VII Workshops

Hi Altaf
I’ve looked into a few of these workshops and they all seem to be around the same price. A lot of it has to do with overheads I think – they’re usually small groups in expensive foreign destinations with a number of tutors and photojournalists flown in, and the price usually includes pretty nice accommodation, so if you do the maths the overheads are high and I don’t imagine there’s much actual profit margin. I think mainly though they are targeted at more affluent amateurs who spend a fortune on camera gear but don’t know how to take a decent image, so although many photojournos would benefit from them as well, we usually can’t afford it!
You could check out WorkShopAsia, they offer free or heavily subsidised places on their workshops to local photojournalists in whichever country their workshop is in, and they also hold discounted workshops for fledgling photojournalists and students, at least they had one in Bangkok last year that was about $700 but still had some great visiting tutors.

Dear Altaf.

Dude, “is it ok?” what kind of question is that? Anyway i’ll try to explain how we arrive at these fees.

If you look carefully at the website you will see that unlike most workshops we include the hotel accomodation, food and most of the things that at other workshops are hidden extras, we are upfront about the costs of our workshops. In Indian economic terms this fee is huge, thats true, but we do not operate in the Indian economy, we incur our expenses in a US and European economy and we fly people in from far and have a team of people manageing these events, they all have to be paid in New York or Paris, not Delhi or Srinagar.

I think you may misunderstand the motivation behind these workshops, they are not part of a charitable outreach programme, we do other things for that.

That said at the last Kashmir workshop I invited one of your colleagues, the wonderful Javeed Shah to join the workshop for free, which is usually what I do to help local photographers whom I respect hugely, especially in Kashmir. I think you will find that other woskhops like Jack Picones do the same thing, its how we give something back. The same will happen during this workshop.

One of the ways I and others help photographers from less healthy economies is with initiatives like the Angkor Photo Festival. We have raised corporate sponsorship money, spent our own money and volunteered a great deal of our time to run free workshops specifically to help photographers from all over Asia benefit from our experience in the world of photojournalism and all for no fee. I think about 40 people have passed through our hands so far from India, Indonesia, the Phillipinnes and Burma to name but a few countries. This year we anticipate being able to provide another 30-40 places. The URL is www.angkorphotofestival.com and I suggest you go and take a look – you are welcome to apply for a place and please let all your colleagues in Kashmir know about it.

VII does a lot of outreach and charatable work, I think you will find much more than most other agencies of our scale but we have to make a living to, our workshops and seminars are part of that process and they are done to a very high standard and we think they are good value and very beneficial for the participants and frankly – we enjoy doing them. If the feedback we got was negative we would not do them – there are much easier ways of making a living!

Best wishes

Gary

Hi Penelope,

“targeted at more affluent amateurs who spend a fortune on camera gear but don’t know how to take a decent image”

I think thats a pretty wild assumption on your part, not to mention innaccurate and insulting to the people who come to workshops and run them. I cannot speak for others who run workshops but lot of my students are highly competent professional photographers, some from the corporate or advertising world who come to learn something different, some are journalists from other disciplines and some are succesful working photojournalists already. All of the students are very very smart. I can count on one hand those who don;’t know how to make a decent image.

I know there is a tendancy to write before you think on Lighstalkers but its a public space and its always good to be measured and considerate.

All bests

Gary

Hi Gary,

Thank you very much for clearing my doubts. I appreciate your contribution to the field of photojournalism.

One things is for sure that if a workshop is done in any foreign land like Kashmir, where the value of Dollar or Euro is huge, the local students/photogs, who do not stay with your team in any hotel or something else, should be charged likewise. I hope I make some sense here.

It is good to know that you respect local photographers in Kashmir. I hope u’ll continue to invite local photographers for free to your workshops in every part of the world not only in Kashmir.

I once again would request you to reserve some seats for local photographers in your workshops who wont be able to pay in thousands of dollars.

Regards
altaf

Fine Gary, I stand corrected. Keep your hair on. I certainly didn’t mean to insult the people who come on your workshops, anymore than I meant to insult “affluent amateurs” (I’m sure many of them are “very very smart” too, and would readily admit they would benefit from tuition from professionals. Are you saying that dedicated amateurs don’t have a place on such workshops?)

