participants’ work
The photographs presented in this section are the final outcome of each workshop.
Their creators range from professional photographers to people who may have just learned how to hold a camera.
The challenge in these workshops is how to bring out each one’s unique glance.
Click on each participant’s name to view the portfolio full-screen.
Jacopo Quaranta, Italy
The workshop of Nikos changed my photographic vision and belief. In something I always though was photography but nobody had told me before. He changed my way of photographing, he make me understand the importance of the frame edges, what to think when you shoot, he brought my photography to a new level, and it took
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The workshop of Nikos changed my photographic vision and belief. In something I always though was photography but nobody had told me before. He changed my way of photographing, he make me understand the importance of the frame edges, what to think when you shoot, he brought my photography to a new level, and it took me one year to digest what I’ve learned in those days. Nikos is the old hard core street photographer, and one of the finest in the Magnum group (is not only me to say it, but other Magnum photographers), I say this because what you can learn from this kind of photographers, nobody else is able to teach you. I have learned to compose better, to have more attention to what is in my frame, to slow down and think and shoot, I have learned to edit pictures in a more selective way choosing only the great pictures not the good ones, to be ruthless in editing..
Nerris Markogiannis, Greece-Sudan
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
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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.
Giorgos Zografidis, Greece
This workshop provided me with a new prism at taking photographs including more sentiment and injecting more thought and content to my work. As a newcomer to “Street photography”, the workshop allowed me to quickly get into a pace and experiment with this new to me approach, producing some fair results quite quickly. Invaluable was the fact that I gained a
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This workshop provided me with a new prism at taking photographs including more sentiment and injecting more thought and content to my work. As a newcomer to “Street photography”, the workshop allowed me to quickly get into a pace and experiment with this new to me approach, producing some fair results quite quickly. Invaluable was the fact that I gained a lot from the positive evaluation by Nikos of my other coworkers’ work. This evaluation demonstrated to me things to avoid once I get further down in my own journey and also experience paradigms of good quality work that I could try and experiment with. Things that take ages to discover, are presented to you during one week’s teamwork. Absolutely a positive experience with a lot of new friends that I really enjoyed!
Colin Steel, Scotland
I really had great time in Istanbul and found the workshop every bit as challenging as I had hoped. The blend of nationalities was great and I think it was a good idea to move the sessions to the middle of the day to allow shooting in better light. I guess the only thing was
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I really had great time in Istanbul and found the workshop every bit as challenging as I had hoped. The blend of nationalities was great and I think it was a good idea to move the sessions to the middle of the day to allow shooting in better light. I guess the only thing was that removed the social aspect a little as I guess in the evenings we would have had a meal or some beers afterwards and a chance to talk more on a personal level. From my personal perspective, I did find the workshop extremely challenging and I do find it a little hard to force shooting and I did struggle to find photographs that express my thinking. Having said that, this was exactly the reason I came, to be challenged and taken forward in my photographic evolution. I can safely say that since the workshop I am much more demanding of myself and no longer tolerate shots that are safe or just plain nice. I think the workshop facility and location was superb, and I really enjoyed meeting all the guys. Maybe some more reviews of local photographers work would have been good as it’s always nice to see a different perspective. I do hope to make it to some of your future workshops and am even thinking of Istanbul again in December as I love the city so much.
Esra Belgin, Turkey
I participated in just one workshop with Nikos so far, and now I see why people want to do it over and over again. It was a unique experience! It is amazing how my way of seeing things changed in one week.Nikos is a great photographer and an educator. I will certainly return.
Theo Erbenius, Sweden
To go on a workshop with Nikos is one big learning experience. It means to challenge yourself in ways that at least I don’t do in my everyday life. I really appreciate his strong opinions and straightforwardness. To talk about photography and show your daily work to him is very rewarding because of his profound
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To go on a workshop with Nikos is one big learning experience. It means to challenge yourself in ways that at least I don’t do in my everyday life. I really appreciate his strong opinions and straightforwardness. To talk about photography and show your daily work to him is very rewarding because of his profound knowledge and total honesty. I strongly recommend anyone interested in this type of photography to go on a workshop with Nikos. I’m truly grateful for what I have learned from him and of course I will return for another workshop.
Giorgos Savakis, Greece
Two words about something I don’t understand. About something that has been in me for over a decade. A tale that I had made up in my mind (…) In September 2009, I packed two changes of clothes dress and two cameras and came to Istanbul. Expectations? Countless. Reservations? Even more. ‘Fairy-tales do not exist’ I
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Two words about something I don’t understand. About something that has been in me for over a decade. A tale that I had made up in my mind (…) In September 2009, I packed two changes of clothes dress and two cameras and came to Istanbul. Expectations? Countless. Reservations? Even more. ‘Fairy-tales do not exist’ I said to myself. But what I experienced in a week was more than I ever expected or even imagined. (…) I have been in a photographic frenzy ever since. I carry my camera with me all the time, everywhere. (…) Can no longer do otherwise.
