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.

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.

As a passionate photographer I was looking for a workshop that was not about pixels, gear and academic lectures.
Coincidentally, I discovered Nikos’ on the road workshops. The participants’ work immediately caught my eyes – and shortly after I found myself at the Istanbul workshop. It exceeded by far my expectations: Nikos’ joviality, patience, his guidance and incitement to try new ways and discover what might be dormant in oneself was incredible! It was manifest everyday in the pictures we “brought home” after long and exhausting walks in this staggering city. The vespertine meetings were fun as well. Thank you, Nikos, for your effort and thanks to all participants for the great atmosphere!

The workshop in Lisbon was very enlightening for me, since I don’t normally do this kind of photography. After sharing these days with Nikos and the other participants, I find myself noticing things more, actually “seeing” people and their interaction with each other and the immediate environment. It was an eye opener and this kind of photography is something that is gradually becoming more enticing and enjoyable for me. Besides, the way Nikos leads the participants gives them complete freedom to experiment and achieve durable results, while gently guided by a master towards better and better images and a keener vision. He hides nothing from the participants and genuinely strives to give everyone an unforgettable experience. Nikos Economopoulos, thank you very much for a very enjoyable week.

I have been on several workshops with Nikos. I keep coming back because, not only Nikos is an amazing person, but he is also a great teacher. Nikos manages to get the best out of all of us. The transformation of some of the participants is just amazing. I like the simple words he uses to “critique” images, his directness and honesty. He always challenges us to do better every day. He is very engaged in editing our photos whatever the level of the participants. I also love coming to his workshops as I always find the attendees friendly and interesting people. With a lot of them, we have continued to keep in touch and communicate regularly. His workshops are a truly unique experience. 

I just returned from my 5th workshop with Nikos. This was the second time I joined him in Cuba. It was, once again, an amazing experience. It is very exciting when you know what to expect: growth, challenge, intellectual stimulation, encouragement and friendship. You can count on these every time. As many participants have pointed out, there is little structure to the workshop, no handouts or hand holding. Nikos treats everyone as if we were all professional peers. The meetings at the end of each day are magical, enlightening, and stimulating. Nikos does not tell you how to do things rather he accurately points out what works for each person considering individual interests and styles. He points you in the right direction for you to go to work the next day. We work very hard. We work long days, we edit hundreds of images, and we go home with strong portfolios. We are one hundred percent immersed in photography for the length of the workshop. Something else I appreciate and enjoy is the post learning experience. Days or weeks after the workshop you continue to realize how much you learned then and continue to learn from that workshop. It is a privilege to have Nikos as a mentor. He is not only a master in this craft but also the most considerate, encouraging, and generous professional photographer I have come across. I already look forward to the next workshop On the Road.

Dear Nikos,
I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude for all of the guidance and support you have provided me as a www.ontheroad.greloping photographer.
Your expertise in composition and storytelling has truly helped me to www.ontheroad.grelop my photographic eye and to think more deeply about the messages and stories that can be conveyed through photography.
I have appreciated very much, the way that you take the time to review my work, editing each picture and explaining every detail. Whether we have met in person during workshops or through Zoom sessions, your feedback has always been gentle yet constructive, pointing me in the right directions to further www.ontheroad.grelop my skills.
You have taught me that every picture must stand on its own in terms of composition and that each one should tell a complete story.
Your own masterful ability to create complex situations or to focus on a single subject always triggers empathy and astonishment in the viewer, and I am so grateful for the way you have taught me, to hopefully do this in my own work.
Thank you for being such an extraordinary teacher and mentor, and for sharing your wisdom and expertise with me. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from you and to grow as a photographer under your guidance.
Lookin forward to continue our journey together.
All the best

…The workshop in Istanbul has been a great experience for me. Some points I got from it are the following: I trust myself a little bit more and now I think my personal view is as valid as any other to describe a city or a place. I have to work much on this subject: What do objetivity and subjetivity mean in photography? Moreover, Istanbul is a fantastic city to make oneself questions such as: What do contemporaneity mean? I have become more motivated to go through the work of different photographers…