Personally I would love to join one of these workshops at some point, but there is a bit of a catch-22 here, because you DO have to be earning good money already (there may be a lot included in the price, but there are also other costs such as the flights) and if you exist on an unpredictable cash flow like I do, and like a lot of freelancers, it can be hard to find that amount all at once. That’s all I was trying to say, I don’t think it qualifies as such as outlandishly rash and thoughtless comment as you seem to imply. Certainly not one that’s inappropriate for a public space.

Anyway, I have no doubt that these kind of workshops are a wonderful investment in any photograher’s career, and wish you all the best.

Penny

I have attended two workshops with Gary and, as I already stated in a previous post, yes, they are not cheap, but worth every penny. Usually you pay for what you get. I never heard about somebody who participated in a Vii workshop regretting it. And yes, I am one of those few affluent amateurs whose success in my own job allows me to pay….so what? Now I take decent pictures :-)
I think that in these events there is more than the food, accommodation and tuition that you pay for. To me the human dimension (the people that you meet, that you share experiences and advises with, etc…) has an equal value.

Might all be happy ;-), Giulio

Dear Penelope,

Please don’t get me wrong, I am not unsympathetic. When I was strating out there were no workshops outside the USA and they were as unobtainable as these may seem to be.

There are many more now than there were and I know that those run by photographers like Jack Picone and VII are always trying to find ways to help people who cannot afford to come, I spoke about some of those initiatives earlier. One thing that you may want to think about if you want to do a workshop is that there are a number of grants I have heard of in europe – but have never personally investigated – that are available for people to undertake vocational training. I know some students of mine from Scandinavia have used them.

Some of my students have also been able to ameliorate the costs of the workshop by selling the photo essay they produce on the workshop afterwards – I always do them in places where there are good stories to tell.

Some students try to find stories close by before or after the workshop so that they can spread the cost of the expense around. Bottom line it’s not cheap, thats for sure, but if the workshop is good it should be worth the cost and with enough planning you should be able to defray those costs somehow.

Best wishes

Gary

see you in august Gary…

hhmm

I attended the Siem Reap, Cambodia workshop in 2005 and it was worth every penny. Gary’s a natural teacher and he seems to genuily enjoy helping people develop themselves as a photographer both creativley and a from a business/career standpoint. In addition to Gary’s help you meet an ecclectic group of photographers from all around the world each bringing unique experiences and talents, many of which are still dear freinds of mine. I’d agree with Gary about staying after the workshop to continue your story if time permits. You can find a cheap and safe guesthouse under $10 USD per day and transportation and food are also very cheap. With the one on one help, the wonderful friends you’ll meet, and just the overall cultural know how of working in a place like Cambodia I feel the workshop is easily worth the price.
Enjoy!!!
-Justin

from the sounds of it $2800 is pretty reasonable for what you get included in the deal. especially if you live in the uk with the current exhange rate.

i’m not affluent. shit i’m a student (not living off my parents) and i work part time in a record store and i have basic equipment. i’d rather pay £1500 and work with a group of kick arse photojournalists than buy an overpriced lens or somehing that i’ll probably regret for the rest of my life because i have to pick half eaten kfc and out of bins in order get through the days. I’m considering forking out the money to do the cambodia course. and i’m sure it’ll be worth every penny.

The VII London seminar was brilliant

Gary knight was the f@£king Don!!

nice work.

Dan G

As an ex-academic, I can tell you that the fees for this thing are really not high at all, particularly given Gary’s breakdown. Lecture fees for Academic stars are usually much higher than this, and all you get is a lecture — the workshop offers much more.

That said, the economics do present a problem since there will always be good students who cannot afford the fee, but I imagine there might be a way to create a kind of scholarship fund for a few lucky individuals who would be awarded a free spot as a result of their merit.

