"On the road" by Nikos Economopoulos

[sanmich]

I am considering participating in a workshop given by Nikos Economopoulos.

Does anyone here know him, or participated in one of his workshops?

Care to share?

 

[Phantomas]

Lucky you - I have done it 🙂 I joined Nikos in Beirut March last year.
I can't say enough good things about Nikos and the workshop. First of all, he is a great guy with warm personality and good humor. Can be quite opinionated but that what I liked - I didn't go there to be told all my shots are good. I think in order to make the most of it you have to like his own style and be aiming for it. Although that is not to say he will dismiss other styles of shooting, as long as they make sense. He will also make almost no comments about technical merits of your photos - only the contents and the story they tell.
All in all, there are two things I liked about the workshop - (1) Nikos, his personality and his guidance; (2) our group, which were all young, motivated photographers with similar views, so it was fantastic to spend a week+ with such people, especially observing their photos and their take on the same environment you're in - it is almost as inspiring and educational (if not more) as the guidance given by Nikos.
Typical day would be shooting whole day and then spending 3-4 hours in the evening going through everyone's shots, making portfolios.
Highly recommended!!!
Where do you plan to go? I wanted to join him in Kosovo this year, but at the end decided to go to Iran and shoot by myself.


BTW, here is my "official final portfolio from Beirut." Whether or not I agree with this selection is a different story 🙂

 

[Phantomas]

Just checked your photos - yes, go with Nikos, you'll love it.

 

[Spyro]

A friend followed him to Istanbul years ago and we were talking about it the other day, his experience was similar to Phantomas' by the sounds of it. Nice guy, great company for food and drinks, lots of stories from travels and Magnum assignments, into his Leicas and lenses and even open to some gear chat. In terms of photography he seems to be more of a Winogrand kind of teacher, ie not so much a big talker but a hard worker and ruthless self-editor so thats what he preaches to his students (and thats what got him all the way to Magnum). Photo review was more a case of no-no-no-maybe, lets try this crop-no-no-no-no 😛 rather than deep and meaningful analysis. The group at the time was a mixed bag, they had everything from obsessive street shooters to a lady who wanted to learn how to take photos of her home made candles for her website 😀

I'd go if I was on that side of the planet.

 

[sanmich]

Phantomas,

Thanks a lot for your answer, and thanks for having taken the time to go through my portfolio.
Yes, I did like very much what Nikos is doing, and I can also identify with his way of feeling at home in our part of the world...

Right now the only things making me hesitate are :
1- I shoot film only. I did a workshop in Austin last year with David Allan Harvey, and worked guerilla style, D-76 in my motel room, then feeding the whole rolls of films in my CS5000, ready for the morning after presentation. It's feasible, but hard, and it's not "safe". Any small issue, and your pictures are not ready...
2- Cost. 900 euros+ flights+ hotel is not a small amount. On the other hand, life is short, and I can't seem to find the way to shoot on an ongoing basis. I'll have to sleep over that...
Just out of interest: You seem to disagree with the editing of the pictures shown in the site. Can you elaborate on the editing process during the workshop? was it conflictual?

 

[Phantomas]

Photo review was more a case of no-no-no-maybe, lets try this crop-no-no-no-no 😛 rather than deep and meaningful analysis.

In a way true, but I often asked him "why?" after which he would elaborate on details.
Some of the things you can expect from Nikos:
- Try to minimise your vertical (portrait oriented) shots. "Why do you shoot so many verticals?? Do you like it??"
- "No street cat photos!!" (dogs are OK). (We conspired one day and all brought him a selection of the dirtiest cat shots we could find. That confused him for a moment 😀 )
- Don't disrespect people!! If you shoot someone looking undignified he'll tell you off.
- No "orientalism"! That is he'll discard any shots of people that look interesting just because people in them look local/peculiar.
- Don't "talk" so much! - meaning don't use many photos to tell a little story.

The rest you'll have to experience yourself. You'll have many laughs though, that's for sure. Oh man, I miss Nikos, he could be my best friend, even if he wasn't a Magnum photographer.

 

[Phantomas]

1. - Absolutelly, definitelly forget film. Sorry man. You'll have to wake up early not to loose time (but that's up to you) go shoot till 18:00 or so, rush back o the hotel and make a quick edit/selection before the meeting. No time to develop. Borrow a digital from someone. (I know a guy who did film in Barcelona and they had Hassie scanners available. Even then the guy said it was major hastle as it was seriously eating into his shooting time).

2. Cost - isn't that always the issue? 🙁 I was OK because Beirut was inexpensive. In my oppinion it's worth it. And just so you know - have a look at other Magnum photogs' fees - double at least.


Editing - it's not that I disagree, it's just that I shot so much stuff in Beirut narrowing it down to 12 shots made my head spin 🙂
Yes, there were some conflicts of oppinions and we would express them freely. But in general nothing drastic, everything he said made sense and if all of a sudden people all liked a particular shot he'd explain why he didn't, and it made sense. Of course, like with any advice you have to take his with a grain of salt, but luckily I understood his logic 95% of the time.

