Lisbon Experience Photography Workshop
Documentary, Street & Travel Photography with Daniel Rodrigues World Press Photo Award Winner
Documentary, Street & Travel Photography with Daniel Rodrigues World Press Photo Award Winner
This four-day Lisbon photography workshop is designed for photographers who want to develop a documentary and street photography approach in one of the most visually intense cities in the world
Lisbon is a city of layered histories, changing light, and slow, unfolding rhythms. It is a place where the Atlantic meets the hills, where old structures and contemporary life overlap constantly, and where human presence reveals itself in subtle but meaningful ways.
This workshop is designed for photographers who already have experience and want to deepen their ability to observe, interpret, and build coherent documentary narratives grounded in authenticity and intention. It is not a beginner class, and it is not a tour. It is a focused learning process built around real situations and everyday life.
Led by documentary photographer Daniel Rodrigues, this four-day intensive programme combines fieldwork, editing, close individual guidance, and critical discussion. The focus is not on photographing landmarks, but on learning how to read the city as a living environment, understanding its light, its pace, and its human presence.
The Lisbon workshop has two editions in 2026.
April 2 to April 5 and October 8 to October 11.
Both editions run over four full days and are limited to a small group to ensure close guidance and meaningful development.
Maximum: 8 participants
Minimum: 5 participants
Duration: 4 intensive days
Fee: 650€ per participant
One edition available:
Workshop taught entirely in English
Why Lisbon?
Lisbon is one of Europe’s most rewarding cities for street and documentary photography. The light is constantly shifting, soft in the morning, sharp at noon, and golden at the end of the day. The neighbourhoods each carry their own visual language: Alfama’s narrow alleys, Mouraria’s multicultural energy, Baixa’s geometric order, Cais do Sodré’s movement, and the riverfront’s open, reflective spaces.
Lisbon is not about spectacle. It is about atmosphere, gesture, routine and the quiet complexity of everyday life. Working here is an exercise in precision, patience and sensitivity.
This workshop is ideal for photographers who want to develop:
• a refined understanding of natural light
• the ability to work in slow and fast visual environments
• human approach skills grounded in respect and awareness
• narrative sensibility in contemporary urban spaces
• a documentary mindset applied to daily life
Lisbon teaches you to observe more deeply and to photograph with clarity and intention.
What you will learn in this workshop
• A 25% deposit is required to secure a place
• Remaining 75% due up to 30 days before the workshop
• Minimum of 5 confirmed participants
• Maximum group size: 8
Lisbon workshops fill quickly due to the strong visual environment and limited number of places.
Registration
Fee per participant: 650€
Includes:
• Four full days of guided work
• Theory, field practice and editing sessions
• Individual and group feedback
• Pre-workshop support (equipment, preparation, recommended locations)
Does not include:
• transport
• accommodation
• meals
• insurance
• local expenses
Price & Conditions
1) Light as a central element of storytelling
Lisbon is known for its unique light, reflective, directional and often dramatic.
You will learn to:
• use Lisbon’s changing light as a structural element
• expose deliberately in high contrast situations
• recognise transitions between warm and cool atmospheres
• use shadows, reflections and gradients to support narrative meaning
2) Composition in layered, slow-moving environments
Lisbon offers a different rhythm from Marrakech, for example. It is slower, more observational, and more reliant on anticipation.
You will work on:
• identifying visual patterns
• reading the city’s layers and spatial geometry
• composing within movement that unfolds gradually
• building frames with strong foreground background relations
3) Human approach with cultural sensitivity
Lisbon’s diversity, from traditional neighbourhoods to contemporary areas, requires a thoughtful and respectful approach.
You will learn how to:
• approach people openly and ethically
• work in multicultural contexts
• recognise when a moment is appropriate to photograph
• create trust through presence and awareness
4) Documentary storytelling in a European capital
The goal is not to photograph clichés or postcards.
It is to build a personal documentary perspective on the city.
You will explore:
• daily routines and local rhythms
• interactions shaped by contemporary Lisbon
• contrasts between tradition and modernity
• micro stories and quiet transitions
• the relationship between people, space and light
3) Human approach with cultural sensitivity
Lisbon’s diversity, from traditional neighbourhoods to contemporary areas, requires a thoughtful and respectful approach.
You will learn how to:
• approach people openly and ethically
• work in multicultural contexts
• recognise when a moment is appropriate to photograph
• create trust through presence and awareness
4) Documentary storytelling in a European capital
The goal is not to photograph clichés or postcards.
It is to build a personal documentary perspective on the city.
You will explore:
• daily routines and local rhythms
• interactions shaped by contemporary Lisbon
• contrasts between tradition and modernity
• micro stories and quiet transitions
• the relationship between people, space and light
Four-day Programme
Mornings
• Short theoretical sessions
• Reference studies from classical and contemporary documentary work
• Planning and preparation for fieldwork
• Ethical and narrative orientation
Afternoons
• Fieldwork in Alfama, Mouraria, Baixa, Chiado, Cais do Sodré, Belém and other neighbourhoods
• Close guidance during shooting
• Observation exercises and individual challenges
Late afternoons / Evenings
• Editing sessions
• Rigorous selection and sequencing
• Group critique
• Construction of each participant’s final narrative
Late afternoons / Evenings
• Editing sessions
• Rigorous selection and sequencing
• Group critique
• Construction of each participant’s final narrative
Late afternoons / Evenings
• Editing sessions
• Rigorous selection and sequencing
• Group critique
• Construction of each participant’s final narrative
Late afternoons / Evenings
• Editing sessions
• Rigorous selection and sequencing
• Group critique
• Construction of each participant’s final narrative
Price & Conditions
Price & Conditions
Fee per participant: 650€
Includes:
• Four full days of guided work
• Theory, field practice and editing sessions
• Individual and group feedback
• Pre-workshop support (equipment, preparation, recommended locations)
Does not include:
• transport
• accommodation
• meals
• insurance
• local expenses
• A 25% deposit is required to secure a place
• Remaining 75% due up to 30 days before the workshop
• Minimum of 5 confirmed participants
• Maximum group size: 8
Lisbon workshops fill quickly due to the strong visual environment and limited number of places.
• A 25% deposit is required to secure a place
• Remaining 75% due up to 30 days before the workshop
• Minimum of 5 confirmed participants
• Maximum group size: 8
Lisbon workshops fill quickly due to the strong visual environment and limited number of places.
About Daniel Rodrigues
About Daniel Rodrigues
Daniel Rodrigues is a photojournalist and documentary photographer. He won the World Press Photo in 2013, has been a regular contributor to The New York Times for over a decade and has worked in more than thirty countries, from conflict zones to isolated communities, major cities and everyday stories.
In these workshops, Daniel shares not only technical knowledge but also the way he thinks, observes, prepares and engages with people, constructing narratives that make sense to him and to the editors he works with.
Lisbon · April 2–5, 2026 · Limited to 8 participants