I have been toying with the idea of having some kind of school or facility here in St Domingo that could bring together the likes of Gary Knight and talented people from the barrios — this is a great area to do some shooting and visiting pros would surely appreciate the chance to kick back a bit with some very appreciative students. I gave a lecture and slideshow just a while back and the response was just great.

dear jon

I am hoping to do something along these lines in the favellas in Rio later this year or early next year. These kinds of programmes are very rewarding and the amongst the highlights of my year, i love them.

drop me a private mail about St Domingo

bests

Gary

As someone who was fortunate enough to attend Gary and Alex’s workshop in Israel in 2005, all the comments on this thread discounting the validity of the costs of their workshop(s) are, as Gary said, are inaccurate. In my experience, as well as a few of the others who attended the Israel workshop, we found some creative ways to attend however we could. In my case it was using my airline miles, travelling from San Francisco to Tel Aviv with multiple layovers taking a total of three days, and living cheaply with two other roommates once we all arrived. The group I was with thankfully were cooperative with one another, and once the selection of students was finalized, we immediately got on email to see how we could share costs and make it work for all of us, from sharing rooms to coordinating flight schedules so we could split transportation to and from the airport.

As a freelancer myself, it wasn’t easy gathering up the costs for this particular workshop—even though it was the cheapest VII offered. That said though, Fiona and everyone who had a hand in organizing the workshop gave us ample time and multiple opportunities to pay the fees over an extended period of time in installments.

Once we got there everything that was included, in my mind, added up to WAY more than the cost of the workshop. Gary and Alex’s expertise and views on my work and the way I worked completely changed the way I shoot and think about stories, even my approach to the commercial work that I’m lucky enough to do. The opportunity to work side by side with world class photojournalists such as them, and to be able to hold a public and private forum with them over the course of eight days is far beyond any money one would have to pay for admission.

I think the one thing that we forget is that they too are freelancers—dare i say even to a point, business people—who, just like us, have to use their talents and ideas to assist in providing for their families, roofs over their heads, etc.

In the end, most of the students, in my experience were working photographers looking to take their work to another level, in hopes of reaching further goals. To say that these workshops were attended by affluent folks who don’t know how to make a picture is quite insulting and its basis unfounded. Bottom line, if you really have the desire to make it to one of these workshops, then get creative and find ways to get yourself there. Good luck.

Hi all,

If we go only by Pound sterling, US dollar or Euros then the price offered by VII is very reasonable, Had I been a US or UK citizen i wud have loved to attend every workshop held by Gary, but every wish can’t be fulfiled…

Everyone here seems to talk only in terms of dollars but if we see it in global currency xchange then i m sure each one of us here will agree that for example $1000 for a US citizen is around 45000 rupees in Indian currency, which is a lot for a budding or even a professional photographer.

What my aim behind starting this topic was to come to a consensus about if the price cant be lowered but there should be some sort of scholarship (as Jon Anderson in the above thread suggested) or reserved seats for local couple of photographers who are talented but cannot pay as much as $2500.

I am in the process of trying to arrange something with a group of esteemed photojournalists at a level of cost that is hopefully more attainable, as well as providing scholarships, etc. I understand the need to create an income and to provide a high level experience; I also feel like, in the right place and with the right participants, something could be arranged that would work for both those who can afford more and those who can’t. I have quite a bit of experience in event organization and in international trip guiding, and feel like I can help organize such an event
(or series of events). I dont need to make an income off of these, just cover my travel expenses; costs would go straight to covering costs for attending pros, lodging, etc.
Locations are still being looked at; however, Im thinking somewhere in Latin America or in the United States would be most likely. Something that can be replicated elsewhere, and that draws on a variety of photojournlaists from across a large spectrum. Something with a grassroots feel, home grown.
Would anyone be interested in a workshop of this sort ? Sort of a combination workshop-cum- seminar-cum- festival grassroots thing. A Mix of Festival of the Photograph, the VII Seminar, VII workshops, Perpignan, and a Phish concert, if you get my drift. IS this worth my time to set up- any LSers interested ?

guys; the value of a work shop should be determined not just by the economics. those are important, but you must assess where you are in your work, your career and your growth aspirations. workshops can make a huge difference and they can also be a waste of time. more often than not that depends on the individual attending. traveled all the way from stockholm, sweden to fulton, missouri to attend the missouri photo workshop and it was one of the best $2000 investment i ever made in my career. not only did it explain to me what professional photographer work was (hard work, hard work, hard work, focus, focus, focus, determination, determination, determination), how professionals worked, what the level of demands of the best photo editors were, but it also introduced me to people who have since stayed in touch and played major parts in getting me started. we invest thousands in cool cameras. we never question this, though i think that that is where we should really save our cash. i mean, as cool as the Canon Mark III is, damn if you can convince me that that is what is really needed to get the news story of the day. in this day and age we invest perhaps in excess of $5000 or even more to hang these electronic fashion statements around our neck. $2500 spent on a powerful workshop is a far better investment if yo are open minded and determined to grow as a professional. i am selling some equipment as i speak to help me get to some workshops in the future :) asim

