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.

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.

I participated in 5 workshops with Nikos Economopoulos. He keeps guiding me so that I can keep defining my photographic style. Always pointing out and reminding to avoid cliches, déjà vu, mannerism, easy formulas, tricks, boring images and the list goes on. Always making sure we prioritize content and form to make strong images that are genuine and not pure repetitions of cheap art or just images describing a scene. He guides each participants at his/her own level and needs. He never imposes a style, he works with each participant’s own style. He is great at telling what is good and what is not good. He is not commercial. He is direct and really frank. In my opinion the most important is that he is fully engaged when editing and commenting on our work. When he sees a good image, it makes his day. It is evident that he loves to teach. Every one keeps improving. Once you are On the Road with Nikos you keep coming back. It’s just the way it is.

 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.

I feel privileged for having the opportunity to join Nikos’s workshops two times in six months. Seeing the way that he is present during the workshops and providing his continuous availability for sharing not only technical, but also esthetic and photographic language with different materials and stories makes me understand more the reason i felt always close to his photography. I remember several key inputs, which I see now how to reflect my view to my frames. I hope to hear as usual Nikos’s open and constructive comments in the next workshops as well, which help my www.ontheroad.grelopment a lot. Meeting so diverse cultures during the workshops is another pleasure which enriches it with no doubt!

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..

Thank you so much for the incredible opportunity to participate in your Istanbul workshop. After the first day, I realized everything I thought I knew about photography was crap. I appreciate your patience and kindness with me during the entire time, especially as a novice. I felt that I really limited myself in the workshop because of my current level.
I wanted so badly to learn, and want to continue to learn, how to create and compose a good photograph and this workshop provided me with a starting point. Your critiques were invaluable. The conversations we all shared and the insight given from the other photographers helped me immensely. It was inspiring to be immersed in an environment with such passionate people. Having Jason Eskenazi share his work with us was also a great highlight from the workshop.
I already miss our group meetings, staying up until 1 a.m. discussing photography. I wish it could have lasted longer. I will continue to work on improving my skills and I cherish the foundation you have been able to provide. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you! 

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!

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.

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!

Working with Nikos is an unforgettable and very educative photographic experience. Nikos is a great teacher, a person who finds the good points in everybody’s work and gives you the way to take the benefits of it and arrive at a higher level. During the workshop I found myself seeing things differently, from a photographic point of view, and he stayed beside me, pushing me towards finding a more creative way, educating my photographic eye and explaning to all of us always with patience, why a photo is not strong enough, why an other is powerful, what is missing and what is important. So everybody was going deeper and deeper everyday. I saw also the other participants’ work and I had the feeling that this process was working for all of them in a creative way.

Thank you for another great workshop. During my week in Athens I believe to have again improved my photographic skills and at the same time was able to acquire important knowledge on how to take pictures in difficult situations, i.e. in this case taking pictures of people having to live under precarious circumstances and taking to the streets. Athens during the financial crisis struck me as a city of strong social distinction with poverty becoming strongly visible in the streets of some areas and on the other hand still keeping its friendly, sunny side for which it also stands. I finally ended up trying to show these contrast in my pictures  ̶ as it seemed to me that focusing on one side only would not show an equitable picture of Athens in the situation of the financial crisis. There is still positive energy certainly among the young. I enjoyed the evening sessions with the other students in the workshop as always pleasant and informative. I am looking forward to the next workshop I will be able to attend.

I liked very much not only the editing process but the general discussions we had about photography, and the way you challenged everyone and frankly shared your opinions. In my opinion, the more opinionated, the better. (…) I liked the way you emphasized the idea of creating the portfolio from pictures with a similar approach. I feel I am on the way to www.ontheroad.greloping a style.

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!

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

I want to thank you for eight days of ups and downs, of believing and disbeliveing in the own skills and for your remarkable approach in pushing us gently forward but never hiding something or letting something be unspoken. You treated us with your admirable respect in every human being and your humanity which let me felt comfortable in every situation of the course. Thank you for answering all my questions with so much patience. I learned so much from you – professionally and personally. The only thing i’m angry about is that you did not let me pay the taxi to the airport I hope to see you again.

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.

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.