participant’s photos encouraged me to explore the city more in the next day.

Reflecting on the workshop in Varanasi I can first of all say that I am happy that I joined the workshop and that I am satisfied with the whole experience. The structure really suited my way of going about things. Being free during the day to go and photograph wherever an whatever I wanted and not necessarily going out in groups is something I could appreciate and enjoy. It forced me to look around me, find my subjects and focus on how I would translate what I saw and felt into a photograph. Keeping in mind that an editing session followed added that extra bit of positive pressure. And those editing sessions in the evening were of course crucial for the learning process ! The setting with the terrace, some food and beer was great. Your projection setup is really great. Listening to your comments was most enriching. I found it particularly interesting when you analysed all the elements that make up an image. I learned a lot from those remarks about form, content, balance and trying to go beyond whether it concerned my images or those of the other students. That is why it was very important and interesting that we did the editing and image evaluation as a group, these were moments of sharing and contribution (sometimes also moments of confrontation with oneself). We all benefited from the image critiques, guidelines to improve our skills and image quality. About the stay I can say that I liked the fact that we stayed enough days in Varanasi so we could really get in touch with this very special Indian city. But maybe one day less in Varanasi and one more day in Delhi might be a suggestion … (I also did find photographing in Delhi a lot more difficult and tiring). The total workshop duration of 9/10 days is perfect. As far as I am concerned I found the choices for accommodation really fine. The hotel in Varanasi did not only have a great terrace but it also matched the Indian scene we found outside the hotel. Personally I don’t like to find myself in “golden cages” in these countries, it does not correspond with how I see traveling and experiencing those parts of the world. I enjoyed the company of the group too (about the right size). For communication it is never obvious when a nationality or language group is in the majority even if all know that the workshop language is English however towards the end when we all got to know each other better it worked out alright. Anyway, I was really happy to be able to combine my interest in India with my interest in photography.

This is my fifth workshop with Nikos. It has became kind of an annual meeting with him. Every year I discover something new. In Lisbon workshop, different photographic issues have arised about the event and the anti-event, go beyond description or what happen or not in the picture. I have learned to find a balance between all these photographic topics or, at least, I have begun to look for them in my pictures.

I work as a photographer for the United Nations, my perception of photography and photographic style has been somewhat different to the one of Nikos Economopoulos. The workshop was amazing, it provided me with a new, fresh look. My way of seeing has changed significantly since then. The organization was great and Nikos has been an excellent teacher and mentor (and hopefully a friend). His comments throughout the workshop encouraged us to try harder and not only to reach our limits but also go beyond them, to take photographic risks and try and see the world around us differently. We were encouraged to go beyond the simple record of places, people and moment. At the end of the day, you do not usually get a MAGNUM photographer to spend a week with you and your photos, and seriously help you www.ontheroad.grelop your way of seeing, but Nikos did exactly that. The number of participants was the ideal one, not too small and not unmanageably big. Interaction and comments were encouraged and indeed helped us all to see our own photos in a different way.

This was my first workshop with Nikos. I loved everything about it: Nikos warmth, his relaxed and funny way, the supportive group of participants, the thoroughness of each evening session. I learnt a lot, at many levels, namely improving my ‘seeing’ to obtain more powerful images, how to ‘carry’ myself on the street as a photographer as I approach the world around me, editing pictures, learning to be patient about the process of making images. Nikos is tireless in sharing his knowledge, experience and love for photography. He has a way of teaching that works for me his feedback sinks deep and opens me to other ways of seeing. The workshop was very challenging and at the same time very energising. His passion for a good image is contagious. Nikos has inspired me to persevere.
I am a beginner and I think my greatest takeaway from this workshop is that now I feel I am determinedly on a quest: I am more curious about the art of photography, I have more and more questions, I want to know more, I challenge myself more, I am more relaxed about the whole process. I’m simply enjoying being on the street with my camera without any expectations but to see all the layers of what is right in front of my eyes, and practice, practice, practice.
Thank you, Nikos.

Ok..it was really my pleasure to meet you and be part of the Damascus workshop.. A really nice experience and a good start for myself and my photos. The workshop has encouraged me to become better and learn more … In the one week I learned from your comments and your suggestions what I should look for and what to avoid. You gave me directions for finding my own style and to experiment on that. Now being back inCyprus, believe it or not, I feel like a “new ” person. I know this might sound strange but the one week that I spent time with myself and my camera and later having your comments about my work made me fall in love once again with the world of photography, keep taking photos, love the people and try more.