Altaf – I have to jump in. Gary said in his original post to you that there will be a place or a couple of places reserved for local photographers

“That said at the last Kashmir workshop I invited one of your colleagues, the wonderful Javeed Shah to join the workshop for free, which is usually what I do to help local photographers whom I respect hugely, especially in Kashmir. I think you will find that other woskhops like Jack Picones do the same thing, its how we give something back. The same will happen during this workshop.”

As I past participant of two of Gary’s workshops I can only chime in and say that Gary’s/the VII workshops are worth every single dollar. It has already been mentioned here that the workshop fees include a lot of the other costs such as accommodation, meals, etc. so the actual fee for the tuition is essentially quite reasonable.

In particular, if you consider that in these workshops you get to hang out for a week with some of the best photojournalists in the industry, with a wealth of experience that these guys not only share in the one to one sessions but also over the week in the course of many social occasions and conversations. You get to live and breathe photography over a week with first-class photojournalists who run and are members of one of the most cutting edge photo agency (as evidenced by the attendance and programme of the recent VII seminar in London).

In that sense, the tuition fee is actually very reasonable and a worthwhile investment in your own development as a photojournalist.

And on a personal level, I believe that I picked up some valuable tools in these workshops that helped me to change my career and to get into photojournalism college.

Dear Altaf

Please at least visit www.angkorphotofestival.com.

No-one is obliged to set up scholarships or fund photographers to do workshops – all these outreach programmes are run by photographers who also have a living to make and children to feed, in really expensive places to live – no-one lends us a hand like the one you are asking for. Please bear that in mind.

At Angkor we have made it easy for you. It was established precisely as an outreach programme for photographers from Asian countries by a group of people who have a very strong affinity for Asia and with young photographers and have volunteered to give something back. Last year we had Philip Jones Griffiths, Antoine d’Agata, Patrick de Normont, Roland Neveau teaching and a whole host of friends like Bruno Stevens, Vincent Soyez and Laurent Zylberman ready to lend a hand. This year I think we will have the same crew and possibly Eugene Richards and Stephen DuPont as well…… and its free.

best wishes

Gary

Here’s my 2-cents ;)). As one who railed (totally railed) against that extreme $600 portfolio review thingy in Soho a month back, I think the members are going to be surprised by my input.

I think a seminar like VII’s (expensive as it is) IS ABSOLUTELY the kind of investment a young photographer would do well (and i encourage them) to attend (if they can afford it) to pursue. I find VII’s workshop akin to going to school for photography. Why? It’s not just because the workshops are conducted by extraordinary and committed (great) photographers (all of whom I respect and admire, even when we disagree polemnically or aesthetically), but more importantly VII has continued to use their workshops for REAL insight and discussion and input for your photographers. In many sense, I suspect that attendee’s learn more with the time they spend with the VII crew then they would in a year listening to some prof or retired photog or whatever. I would accept the cost of going to this kind of workshop, ‘cause it seems to me (from what i’ve been told or heard from people who’ve managed to attend) that they not only felt inspired and enpowered, but felt they receive REAL and INSIGHTFUL help on their work and the mechanics of working and thinking about work. This, deep personal insight, is what is often sadly missing from most of things like this…a grist mill of competition and depersonalization.

That said, the real “workshop” comes from doing and doing and doing and thinking and failing and recovering and talking and sharing with friends and colleagues. VII aint necessary to become a good photog, but if it seems “exhorbitant” I would say its more about an investment, not some weekend retreat.

Even more importantly to me, as I once tried to argue in that post attacking Nachtwey, that VII and their members continually, continually give back…only they’re not so public about it, but trust me, they do and i know of people and organizations who’ve benefited…

okay: public disclaimer: I AM IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH VII (and im kissing no one’s butt) ;)))))))))))))…..

accept this: vii gals and guys contribute to the FOB projection in charlottesville if you can, join the visual train :))) (gary’s story on the train hospital is beautiful and important)

cheers y’all

old man black
bob

Altaf, I went to your website and saw your work and judging from what i see you’d be over qualified for the VII workshop anyway. Of course there’s no limit to knowledge and for those who have the extra cash to spend on, go right ahead. Keep up the good work, by the way.

