Every literate can write. Not every literate can write poems or short stories. Even less of them can write meaningful or original stories. I think the same thing applies to photographers. Every person with a camera can take photos. Some can produce stories, but just a few are able to produce a meaningful and personal work.
Sometimes I joke and say that Nikos’ mission on Earth is to educate us, his participants, to become original, faithful and personal photographers. After a while, I am coming to believe that my joke was actually real. The transformation he manages from us is unreal. The photos that he choses are a caress to the eyes and soul. And this leads me to a second conclusion: Nikos is the best editor I have ever met.
Gracias, Maestro!

The more workshops I do with Nikos the more I want to come back. Every place is different as the challenges to encounter. The good thing about coming back, is that he already knows how much we can achieve so he pressures us accordingly, and I think we most agree that our results get a bit better every time.
Like each new workshop is like starting from scratch, each day of it is also starting from scratch. In every meeting he would choose a few photos but the next morning we start again from blank. The days are long and intense, but for me it’s just pure joy. We have some good days but others we hit the wall. It’s inexplicable the pleasure we have when we manage to go over that wall. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. But as Nikos well said: “We can have good days and bad days. But that is not important. What really matters is that we never lose the great feeling of wanting to go out and take photos. That, it is very important.” And I do hope, to never lose that feeling.
Niko, thank you again, and I am already looking forward to Argentina next month.

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.

Being part of the On The Road Workshop was a unique experience for me. Spent 7 days in Istanbul dedicated to photography, shooting during the day and editing at night with your opinion making my thoughts about photography and what I was doing move to another level. I have learned a lot by listening many times what makes a good picture (and what was missing in ours!), seeing and talking about great pictures and photographers. It was also great to hear your vision of modern photography, social media and always have in mind why we are making photos. I definitely will be part in another one!

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!

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 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!

The Sanliurfa workshop was inspiring and exciting both with regard to the photos taken by the other members of the group as well as the area and the cities we were visiting. Further, I enjoyed the evening sessions. I like the way Nikos criticizes the pictures of the photographers and gives them advice each on his/her individual professional levels. Nobody has to fear to be embarrassed – on the contrary, I was motivated not only by the comments and advice to become a better photgrapher but felt also supported by the other group members.

The workshop with Nikos was a great experience and a wonderful event. The evening reviews were inspiring as Nikos proved to be not only a gifted photographer but also a patient teacher and reviewer. He truly possesses the didactical skills to explain what elements are required in building up a good photograph. Naturally the workshop was frustrating at the same time as one comes to realize what skills are required in order to perform photography at this level. Nonetheless, it is definitely learning process that I want to experience again, so I’m studying my agenda and Nikos’ website to try to decide when I can sign up again.

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.

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.

Here is some feedback on the Oaxaca workshop. Simple and short – the workshop was absolutely amazing. Excellence defined.
The feedback sessions in the evenings were transforming with deep inspiration continuing as a growth journey day by day. I highly appreciate the way Nikos gives feedback and shares his amazing vision and way of seeing, it is clear and to the point, with the beauty of the creative process not being jeopardised. A way of life, how to shoot, when not to shoot, and how to discipline your mind loosing the experienced feeling of time. I definitely left Oaxaca with deep and new inspiration.
Excellent workshop. Amazing atmosphere.
Great workshop set up – with a feeling of freedom in the creative process and flow during the day.
Unique feedback sessions in the evenings with firm and clear communication.
Tailored feedback how to improve day by day Again. Just great. Difficult to describe in words!

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.

My trip to Ghana was my third with Nikos Economopoulos. As always the workshop is very high quality, and a total eye-opener to photography. Nikos is one of the best photography teachers out there, and the general level of the participants leveled up daily. Ghana was very beautiful, and the resort absolutely stunning.
Bonus info: best African food in Cape Coast with fresh fish on a daily basis.

I have as complicated a relationship with street photography as I do with my streets. I am passionate about other people’s street photography but find it very hard to do it myself. I don’t want to poke my camera into the face of someone having a bad day, but I do want to show my family and friends the intensity of life here, and why I often have my heart broken during a short trip for groceries. Recently some of my Istanbul photography friends did a workshop (or two!) with legendary Magnum photographer Nikos Economopoulos, and I was really interested in the work they produced. When we heard he was coming to Istanbul Ville persuaded me that I should sign up.
For three days I spent a few hours shooting alone and then met up with Nikos and the other participants to go through all the pictures. This took four or five hours each day. I learnt so much by listening to Nikos critique us all. He is truly a person with great generosity and a big, open heart (as well as being an incredible photographer). He removed the terror of showing my attempts (however unsuccessful) and helped me find a new way of thinking about photographing on the street.

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..

To have a workshop in my own country, so dear to me, was a big challenge, yet a wonderful experience…. To have Nikos there… was the cherry to the cake. It was great to see how the other participants, who I knew from other trips, viewed my people, my land. Nikos’ usual coolness, good sense of humour and positive attitude towards everything and everybody is just perfect. The daily meetings keep being the highlight of my trips, the most expected moment, after a long day, rushed editing and great expectations to see nice surprises. Nikos’ vision and contagious emotion towards a beautiful picture is moving… the atmosphere he creates, magical. Counting the days to next one. Gracias, Niko!

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.