Developing A Visual Narrative in Street Photography with Ed Kashi

Transcending the Documentary Approach

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GOAL

* Learn and practice street photography techniques: find the right composition and light, choose appropriately gear and camera settings
* Identify the strong points of your creative approach in street photography, enhance them and stick to it
* Frame the moment: how to make sure you spot the right moment in a street scene, become invisible
* Master portraiture in the urban landscape
* Develop a narrative through the editing process and create a meaningful photographic series of the daily life in Amsterdam

AUDIENCE

Professional photographers, advanced amateurs, journalists.

BIOGRAPHY

”I TAKE ON ISSUES that stir my passions about the state of humanity and our world, and I deeply believe in the power of still images to change people’s minds. I’m driven by this fact; that the work of photojournalists and documentary photographers can have a positive impact on the world. The access people give to their lives is precious as well as imperative for this important work to get done. Their openness brings with it a tremendous sense of responsibility to tell the truth but to also honor their stories.”

Ed Kashi is a photojournalist, filmmaker, speaker, and educator dedicated to documenting the social and political issues that define our times. He has covered topics as diverse as the impact of the oil industry in Nigeria, the protestant community in Northern Ireland, the lives of Jewish settlers in the West Bank, conflicts between the Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq, the impact of early onset Alzheimer’s, climate change, the plight of Syrian refugees, and the relationship between sugar cane and Chronic Kidney Disease in Nicaragua. A sensitive eye and an intimate relationship to his subjects are signatures of his work. A member of VII Photo Agency since 2010, Kashi has been recognized for his complex imagery and its compelling rendering of the human condition.

His early adoption of hybrid visual storytelling has produced a number of influential short films and most recently earned recognition by the POYi Awards as 2015’s Multimedia Photographer of the Year. Kashi’s full embrace of technology has led to creative social media projects for a range of clients including National Geographic, Open Society Foundations, The New Yorker, MSNBC, GEO Germany, Fortune, Human Rights Watch, International Medical Corps, MediaStorm, NBC.com, New York Times Magazine, Oxfam, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and TIME magazine. From implementing a unique approach to photography and filmmaking in his 2006 Iraqi Kurdistan Flipbook, to real-time Instagram coverage of Hurricane Sandy for TIME Magazine in 2012, Kashi continues to create compelling imagery and engage with the world in new ways. His newest film, Too Hot To Work, which appeared in Time magazine to coincide with the World Cup in Qatar in November 2022, just won a prestigious POYi Documentary Project of the Year award.

A leading voice in the photojournalism world, Kashi frequently lectures on a wide range of topics for arts institutions, universities, schools and professional organizations. His work has been published and exhibited worldwide, receiving numerous awards and honors. Through his editorial assignments and personal projects Kashi has published eight books, including Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta, THREE, and Photojournalisms.

In 2002, Kashi in partnership with his wife, writer + filmmaker Julie Winokur, founded Talking Eyes Media. The non-profit company has produced numerous award-winning short films, exhibits, books, and multimedia pieces that explore significant social issues. They are currently engaged in a 3-year storytelling project with Rutgers University in Newark focused on immigration.

“Ed Kashi is intelligent, brave and compassionate. He always understands the nuances of his subjects. He fearlessly goes where few would venture. And he sympathetically captures the soul of each situation. Ed is one of the best of a new breed of photojournalistic artists.” David Griffin, Visuals Editor, The Washington Post

“Anyone serious about learning visual storytelling has already or should be willing to take a workshop with Ed Kashi. He is the ultimate reference for being inspired, learning best practices and evolving into today’s fast changing professional world.

In addition to being a great master in the field of photojournalism, he is a wonderful human being and that this profession is a vocation and way of life for him, to care about others who need help, to help make things change for the better. Those are not words in vain for Ed Kashi.

You only need to have a look at workshop participants testimonies to understand there will be a profound before and after from the workshop. He reaches out to each one’s own sensibility in order to get the most out of them.” Véronique Sutra, Founder & CEO, Eyes in Progress

Ed Kashi is a member of VII agency. www.edkashi.com.