By the way, I also LOVED the energy of the whole workshop. Felt great to be driven to wake up early and hit the streets knowing that you MUST get good shots. No slacking. Although I did have one unproductive day where I just couldn't press a shutter button, for the rest it felt great running around - "to hell with everything I must get good photos"! That in itself gave me a better perspective on my approach to photography.

 

[sanmich]

Spyro, Phantomas, thanks!

I know what you mean about forgetting film. It is more difficult. I am still considering it for two reasons: 1- I don't shoot digital at all. I just don't. so learning a new tool for the time of a workshop is a real issue, I it would mean shooting a totally different tool altogether (SLR or digicam, where I feel comfortable in my shoes with an M2). 2- I am not productive when I spend 10 hours on my feet. 4 to 6 hours of wandering and shooting and I just feel like crap. I'm ok, but I'm not alert and open to the aestetics of what surrounds me any more. So, on the paper, I have some time and during last spring workshop it worked also because the slide shows where on the morning after I guess... I have to think this carefully.
Incidentally, I think that what really drove me crazy last year was to wait for the films to dry. Maybe there is a technical turn around...

Cost is a simpler issue, go/no go, really. I think that it's a no brainer, I can sell some unused gear and be done with it. Life is now even shorter than in my former post 🙂

 

[Spyro]

shoot him an email to see what the deal is with film. I think my mate mentioned he was shooting film himself back then, see what he has to say about it.

 

[Phantomas]

Again, where are you going? Nikos mentioned that in Istanbul he now has a guy who will do overnight developing/scanning, so if I was going to Istanbul I would bring film too.
If you shoot him an email very likely Mariana will answer. She doesn't know much about gear, but she's a sweet lady 🙂

 

[photo-xposition]

A friend followed him to Istanbul years ago and we were talking about it the other day, his experience was similar to Phantomas' by the sounds of it. Nice guy, great company for food and drinks, lots of stories from travels and Magnum assignments, into his Leicas and lenses and even open to some gear chat. In terms of photography he seems to be more of a Winogrand kind of teacher, ie not so much a big talker but a hard worker and ruthless self-editor so thats what he preaches to his students (and thats what got him all the way to Magnum). Photo review was more a case of no-no-no-maybe, lets try this crop-no-no-no-no 😛 rather than deep and meaningful analysis. The group at the time was a mixed bag, they had everything from obsessive street shooters to a lady who wanted to learn how to take photos of her home made candles for her website 😀

I'd go if I was on that side of the planet.

As someone who has done no less than 6 workshops with Nikos, I think that dear Spyros, what you are saying is a rather simplistic approach.
Yes, Nikos is a great guy to hung around with, but that is not what is happening in the workshops; only when all the participants decide to go and have dinner together; otherwise you only spend time with him when he reviews the day's work. While reviewing it is not about "no" and "may be", it is also about why no no and what is missing. At the end of the day the purpose of the workshop is to learn which photo works and which does not and why, so you can hopefully edit your own work afterwards. He has nothing against cropping photographs. All he is saying is "do not shoot carelessly" and crop later. If you can frame and compose properly, that's what you should do. In some cases it is necessary to crop and he has no problem with it. The great thing with Nikos is exactly that diversity among the participants. One thing is for sure, I have not met people (on average 8 in each workshop so I guess I have a pretty good sample) who are there accidentally, they know Nikos' work and they are there because they like it. It is amazing to see how people with less photographic experience can produce great work. And this is exactly the EXCELLENT thing. It is easy to make a very good photographer even better, but it is difficult to make someone see, not just look but also see...
Street photography (and its application to documentary) is not something that can be taught, at least not in the strict academic sense of the term. It has to do with a whole lot of different parameters, but the most important thins is that someone is able to SEE (and I do not mean seeing in the "clever" way, look what I saw (photographs of people crossing a zebra crossing wearing a stripped t-shirt or some other rather ridiculous approaches to street photography). Nikos trains you to see and recognize the "photographic event", the real decisive moment if you want, the moment that captures an otherwise insignificant moment of everyday life and elevates into a work of art.

I would highly recommend the "On the Road" workshops both the relatively new but also to the advanced and even professional photographer, and it is not an accident that those who go once keep on going again and again. The workshops are a process. It is up to the participating photographer (and his arrogance) to get the best out of the workshop. I have seen photographers who have come with a simple and uninteresting portfolia, and left with a life changing experience.

On the other hand, 900 euros for a workshop with a MAGNUM photographer, is something that you cannot find everyday.

Ans as the friend above mentioned, you can shoot film (at least in Istanbul). I personally do not understand why you would want to shoot film in a workshop (unless you do not use digital cameras at all), and mind you that I am shooting film too, but I am trying to keep business and pleasure separate 🙂

If you really want an honest opinion about your work, coming of one of the most important photographers of our time, who has developed a personal style and will not try to make you copy it but try to make you find your own style and shoot GOOD photographs, go for it mate and you will not regret it.

😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