I didn’t know what to expect when I sign up for this workshop. As this was a highly recommended workshop by a friend of mine I went for with the hope that it will change my style of photography and help me photograph better and understand the dynamics of what makes a picture different. I got more than I bargained for as each day was challenging to say the least. There were days when I struggled with my preconception of what makes a good photos and this prevented me from doing my best. It was when I was told by Nikos to “take photos like a child” did it liberate me and improved my style and brought me up to a different level. For this I am very grateful as it was a very important lesson for me. To be brought to a different level of understanding and photography and I leave the workshop in appreciation to my fellow photographers who have taught me a few things just by looking at their pictures and to Nikos for his invaluable advice.

“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..”

Nikos workshop was by far the event with the most intense and strongest impact on my photographic view. It was an amazing pleasure to see everyone flourishing under Nikos relaxed and still disciplined guidance. Initially you might experience some confusion. You might still carry the diffuse anxious anticipation you built up before the workshop. Or You might feel even jammed seeing your former photographic concepts going to pieces. But then: Boooooom – comes the creative explosion within the steep part of the learning curve. You´ll very soon get more selective, more focused, more careful, more personal and more playful when working with your camera. Powerful stuff, hard work, lovely people and lots of fun. Nikos teaches a wonderfully concentrated no-frills approach to photography. One camera, one fixed focal. It´s all about the picture, the visual event in the frame and within that rigorous selection of what is interesting and what is not.

The Varanasi workshop was clearly the highlight of my India visit. Nikos’ advice after our first editing sessions that I should use only my 50mm lens and shoot only black and white was very valuable. After that I felt more relaxed and focused and could produce more consistent and better images. After coming home I have re-examined the Varanasi photos and I must say that I am pleased with the results. I would also like to thank for the great company during the workshop. During the daytime each student could work individually with her/his own problems. In the evenings we gathered together to discuss the results. This scheme worked out very well: you could see how the students progressed during the week. I felt that Nikos’ comments, even the critical ones, were to the point and always supportive. A specially memorable evening was when Nicos showed and discussed some of his own iconic images. I felt privileged to see and hear his thoughts on style, photography, art and life in general.

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!

After the first meeting with Nikos, I felt my photos and the way I thought about them were too old and ordinary. Nikos shared some of his hints with me and the other guys, and as a consequence I started to feel more comfortable with my camera while taking pictures in different situations: I thought my images were improving and were becoming more interesting. Then, after all the reviews I attended, I saw my pictures and suddenly they were old and ordinary again. I was completely upset. But now I am realizing that day after day and picture after picture, his advices led me to start finding a new way – my own way – to take photos. Ok, probably this is just the beginning, but it’s a good start. Thanks Nikos!

(…) 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!

I have participated in 4 workshops with Niko. You never stop growing and learning. Niko makes every workshop counts. Once you participate in one of Niko’s workshops you always want to keep coming back. He makes sure you go back home with the best portfolio you possibly can. You learn with your work and with the work of others, and you learn a huge amount. Niko is a fantastic teacher, he is direct, frank, honest and friendly. This is not a superficial commercial course, this is a personal search of a visual path. It is not easy but the rewards are amazing. Thank you again Niko.

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.

For me the Istanbul workshop was, above all, a great chance to see how an exceptional photographer such as Nikos looks at, selects and talks about photographs. Nikos was keen to understand our photographs first and then offered ways to improve them. While doing so, he was always up-front and honest but never condescending or imposing. I felt that Nikos’ attitude towards us, the participants, and our photography was similar to the compassion one can see in his own photography in that, he makes sure that no one is ever stripped off of their dignity. His comments were not only related to the formal result but also what goes on before and during shooting. The workshop was, as others have said, intense and demanding, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Every evening, after a busy day of wandering the streets and shooting, I was rewarded with the pleasure of looking at the interesting and beautiful pictures of my fellow students in the workshop. In doing so and by Nikos‘ wonderful and empathetic teaching and the ensuing discussions, I learned so much in terms of visual perception and the transformation into a good picture that I can see more clearly now than ever before the direction, in which I want to move and on what I need to focus on. Thank you, Nikos for yet another enriching experience and thanks to all of you for the pleasant time we shared during the week in Istanbul. It was marvelous!

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.

 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.

First I think anyone who wants to travel and learn to be a better photographer should take at least one of Niko’s workshops. When I came back from Cuba I felt that I really knew Havana and interacted with so many people (even with my non-existent Spanish) and it was so amazing to feel part of the city, not just a tourist. I have the travel bug now and I would never travel any other way again.
Nikos, In your workshop, the messages that you have about photography are so important for anyone who is interested in taking better photos. They are in my head constantly. Visually valid is such a hard thing to put into words but I am striving to find that more and more in my photos. You really push people to dig deeper and find something more in their photography (but in the nicest way).
And also I want to say how much I appreciated your generosity. It’s not very often that I come across people as kind and giving as you are, from your knowledge with photography – taking photos, editing, post processing, you shared as much as you could. You even shared your sandwich with me on the first day!
And also I am really interested in doing a master class but I have to save up more before I can. And hopefully I can do another workshop in the future but this time I will be much more prepared for the adventures!
Thanks again Nikos!!!

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.

Attending a workshop with Nikos as your teacher, critic and guide into the world of creating the best images that you can produce, is both a challenging and inspiring experience. This was my second workshop with Nikos, and it was incredible!! How he teaches you to look at a photograph and “not just see it” makes me compose each individual frame with an more critical eye and deeper understanding on how to make a photograph come alive. With his encouragement and strong commitment to getting the best from me, he guided me in the direction that I wanted to grow. Ultimately the week with Nikos was a very rewarding experience! On another note just spending time with him, over dinner or lunch, listening to his stories, is great. Traveling around parts of Istanbul with him on tram’s, trains and taxi’s looking for stadiums, they are all great memories that will be with me for a longtime.

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.