– German Version – 

Milan, or Milano as it is called in Italian, is one of the most modern and affluent cities in Italy, filled with fashionable people, design aspects everywhere, architectural highlights, vibrant street life, and lots of cosmopolitan energy. In Milano you dive into the observing mode with American photographer John McDermott, who has been visiting this northern Italian city regularly for over thirty years.

Milano combines history, fashion, and constant urban movement. It works so well for street photography because it offers strong architecture, fashionable people, varied neighborhoods, excellent urban light, and constant street life.

No matter what time of the year, you can always feel the fashion capital energy with its stylish locals and bold outfits and trends.

In terms of lines, forms, shapes, and shadow, the city offers arcades and colonnades, narrow historic streets with dramatic light/shadow, and large piazzas where light changes throughout the day. Places like the Brera District and Navigli District are famous for their textures, reflections, and depth.

Milano is a fast-paced working city with no lack of espresso bars, outdoor seating, social life, street performers, yellow trams, markets, and elegant locals walking small dogs or reading newspapers.

Speaking fluent Italian, John approaches people to capture their stories and faces in photographs. Roaming a city to observe, SEE, and capture human life in a vibrant city with its own culture is one of his passions, which he will share with you on your photographic journey through Milano.

Would you like to boost your confidence in street photography? Have you often found yourself in interesting places with your camera, seeing moments and scenes you’d love to capture – but didn’t have the courage to do so?

The beauty of Street Photography is that on the street, everything is real, unfiltered, unscripted. You can focus on raw, authentic moments capturing the human condition. The best street photos are not taken with expensive equipment, but with the courage to get closer. The real distance you have to overcome is not between you and your subject, it’s in your head.

John helps participants build more confidence in their photography and learn how to interact more easily with people on the streets. You’ll learn to overcome your fear of approaching people and photographing them. You’ll practice honing your awareness of the moments and situations unfolding around you in Milan.

Throughout the workshop, you’ll work under John McDermott’s guidance the entire time, and you’ll also have short periods to explore the streets on your own or with your colleagues. There will be time for image editing and feedback sessions. Constructive feedback based on the photos participants take during the day will take place one-on-one with John, as well as in group settings so that everyone can learn from one another.

In the evenings, we’ll dine together at select restaurants we’ve personally tested, and we’ll talk not only about photography but also about whatever moves us.

John McDermott is an Irish-American photographer working worldwide who has photographed assignments in more than forty countries and at ten Olympic Games and eight FIFA World Cups during his 40-year career for international editorial, corporate and advertising clients.

Earlier brief careers as a soccer player, naval officer, and journalist led to his excellent ability to lead and motivate people and a passion that continues today to photograph sports, industry, urban landscapes, and portraits. In recent years, he has developed a deep passion for street photography and for capturing the daily lives of people from different cultures.

John is internationally known for his portrait and documentary work and for his sports photography. He has photographed major corporate executives, authors, artists and athletes, as well as everyday people, for a range of corporate and editorial clients. His subjects have included people like Steve Jobs, Queen Elizabeth II, Steffi Graf, Run DMC and David Beckham.

John says of his work that it is broadly diverse and that he is always looking, always seeking visual order in a complicated world.

Website John McDermott

On the first day, we start in the late afternoon with meet-and-greet, introduction, briefing, preparation, and dinner together.

The first three days are planned to include visits to various neighborhoods in Milan, during which the group will work on assignments with guidance from John McDermott. We’ll also incorporate a few experiences, encounters, and ideally a photo exhibition. In between, there will also be time to explore the streets on your own with your camera. More detailed and additional program items are still being planned.

In the evenings, we’ll go out to eat together at selected restaurants we’ve tried ourselves (at your own expense) and discuss the day’s results and experiences, as well as whatever else is on our minds.

PRICE: €1,495

Included in the price:

• 24/7 support from John McDermott and Claudia Brose
• Daily photography program
• Feedback sessions and individual critique sessions with John

Not included in the price:
Hotel, meals, travel to and from the event, and transportation between the airport/train station and the hotel

Number of participants: max. 6

I’d love to get to know you, so I prefer that you register personally via email rather than filling out an anonymous registration form.

To REGISTER for the MILAN workshop, please send an email to claudia (at) if-academy (dot) net

With the subject line: Milan Workshop Registration

And include the following information:

• Name
• Address
• Phone number
• Email

A deposit for the registration fee is due upon booking. We will send an invoice (via email) with the deposit amount (€200) and the bank data.

The written registration becomes valid upon receipt of the deposit in our account.
General payment information  >>> Payment information and cancellation policy
The cancellation policy applies as stated >>> Cancellation policy