If you want to be kept informed about Ed Kashi, you can follow him or Eyes in Progress on Instagram and check on the stories.

Program

« « [... ] Adults bring more neuroses, habits, and fears, along with their more developed talent and purpose. They are hampered, in a way, by their photographic baggage, their professional dreams, or their desire to emulate or outdo other people’s photographs. For these reasons my adult students are as much in need of guidance as the kids, but in certain ways they also present a greater opportunity for growth. [... ] If I know an adult photo student wants to make photography their profession, then I’ll take a more critical approach to their images and I try to get them to express their intentions so they become clearer and stronger about why they want to do this. [... ] The amateur who just wants to improve their photography requires a different approach. To me it’s important to help them grow while also preserving their love and joy for the craft. We all know people who are wonderful in some art form yet drop it because they lose the joy when they realize they’re “not good enough” to “make it” professionally. In fact, many very talented people just don’t have the stomach to handle the pressures, rejection, and bullshit involved with being a professional in something that is so personal and subjective. » Ed Kashi (from RESOLVE, collaborative online community )

This will be a hands on workshop with shooting sessions, individual assignments, daily group discussion and editing sessions.

You’ll be expected to fully immerse yourself, take risks and push your boundaries in order to move forward into another level in your photography..

Day 1
10 am - 1 pm
Portfolios reviews and projects definition
Each participant will introduce himself and tell his/her expectations for the workshop. Participants will receive and in-depth critique of their work and their approach which will also be used as a jumping board for workshop assignments. The work shown does not necessarily have to be about street photography.

2.30 pm - 4.30 pm
Masterclass – Projections
Ed Kashi will spend time talking about his work and the different photojournalism projects he has worked on, he’ll also focus on his street photography pictures and how they were made. He will share his photographic references with the group and discuss the challenges of being a working photographer. He will also talk about what distinguishes documentary and street photography and how he is able to reconcile both disciplines in a project.
Ed Kashi will project and comment a selection of his street photography pictures which will be used as a jumping board for the first assignment.

4.30 pm - 5.30 pm
Shooting sessions - First assignment
With the advice of Ed Kashi:
* Each participant selects one of his pictures which inspires him the most and goes out to try and make his/her own version of it, not necessarily the same but his/her interpretation of it.
* Participants decide the gear they’ll use and camera settings.

From 5.30 pm
Shooting sessions - First assignment
Participants go out and shoot as a group with Ed Kashi in a specific neighborhood which will be discussed beforehand.

Day 2
 9.30 am to 11.30 am
Participants show from 2 to 4 images they shot the evening before and receive feedbacks, recommendations/advices to improve. They discuss with Ed Kashi on adjustments to be made to their approach.

11.30 am - 3.30 pm
Participants go out and shoot their project. Before that, they will define together with Ed Kashi their shooting locations in Amsterdam (ideally they choose a specific neighborhood). Eyes in Progress team will help on how to get there.

3.30 pm - 6.30 pm
Back at the studio
Through the selection and discussion of the best images of the day, the participants will work towards developing their own street photographic style and hopefully, see their overall approach improve.

Day 3
9.30 am - 11.30 am
Masterclass – Projections
Ed Kashi will give a lecture on mastering portraiture in the urban landscape and the legal and ethical constraints of shooting in the street.

11.30 am - 3.30 pm
Shooting sessions
Participants go out and shoot as a group with Ed Kashi in a specific neighborhood which will be discussed beforehand.

Small assignments for the last day
According to identified strong and weak points for each participant, Ed Kashi will give a small shooting assignment for the following morning.

Day 4
9.30 am - 11.30 am
Shooting sessions - Last assignment
Participants go out and shoot their last assignment.

11.30 am - 1 pm
Participants work on their final edit and if needed post-production. They then give a selection of up to 25 images to Eyes in Progress for printing.

2.30 pm to 4.30 pm
Final portfolio editing
Small prints are laid down on a table (10×15 format). The final editing and sequence is made during a one-to-one session with Ed Kashi, the other participants are encouraged to attend the sessions of the others.

4.30 pm - 6 pm
Participants are then to write a personal statement on the work which will be send to the mentor of their choice.