Dear Gary,

Thanks a lot for the link..

altaf

Altaf, I went to your website and saw your work and judging from what i see you’d be over qualified for the VII workshop anyway. Of course there’s no limit to knowledge and for those who have the extra cash to spend on, go right ahead. Keep up the good work, by the way.

Dear Skiranprasad, i didnt mind whatever ppl write here. I believe in freedom of expression. They have their own constraints and I have my own. Maybe they can never imagine how huge money $2500 is in terms of Rupees. One can build a modest one storey house in India with that much of amount of money. So it depends how you take it.

I cannot force anybody to introduce free workshop or reserve seats for people who come from developing countries like India or Bangladesh. I know many budding but talented photogs over here who might need a lil support from guys like Gary.. but its their luck to be born in country like India.

Altaf,
have you looked at the grant and awards resources on LS or elsewhere? I’m sure you can find something that would bring one of the VII workshops within reach (or a new house if you prefer), assuming you can get selected of course…
One of the joys of the internet is how easy it is to search for that kind of thing.
Of course one of the downsides of the internet is people trotting out their ill informed opinions.
‘keep you hair on’, come on Penelope, Gary’s response was pretty restrained considering. First line on the VII workshop webpage says for ‘professional photographers and committed amateur photographers’. Seems pretty clear to me, even without the effort of dropping Gary or Fiona a line to clarify.
No doubt there is the occasional misfit attendee, but my experience was that it did exactly what it says on the tin, a mixture of professionals and amateurs. One of whom won the Sante Fe centre for contemporary arts annual emerging photographers award with his pictures from the workshop.
As already posted, you get out what you put in is a truism for many things, workshops and research included

quick note as in midst of exams….these workshops are brilliant, i was also in the 2005 Jerusalem VII workshop with gary and alexandra.

I chose stories I wanted to work on before hand and not only sold the photo essay to various publications after, but stumbled upon another story that become a long term project. I more than made my money back for the workshop, met some amazing photographers who are close friends now, and got insight and banter from the amazing gary and alexandra who continue to offer me advice.

however, as a poor freelancer, i understand the financial woe of start up. are you familiar with WWW.AL-LIQUINDOI.COM with jessica murray? her workshops are out of this world and she offers them at subsidized prices….I did one of hers in the mountains of northwestern spain with antonin kratchovil that blew my mind for only 200 euros. check her website out, she goes everywhere.

let me add my voice to the chorus…i joined a VII workshop in bali with john stanmeyer and gary knight…and it was the best investment i could’ve made. both john and gary were superlative professionals…tough editors and tough reviewers… generous with their advice, help and guidance, and they are genuinely nice people to boot. john had also invited a couple of deserving Indonesian photographers to join the workshop for free…most of the rest of the participants were either pros or students.

i had attended a couple of non-VII workshops, but that workshop with gary and john was really head and shoulders above the rest.

I only did the Jerusalem workshop in 2005, and it was amazing. Gary and Alexandra both have unique styles of teaching and editing and thaught me a lot about my own work, which I still use now. And they keep giving advice when you ask for them, which to me is very unique. They do this because they love it, because they want to help starting photographers with the knowlege they have built up over years of experience in the field. And that alone is worth the money.
On top of that, they had a lot of guests in the evening working in Israel. From Heidi Levine, Alex Levac, David Allen Harvey to the Jerusalem APcrew, they all came round, gave slideshows and talked about their work and experiences.

I used the workshop as a starting point for a personal project, to research and begin the project. Sort of testing the waters, getting to know the environment and setting up contacts. Which to me is just as valuable right now.

I also shared a little studio with two of my fellow students to cut down on costs over there, and this was all to do with the great VII team (thanks Fiona) who put me in contact with them and helped me find a place to stay that was affordable.