There is a british saying – “those who can, do and those who can’t, teach” – and indeed, judging from my profession the best surgeons are usually unable to transmit their knowledge insofar as their talent and ingenuity is what drives them, and this cannot be easily transferred. So, I I did not know what to expect from a Magnum workshop.. I couldn’t have been more pleasantly surprised ! Nikos kept proving , again and again, how someone who is a (generally accepted) master in his work and has acquired a place as one of the main photographers of the 20th century, can also be a simple and down to earth person: His immense patience kept surprising me, day after day: When I thought that he would have had enough going through another bunch of amateur’s photos, he manifested kindness coupled with insight while critiquing our photos. He constantly managed to stay acutely interested, after hours of looking into photos, to adjust his level of critique to different photographer levels, without appearing either patronising or bored. Every photo would appear to be an opportunity to delve deep into the nature of photography this is not a course about flashes and lenses and f-stops indeed, it presupposes you have reached an appropriate technical level, going beyond that, trying to understand the nature of photography, why some photos move us and confuse and grasp us in such a way an academic level teaching from someone who at the same time is a real photographer. Someone who can gravitate at the same time between being the artist and the critic, the producer of art and the academic (a combination that would be normally unthinkable!). The course is not for the faint hearted it is intensive and demanding , not because of Nikos’ demands or attitude (on the contrary , he is relaxed as can be) but because you will be surrounded by talented, motivated photographers , everyone of which will be doing his/her best. This is not a course on sunsets and cute babies – but you will hear intelligent and thought provoking quotes on photography, that most people would have to spend years reading to finding from the non-descriptive power of photography to the importance of light and to the language and balance of images.. One could keep on talking about the course what was most interesting was that half of the participants Addis course have followed his previous workshops. Probably this is the greatest compliment to the workshop. I am looking forward to my next session with Nikos..

Nikos family name has something to do with economics. But don’t be mistaken, he is more the kind of person always happy, without any sense of saving its time, to be involved 200% in its works as a…. what? Teacher is an understatement for an attitude towards the rest of the world which helps you in advancing at a fast rate towards the excellency. Always saying what he thinks, if there is something he does not like, and helpful in finding the good sides to be www.ontheroad.greloped.

It all sounds not enough when I think of the incredible two weeks that I spent traveling with Nikos to Nepal and India. Those two weeks were filled with beautiful moments captured by all the participants, all inspiring each other and supporting our effort and common goal. We all bonded beautifully and hopefully created life-long friendships. The workshops are demanding but it is through the effort and hard work that we achieve results that we can be proud of. Nikos pushed each participant to create the best work possible and I think that the results speak for themselves. I returned home feeling inspired, stronger as a photographer and as a person. I look forward to traveling with Nikos to Ethiopia and india in 2015!

Addis Ababa was my second workshop with Nikos. I came back for two reasons: One, because I know he is a great teacher who brings out the best in you. He gives you honest and relevant feedback which helps you www.ontheroad.grelop more as a photographer in a week than you would normally in a year. Two, because he is a great guy also on a personal level, and he really knows how to make a group work together and have fun at the same time. Plus did I say most of his workshops takes place in exciting and exotic locations, with more motives that your mind can process? I am already looking at how soon I can go 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.

The workshop with Nikos, was a unique experience. He opened a new door to the world of photography for me. The tips he gave me were extremely useful and his advises clearly changed my photography approach. Finally I want to thank the whole group that made the experience unforgettable, and I am looking forward to taking part in my second workshop.

As always, a great workshop, good people and rewarding discussions. First, I will say I really enjoyed Porto as a city. Its’ size was just right, and there were enough interesting areas to get around to – the old town, art museum, food market, the other side of the river and town Gaia, the beaches and the riverside walks. And it was easy to get around with buses and trams – and walking.
Second, I really enjoy to experience and to watch how good you are pedagogically. One little step at a time, go easy, you manage to lift us all a little bit – also the not so experienced. Thank you so much for that!
You do it so well, and discreetly – I think we hardly notice that we learn something, a little at a time. And also always interesting to listen when you tell of your experiences, travels, of the history of photography and the great photographers in the past.
I come home happy, having learned a lot. Now looking at my photos with more critical eyes, knowing maybe how to do it better next time.

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.

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.

The expertise and clear vision of Nikos criticism is the best gift for any photographer attending his workshops. The last few years I had lost motivation for photography and all i was hoping from this workshop was just to awake my “eye” and to feel the magic of the photographic process. The “mission” was more than accomplished! Until the end of the workshop i felt falling in love with photography again and got the thrill of grabbing my camera and go photograph the action. Nikos guided me through this process and with his generosity shared precious “secrets” of big photographers. The end of the workshop meant a new start to my photographic projects. I continue photograph the city and feel the influence of this workshop on my work. THANK YOU! I am really looking forward to the next photographic workshop with Nikos!

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.