Teaching language: English.

Previous Workshops

Daily life in the village of Bonsaaso, Ghana on Oct. 4, 2015. © Ed Kashi/VII photo

2022

2021

2019

2018

Oct 25 - Oct 28, 2023
4 days in Amsterdam - 1550 €

Early Bird 1450 €
before Jun. 20th

DONE

PARTICIPANTS’
WORKS

Conditions

- Only 9 students will be admitted for each session. Students will be granted admission to the workshop based on a review of a selection of 10 of their photographs.

- The 1.550€ fee does not include transport, accommodation nor on the ground expenses. For participants coming from outside the European Union, please be aware that there is a bank fee when making the payments via bank transfer. In order to avoid them, you can use alternative systems such as Transferwise.

- In order to confirm your application, an advance payment of €100 is advised. Once the application is completed, we will send an email via PayZen to the participant in order to settle the payment. If the candidate is accepted, this amount will be deducted from the overall cost of the workshop.

- In case the participation is not confirmed, he will get a full pay back of the 100€ fee.

- If accepted, the participant will receive a course contract confirming the success of his application by email.

- To confirm registration, the participant must return this contract to us, signed, within ten days, along with payment of 30% of the cost of the workshop. The participant will also receive an invoice.

- The rest of the fee must be paid by the first day of the workshop at the latest.

- A dossier in order to get prepared for the workshop will be sent to the participant at least two weeks before the workshop begins.

- If you're willing to participate in more than one workshop, we do offer a 10% discount on the following workshops' price.

Pre-requisite

- Successful candidates will be expected to arrive comfortable with their equipment and ready to photograph.

- Participants working digitally should bring their own laptops, and everything needed for digital editing.

- Participants are required to find their own accommodation in Amsterdam.

Education material

- Projector and screen

- A printing service for the last day' working prints is included in the workshop's price.

A technical assistant will be present during the workshop.

After the workshop

- The portfolios produced by each participant will be published on the site of Eyes in Progress.

- Mentors are photography experts such as a photo editors, journalists, creative directors, gallery curators, then will then critique these portfolios. The review, if written, will be published on the participant's page on Eyes in Progress.

- Video interviews in which the students discuss their work, their motivation as photographers, as well as what they learned during the workshop will also be posted on the site. In case the participant is not willing to have his video online, we won't publish it, however, we do encourage to record the video anyways as a practical exercise on how to orally express himself as a photographer.

- Social media modules will be available in order to share the page with friends and contacts.

- Each participant will be awarded a certificate of completion of the course.

- The participants will be required to evaluate the workshop when it has been completed, to show their level of overall satisfaction and the extent of their acquisition of new skills. These evaluations will help us to improve our workshops.

- If the participant is not willing to have his profile online (portfolio, review, video), we will of course respect his decision and will not publish it.

Deadlines

- Applications will be reviewed and validated at reception by Eyes in Progress.

- Applications will be open until Septembre 25th 2023.

- Eyes in Progress reserves the right to cancel groups with less than 7 participants. Participants will be given either a full refund or offered a place with an alternative photographer. In the event of a cancellation, participants will be given at least 3 weeks advance notice. Eyes in Progress reserves the right to change or alter the program advertised.

- If a participant decides to cancel for whatever reason, this must be confirmed in writing:

. Eyes in Progress will reimburse all the registration costs except for the €100 administrative fee, if the participant informs Eyes in Progress of cancellation at least 3 weeks before the first day of the workshop. Beyond this time limit, Eyes in Progress will charge the following:

. 50% of the cost if cancelled between 6 and 20 days before the workshop commences.

. 100% of the cost if cancelled less than 5 days before the workshop commences.

. All workshops that are commenced but not completed through the fault of the participant need to be paid in full.

- Eyes in Progress is not responsible for reimbursement of travel expenses in case a workshop is cancelled. We recommend that you buy refundable air tickets and/or travel insurance.

SPECIAL NEED ACCESS

Eyes in Progress is committed to using all possible means to enable beneficiaries with disabilities to participate in the workshops. For this, the director of Eyes in Progress will assess all required adaptations and implement them.