Liz Loh-Taylor, Singapore-Australia
(…) This sounds so cliché (…), but this workshop has changed my life! The 35mm has not left my camera and I am really enjoying composing in a way that is more interesting. (…) A few things that you said about my photography really shocked me but shocked me more to realise that you were
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(…) This sounds so cliché (…), but this workshop has changed my life! The 35mm has not left my camera and I am really enjoying composing in a way that is more interesting. (…) A few things that you said about my photography really shocked me but shocked me more to realise that you were right… still amazes me that you have made an observation that was so right from looking at my photos alone. Thanks.. In terms of feedback, I think the workshops in the evening were really enjoyable, especially being to learn from other participants’ work and your comments of them. Your help with interesting things to do prior to the workshop was also very helpful. The only thing that I would ask is for you to be even harder with your critiques and provide perhaps some sort of direction as to where each one of us could go…through each evening discussion as well as at the end of the workshop. I think your guidance to each of us is very valuable and we could do with more of it, well I could at least. (…) Not sure where photography is heading for me, but I have been loving every moment of it so far! I have learnt more in Beirut than I have in the last 2 years!
Michael Barnes, UK
I would like to say how very much I valued Nikos’ perceptive, insightful and supportive comments. While just starting out in photography the workshop was a really valuable guide on how I should be thinking about it. I really liked the emphasis on looking for the humanity in the image, the unusual, the abnormal, the avoidance
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I would like to say how very much I valued Nikos’ perceptive, insightful and supportive comments. While just starting out in photography the workshop was a really valuable guide on how I should be thinking about it. I really liked the emphasis on looking for the humanity in the image, the unusual, the abnormal, the avoidance of the simply descriptive, the banal, the obvious and cliché. Not to mention the need to be very selective, paying attention to backgrounds, the value of geometry in composition, finding interesting elements and locations, the need to concentrate on simple forms and shapes and avoid clutter. The workshop was a genuinely supportive and helpful experience.
So thank you Nikos for lots of really helpful advice and I hope to see you on future workshops.
So thank you Nikos for lots of really helpful advice and I hope to see you on future workshops.
Enrique Ramirez, Mexico/USA
My first On the Road workshop was almost a year ago in Oaxaca, Mexico, from which I learned an immense amount. In this one (this time in Ghana), I learned plenty too, not only from Nikos, but also from very good and talented photographers, many of whom have attended several workshops in other places. Nikos
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My first On the Road workshop was almost a year ago in Oaxaca, Mexico, from which I learned an immense amount. In this one (this time in Ghana), I learned plenty too, not only from Nikos, but also from very good and talented photographers, many of whom have attended several workshops in other places. Nikos is not only a great photographer, he’s also an open, direct, and natural mentor.
Oliver Bradshaw, Australia
Thank you for the workshop, overall it was great and I look forward to joining you somewhere else in the future. In terms of feedback, particularly at my beginner level, I was often seeking more and more direction and information from you and as you probably realise, I would continually ask for more and more
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Thank you for the workshop, overall it was great and I look forward to joining you somewhere else in the future. In terms of feedback, particularly at my beginner level, I was often seeking more and more direction and information from you and as you probably realise, I would continually ask for more and more information as the days went on. Apart from that however, it was a great experience and an overall (apart from the food) good trip.
Fernando Rituerto Pineiro, Spain
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,
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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.
Alex Wydler, Switzerland
This was my third workshop with Nikos. The Iran trip was a unique journey and we all had a great time. But more important, thanks to the up-front teaching of Nikos, I could made a big step forward in my photography. I’m looking forward going with Nikos “on the road” again!
Xhodi Hysa, Albania
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
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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.
“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.
Jun Javelosa, Philippines
Joining Nikos’ workshop has become a yearly must-do event for me. Why? Because his workshops are, for me, the ideal way to travel, if you’re serious about photography. Nikos always offers a destination that promises to be photographically interesting. He ensures we get to immerse ourselves in the place. There’s always someone who has done
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Joining Nikos’ workshop has become a yearly must-do event for me. Why? Because his workshops are, for me, the ideal way to travel, if you’re serious about photography. Nikos always offers a destination that promises to be photographically interesting. He ensures we get to immerse ourselves in the place. There’s always someone who has done the ground work, and yet the itinerary remains casually open and flexible. On top of that, he has a way of challenging you to perform better and improve, but never to the point of creating competition. So far, in the three workshops I’ve attended, the participants have been a generous, agreeable, and encouraging bunch, which really is the effect Nikos’ personality and method of mentoring. Finally, in Uruguay, we had the uncommon experience of seeing some of Nikos’ images shot during the workshop, as well as some unpublished work, which left us in awe. That was special.