It was one of the best experiences in my life. I met some amazing people, some of them have become very close friends of mine.
If you can find the money somehow to do one of the workshops, it’ll be one of the best investments you can make for yourself and your photography.

gary’s 2005 workshop in cambodia completely changed the way i see. even though i mostly shoot weddings now, i wouldn’t be the same person without that week. it has been the single most important thing i have ever done for my career.

Workshops will stick with you for the rest of your life. They can be life changing. You don’t learn so much about the photographer teaching as you learn about yourself. If you’ve had what you consider a highly successful workshop you should think about a second workshop a couple of years later. It is a chance to revisit with your teacher(s) after a couple of years with your new work and a chance to fine tune how you feel about yourself. I know that you may have had a tough time doing just the one workshop (financially) but consider the followup. You may surprise yourself and actually get more out of the second one.

Re: Overqualified. I would think that no one is so qualified that they can’t learn more, improve, discover – workshops are great in that you are challenged to push past your limits, your “comfort zone” by working with mentors and other photographers. I think that Drik through http://www.pathshala.net/ give scholarships/awards, and they do workshops with WPP and seminars, have heard a lot of very good things about them.

Altaf,

I’d like to respond to Kemal’s post and compliment you on your own work, I hope to be attending the forthcoming workshop in Siem Reap, and am not only greatful for the opportunity but also ‘lucky’ to be able to afford the experience-but I run free workshops here based on my knowledge of social photography to children in my local community. Your work is excellent, and the awards and recognition you’ve recieved should give you the confidence to run your own workshops, its suprising the satisfaction you can get from not only attending other peoples workshops but also having people hang off your every word and listening and learning from the direction you give at your own workshops. Keep up the excellent work.

As i mentioned in my earlier post, if you can afford it you should go for it but in Altaf’s case he can’t afford to attend a VII workshop and judging from his work and achievement so far, he’ll do just fine without having to attend one and in fact should probably, like Jason said, run his own workshop for others in his country who can’t afford to attend such workshops. On the other hand if there are opportunities to attend a free or more affordable workshops that are available for financially less fortunate photographers like Altaf, myself included, he or she should jump at it. There are many ways for one to learn and grow as photographers and attending a workshop is one but not the only way.

Sorry guys I was out yesterday and cudnt reply.
Kemal, thanks a lot for appreciating my work but I completely agree with Angela as well when she says that “no one is so qualified that they can’t learn more, improve, discover – workshops are great in that you are challenged to push past your limits, your “comfort zone” by working with mentors and other photographers.” Hence my search for affordable workshop will go on. As far as jason’s suggestion is concerned it is really a good thing to start a workshop I believe that one should have a prior experience for such things and its not necessary that a good shooter can be a good teacher as well and vice versa..

Altaf, you should contact Maarten Koets or Evelien Kunst of World Press Photo. I’ll PM you their e-mail addresses. They have a series of free workshops in different countries annually for talented young photojournalist. If you are under 30 years old you can also apply for the free workshop at Angkor Photo Festival as suggested by Gary (www.angkorphotofestival.com). You should also contact Jack Picone who also provide free workshops for talented young Photojournalist in Asia (www.workshopasia.org). Good luck!

Thanks Kemal. I wont be eligible for Angkor photo festival coz i have already crossed 30.

Altaf, VII is a business and these workshops are definitely for-profit. While I can see Gary became slightly defensive on this subject, there are a lot of photographers out there who will pay huge sums to spend a few days with a well-known photojournalist. Many other photographers do similar workshops that cash in on their reputation and charge just as much. Steve McCurry probably charges more to take people to the Pushkar Camel Fair. Hopefully people get their money’s worth out of it but fee is obviously based on what people will pay- whether they be young photojournalists or wealthy hobbyists. Glad to hear that many people enjoyed previous workshops.

To all who want to join a workshop with VII,

I did a workshop with Gary in May 2005 in France and it was great.
After the workshop my wallet was empty, but my head was full with a new fresh look at the world around me and how to photograph that.
The people you meet on a workshop are very inspiring and some of them become friends. So I would say go for it if you have the resources for it.

Thanks again to Gary and Jerome Delay.

