No doubt about it, a workshop with Nikos is an extraordinary experience. To all potential participants: feelings of incompetence and dread are not uncommon during the first 2 days, no matter your photographic level. Then the magic happens: Nikos’ unparalleled expertise, judgement, and above all humanity come to the fore – inspiring and fostering better and better work from all participants as the days pass. The honest and down-to-earth approach which characterizes Nikos simply ensures that, at the end, regardless of level and interests, you will feel and act like a better photographer. The result: a portfolio to be proud of, a fresh ‘eye’ and energy for all future photographic endeavours, a new group of friends you can learn from, and a profound sense of belonging to a dispersed yet resourceful photographic community that is On the Road workshops.

Cuba was my third workshop with Nikos. Not only is he inspiring, patient, and always awakens joy in taking and discussing pictures, but Nikos is also a great companion and friend! Nikos to me is like a lighthouse showing the right path when being lost on the high seas – both in www.ontheroad.greloping my photographic intuition and most importantly in approaching and interacting with people. I am looking forward to be again on the road with Nikos!

The best aspect of Nikos workshop for me was to realize that a good photo can be best produce by liberating oneself from codes and rules. Seeing everyday each participant become visually freer and freer was revealing. Nikos has a passion for images and this workshop was all about sharing with us this passion. We were all motivated and thrilled by everybody’s images, comments and discussion about what makes an image better than others. Nikos gave us freedom, feedback and love for photography beyond imagination. Thank you. It was truly a unique experience.

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.

I sometimes felt like a first year violin player in a master class. I do not mind feeling a bit stupid at times and think I profit a lot by learning of the best. I have learned a lot and will continue to do so for quite some time. And hopefully, I will be able to join other workshops (…) I liked the approach very much – giving advice on the one hand and letting the participants find their own way on the other. And then, of course, the voyage was marvellous, extraordinary in the purest sense of the word.

I had the chance to participate in one of Nikos Economopoulos’ photographic journeys-workshops. The unique and very particular way that he has in guiding you without giving you recipes, while respecting your personal worldview, turns the whole photographic experience into a broad aesthetic and intellectual experience, as well as pure joy. Within just a few days, I discovered that the chaotic world around me has balance and poetry.

For me as a professional photojournalist, to be with Nikos takes me back to photography where surprise and curiosity are key elements, instead of telling the story as specific as possible – as many editors seek today. Working in a fast moving newsflow, photojournalism needs surprise to stop readers, and Niko’s photography does exactly that. It intrigues us and plays with our imagination. It moves us from the world of realism to the world of surrealism.
And a workshop with Nikos is a vital reminder of photography at its best: to show us the world in a way we don’t see it ourselves. And to be formulated by a teacher, not only extremely talented, but also a friendly and charismatic travel companion.
I’m already looking forward to my next workshop with Nikos Economopoulos.

Most of all I would like to thank you for inspiring me. I’m still in a learning process in photojournalism, but I felt I needed to know more about photography before moving on. I really enjoyed turning things around. Working with single visual impacts, instead of storytelling photojournalism, took me back to the roots of photography. I’ve learned a lot by doing so. In a way I tried to copy you and those that inspire you, Cartier-Bresson etc, and where that in a way sounds like a bad approach (instead of finding my own style), it made me look at pictures in a new way. In photojournalism I’m supposed to tell a story that has to be told directly. Where the message of the picture is delivered instantly. On this trip I learned how to make pictures that make the viewer look an extra time. Where there is no instant message, but where the pictures create curiosity. It is another way in photography. And a style I will try to combine with photojournalism.

People ask me why I keep attending Nikos’ workshops. Well, I can’t imagine a better way to experience and photograph a new place than through Nikos’ workshop! The regimen and discipline it requires is just impossible to duplicate if you’re otherwise simply traveling on holiday. What’s even better is that you get daily feedback and instruction. We see ourselves improve, whatever skill level we’re at. Our understanding of photography and our own approach thereto is deepened with each session, in every workshop attended. This is probably why this tribe of On The Road travellers has continued to grow into a thriving community of like-minded people. Even after the workshop, we have continued to keep in touch and remain friends, providing each other with insight and feedback on photography. This is why I like being On The Road with Nikos.

Why my last workshop with Nikos (in Buenos Aires) was the Sixth and hopefully not the last one ?
-The pleasure of learning and improving from a great photographer and a marvellous teacher
-The pleasure of being part of a high level group where community is more important than competition
-The pleasure of travelling trying to look at the country from inside
-The pleasure of the pleasure.

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.

It’s all about sensibility, involvement, balance and control. This is mostly what I have learnt from Nikos workshop. From my day-to-day photos, Nikos directed my feelings and revealed what is the best in me. I started to be more conscious about what I was photographing, what I should photograph, what approach I should apply and what new direction I should explore. I have learned that getting close to people is the key, searching for the right setting and capturing the action at the right moment are essential. Nikos workshop is highly rewarding for those wishing to progress and confront themselves with street photography. Nikos workshop is a powerful human experience where I have met other interesting friendly photographers from different backgrounds, cultures and objectives in life. Nikos outspoken, honest critical look and simplicity, as personal qualities, make the workshop unique and very valuable for anybody wishing to move to next level in photography. Thank you Nikos for your true sympathy.

First of all, I am very happy to know a person like Nikos. Even if we worked until late hours, I enjoyed every minute of it.
I guess my adventure of photography will be divided into 2 before Nikos and after Nikos and I am very excited to use what I learned from Nikos on my photography.

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.

Being on the road with Nikos for a month traveling through Turkey and Georgia was a true adventure. For those interested in documentary photography, this style of travel produces photo opportunities faster than you can click. We were 8 people traveling together, and Nikos’ unpretentious, genuine and friendly personality really brought out the best of each person in the group. He is also a skilled teacher and gives great guidance in the important work of trying to find your own personal style. Though his approach is different than on other workshops, focusing on selection and feedback rather than instructions, I truly believe this is his greatest asset. Let the results speak for themselves, and all you need to do is take a look at the works produced by his participants on this website. I can not wait till next time I will be joining again!

It was a great trip and although I worked really hard, I still had a lot of fun wandering the streets and trying to hone my eye.
It seemed to me that Nikos explained more in this workshop (as compared to the others I’ve taken with him) and I think that is a good thing. Even when it’s something that we think we know, it is always good to be reminded and guided. I really enjoyed hearing his thoughts on so many aspects of photography and I personally needed a nudge in being reminded to look at the work of the great photographers. I had slacked off in that department over the last few months. I also love how he meets each student at his/her level and encourages them.
And, as usual, what I learned will continue to resonate with, and direct, me for months.

I have been an avid photographer for the past few years and moved to Greece from New York only a few months ago. Greece is my homeland but has experienced many changes during my 9 years of absence and I am eager to use my camera to tell the present story. Attending the workshop was a no brainer, being on the spot and needing a serious incentive to get me on the streets of Athens. What I got in return was much more than I had bargained for!!! I met Nikos and discovered a person who went far beyond small technical issues, discussing what photography is really all about and using his own experiences as examples. The topics were endless and his willingness to answer every question and clarify every blurry notion was remarkable. I was very impressed with his openness and how friendly and giving he was. Sharing our knowledge and our experiences is most important and it is what helps us and those around us grow. And Nikos certainly does that. Furthermore, I was very happy that Nikos encouraged participants to go off on their own to shoot. We need to www.ontheroad.grelop our own vision and make our own mistakes. In short, thank you Niko for an amazing week and I look forward to future workshops and more guidance from you!

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..