Nikos Tsitsos, Greece
The workshop and Nikos in particular have transformed my outlook as a photographer and will hopefully have a long-lasting impact in my work. I have genuinely appreciated Nikos’ insight and approach. During the workshop he managed to shed valuable light to the next steps needed ahead, in a practical, tangible, results-oriented and implementable manner, yet
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The workshop and Nikos in particular have transformed my outlook as a photographer and will hopefully have a long-lasting impact in my work. I have genuinely appreciated Nikos’ insight and approach. During the workshop he managed to shed valuable light to the next steps needed ahead, in a practical, tangible, results-oriented and implementable manner, yet customised to each participant’s needs. Nikos has a unique way of guiding and helping the participants improve. He can be, at the same time, encouraging and motivating, while remaining ruthlessly honest when pointing mistakes and areas that need further work. Perhaps even more importantly, I am particularly grateful for his generosity in sharing and mentoring. Nikos has been remarkably open and welcoming and succeeded in reaffirming my enthusiasm, not only for photography but especially for documentary photography. I am looking forward to the next workshop and to new explorations.
Benedikt Göttert, Germany
It worked — or as Nikos said “It always works”. I needed three days to throw everything over board I thought to know about photography. How to select backgrounds, how to use the 35mm lens, how to lead the eye of the beholder, how to avoid clichees, how to get closer, how to recognize a
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It worked — or as Nikos said “It always works”. I needed three days to throw everything over board I thought to know about photography. How to select backgrounds, how to use the 35mm lens, how to lead the eye of the beholder, how to avoid clichees, how to get closer, how to recognize a good photograph and how to find my own style. Nikos has something like a built-in compass for good photography which always functions. It was a pleasure to learn from him, to talk with him about his philosophy and to see his passion for beautiful visual events. Even when he felt sick and his face looked as grey as some of my worse photographs he got excited and touched by every great picture he saw at our group meetings in the evenings. He is such a nice and open guy and it seems he has also a talent to attract like-minded people to his workshops. I felt very welcome from the first moment. The Thailand workshop was my first one with him. But for sure not the last..
Fatma Khamis, Kuwait
My third on the road workshop and again another amazing experience. New goals set not only for the workshop but to consider and start tackling when you return home. Nikos simply does not give you a break! Looking at your work, he sets personal goals for each participant and demands to see more in every
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My third on the road workshop and again another amazing experience. New goals set not only for the workshop but to consider and start tackling when you return home. Nikos simply does not give you a break! Looking at your work, he sets personal goals for each participant and demands to see more in every critique. That is one of Nikos’s major strong points as a teacher along with his contagious passion for photography. With such motivation and challenge, I find myself driven to accept the challenge and push for more. He simply keeps me marching to make the best out of his workshops. Most important I see it better. Having your work compared against other photographers help you see what you need to work on next. You see your points of strength and weakness against theirs and helps to learn and set goals. It was a nice experience to run into other participants that you met in earlier workshops and see how they grew as photographers since the last time you met them. This workshop was the best of the three for the reasons above and for the fact that it was held in Mumbai. For me it was a portrait heaven and almost everywhere we went was a great shooting location. We were also blessed with a group of participants from all over the world that were extremely dedicated to photography and committed to making the best out of this workshop. The most special thing about these workshops is that for a week you get to switch off and escape from everything and think nothing but doing the photography that you want and love. It is just you with your camera on the road. I look forward to join other future workshops with Nikos and highly recommend it as a great learning and fun experience!
Fernando Retuerto Pineiro, Spain
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
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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.
Jose Farinha, Portugal
“The Istanbul workshop was my first one with Nikos and it was undoubtedly a great experience. Nikos’ comments and guidelines during the editing sessions were so much appreciated and eye opening for the never ending search for good photos. The group was very interesting as well and I learned so much not only from the
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“The Istanbul workshop was my first one with Nikos and it was undoubtedly a great experience. Nikos’ comments and guidelines during the editing sessions were so much appreciated and eye opening for the never ending search for good photos. The group was very interesting as well and I learned so much not only from the comments of my photos but also from others. Nikos’ feedback was always very constructive and he always pushed everybody a step up trying to make from us better photographers. Thanks Nikos..”