Cheers and all the best to everyone,

Hes Mundt

Hi all,

I just want to share my experience with Pathashala (www.pathshala.net) – South Asian Institute of Photography based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. I am the first batch student in 1998. We had workshop with Eva Leitof (Germany )Reza Degathi(National Geographic Photographer), Chris Boot, Robert Pledge(President, Contact Press Images), Nicole Robbers (Photo Editor, NRC Handelsblad, Netherlands, Divid H. Wells (USA), David Bathgate (Germany), Raghu Rai (India, Magnum Photos), Mark Sealy (Authograph), Neil Bergess (NB Pictures), Morten Krogvold (Norway), Amy Pereira-Fears (Photo Editor, Newsweek), Pedro Meyer (Zonezero), Barbara Stauss (Photo Editor, Mare Magazine, Germany), Jack Picone (http://www.workshopasia.org ), Witold J Krassowsky (Poland), Pablo Bartholomew (India) Trent Parke (Magnum Photos) and many others (Sorry not to mention all the names) over the years. And it was only possible because of Shahidul Alam ( Director, Drik Picture Library, www.shahidul.wordpress.com) and Bangladeshi photographic community with the help of many others like the World Press Photo, Thomson Foundation, different embassies in Bangladesh, many many committed friends. We all made this possible without costs of a single dollar from the participants!!

I think it was possible to do more than 100 workshops including seminars, guest lectures because of the commitment of all the visiting photographers, Photo editors and others. They have the commitment to do something for the photographers in Bangladesh. Today we have two master class winners National Geographic all roads winner, World press photo winner, Mother Jones award winner from the students.

We made this possible and will make this possible of course with dollars but not from the participants pocket! We should understand the economic divide between a western and majority world because the world is an unequal place with unfair dealings where most of the cases power dominates and rule over the weak.

We also organize a photo festival called Chobimela (http://www.chobimela.org/). Please have a look and I welcome you all to participate in the coming event in 2008.

Abir Abdullah
On behalf of the Bangladeshi Photographic Community

Dear Altaf

If you want to participate in the VII workshop in Kashmir drop Fiona a line. Consider this an invitation.

Bests

Gary

Dear Gary,

I am extremely gratful to you for providing me a chance to participate in your Kashmir workshop. I had registered myself for the said workshop through ur website. But I was supposed to confirm the registration by paying $1000 which I was not in a position to pay. I will surely write to Fiona very soon.

Thanx again
altaf

I am going away for a while so will bow out of this now, thanks and best wishes, Gary

Go for it Altaf…! You’ll never regret it, I know…..

Well done Gary…..

Steve, I am sure no one will regret joining VII workshop.

Altaf, full report after you attend the workshop please! :) we would love to hear about your experience with Gary..

Siddharth, we have got so many people here who have shared their experiences with Gary. And I am sure my experience wont be different. I would love to share my experiences with you guys…

I extend my gratitude to Abir for his note.

Kemal, I was all excited about your information until I read you have to be Asian.

Are there are free workshops for poor, young, half-Danish/half Caribbean photojournalists?

Altaf, please return with a 200-300 word essay…

….with pictures, of course. ;)

Dear Gary ,
I very much appreciate your gesture of inviting Altaf to the workshop, but to me that would not an ideal end to a very very meaningful discussion that was going on .( and I hope Altaf agrees with me on that ).. I am also concerned for the other photogs
( including me) in India and the rest of this part of the world who would not be as fortunate enough as Altaf and who may never get an opportunity and privilege of the expert coaching of the respected VII photographers and others. As I understand the gist of the discussion above essentially was not that "Is a VII workshop worth $2500 " ( or more), we all know and as many have testified above that Of course it is !! and I very much agree to that , but the real concern is that “Can We have a VII workshop for far less then $2500 in India " without compromising too much and I think if we put our resources and the Will and determination together it just maybe possible .
As photographers I am sure that we all have clients who are not in a position to pay as much as maybe a TIME or a Newsweek pays , but we somehow manage to accommodate and fit them somewhere in our working schedule , I would very much like to see this happening with the VII workshops also to fit in the not so well off students and to me the solution lies as much as with Gary or Eugene as it lies with the local photogs to come forward and arrange things .It is but fair to volunteer yourself first and then ask Maybe the esteemed VII photographers/others to help by having concessional rates for a workshop for photographers in Asia.So my question to Gary Knight is that for the sake of the not so well off photogs in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc would You and VII be concerned enough to have a discounted Workshop Here ?, or would that remain outside the range of the business radar of VII .I would very much want to volunteer all my resources for this to happen . I hope that becomes a reality soon and Abir Abdullah’s PATHSHALA example above does give me some hope.

We are discussing the possibility of something in India next year so more on that later. now I really have to go, thanks. Gary

Congratulations Altaf – your work is incredible and looking forward to seeing/reading your experiences, amazing offer from Gary and it won’t cost you a house. Just wanted to add, using the Indian price of a house analogy matching the fee for participation – I don’t know many people who could afford $ 50,000 for a workshop which is the price of a v.v.cheap house here, not to forget travel etc., and it’s great that nationals from poorer countries are getting a chance to hone their skills and become known, (esp. as many of these workshops are in their countries) will be a good thing for world view, coverage of news and documentaries which are often seen from an outsider’s viewpoint, while the locals work as fixers/translators instead of the photojournalists that they are, same goes for here too on some level. Mustafah there are quite a few institutions in Denmark that offer assistance for young photographers who are Danish, (for some reason those Northern countries have more money avaialable for such things, I researched there a lot for grants) half might qualify and also here for so called “minorities” , next time you’re in New York, and by the way congrats on the New York piece you did, go to the New York Foundation Center, also look up En Foco.

Dear Subhash, Yes, Pathshala started with the big help of Shahidul Alam and his very very extensive international networks in a broken room in 1998. But gradually it has a good reputition now although we aren’t that big. For me it is interesting that I am one of the tutor now. Shahidul’s one of the intention was to make also good local teacher because it is not always possible to invite a foreign photographer/teacher not because of expenses but also the time factor. And the master photographers are travelling so fast in the corners of the world…

I think for us in the majority world, we will have to find out our own ways to create a platform of using our own resources, we will have use our regional talents as teachers. And it’ s very true that a good photographer may not be a good teacher. And a good teacher may not be a good photographer. But I strongly beleive that if some organization in India start to find out the talents, it will be solved. May be not within a day but in years.

What I also feel to be independent in our own. I never disagree of the help of our committed western organizationas and friends but we have to find our way out.

Dear Abir , I cannot agree with you more.Thanks to people with vision like Shahidul , we In India (and of course the rest of the world) have an example to follow. Sure “Local problems call for Local solutions” and also as you rightly pointed out the committed western friends (and major organizations who have major things at stake here) have also a big role to play,I hope they are as concerned and motivated as Gary is and wake up to the need sooner then later.

Altaf,

Enjoy the workshop. But hey you got some very nice work on the site.

Cheers

Amit

Dear Subhash,

Yesterday Abir and me had a quite long discussion about starting some sort of platform for young talented photogs of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc under the patronage of Shahidul Alam.
Subhash, in India we have big names like “Padam Shree awardee” Raghu Rai, plz tell me what has he given to indian photojournalism although he is known as the father of Indian photojournalism. God helps those who help themselves, unless we stand and unite to form a group nothing is goin to help. How many times will we ask VII or any other agency to do workshops here.
I am ready to do whatever I can for the betterment of photojournalism in India, Pak and B’desh.
Abir, I will be writting to Shahid-ul-alam soon… I hope we will be able to do something very soon.

While this is sort of off-topic, it is in a similar vein: affording the best photography workshops, especially for students, beginning pros, and photojournalists in economies with less powerful currencies. While not in India (not this one, anyway, maybe in the future…) I am in the process of setting up a week long workshop in Mexico City, likely in early 2008. While I wont name names while the details are being worked out, I have had an overwhelmingly positive response from a good number of highly talented pros who are willing to teach at the workshop for the covering of their expenses only. After running budget numbers, this will bring down the cost of the workshop considerably. It will also allow us to offer scholarships to several attendees, and highly reduced tuition to Latin American photojournalists. For those in North America, flying to DF is fairly cheap, and we are working in a workshop cost that includes food, lodging, in country transport, tuition, and fixers. (we are looking at between 5 to 10 instructors, and lots of one on one, individual work and attention, slide shows, loads of field work, etc.)
I am hoping to find out who would be interested in attending such a workshop, focusing on photo-j and photographic storytelling; inclsuive costs (minus airfare) between $1000-1500 MAX, hopefully less. PM me or post if you’d like more info.