WORKSHOP DETAIL
I’m inviting you to join Soichi Hayashi and myself Steve Simon for an unforgettable assignment to produce a beautiful and meaningful portfolio of images which will be transformed into a photobook from a week of living and breathing photography in Tokyo, Japan.
This particular workshop week is just after Cherry blossom season, or “sakura,” which holds deep cultural significance in Japan, symbolizing the transient beauty of life. Because Tokyo is so busy flooded with tourists during Sakura, ours will be an ideal time to be in Tokyo.
The Photo Book As Inspiration
We are excited to have commissioned Noriko Kodera, a renowned and talented Photo Editor in Tokyo who has worked for Akaaka Art Publishing, where she directed photo exhibitions and edited photo books. She also works with renowned Japanese photographer Mr. Taiji Matsue on his retrospective at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art. She will be helping us during our workshop.
In our fist collaboration it was thrilling to watch Nori and Soichi work to sequence student books in collaboration with the photographer.
In this masterclass limited to 5 students, we will focus our efforts on a specific set of images made by each participant that highlights their personal take on what they see in Tokyo. By the end of the week we will edit and sequence our work for an end goal: a beautiful 40-page flat-spread photography book designed by one of the leading photo book companies in Japan, which encapsulates our Tokyo experience in a minimum of 20 images (using double-page threads and cover photo) up to 39 images. We will meet online in a pre-workshop Zoom Lecture for introductions and preliminary lecture so we can maximize our shooting time when we arrive on location. There will also be a post workshop Zoom lecture to talk about the workshop and review the work.
The pre-workshop Zoom session insures each student is ready to maximize the shooting part of the workshop when we arrive on location. We will discuss potential themes for the book as well as the history of traditional and contemporary Photobooks to educate and inspire.
On the first days, participants travel together to 6 different and diverse areas of Tokyo where we work out our ideas for coverage: Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shinagawa, Shibuya, Ginza and Kichijoji. Then, once signed off on your project, you work independently in the area or areas that work best for your topic.
We meet everyday in class for critique and on the last day, we cull, edit and sequence our work before handing over to the designer for final layout. We hope to have the finished screenshots of the book layout available before we depart. The book then goes out to the printer and will be shipped to you at home soon after the workshop.
Nori works on sequencing Craig Vought’s book “JL 001”.
Regardless of your photographic experience, the more personal you make the shooting experience the more universal the results will be so passion for photography is the main pre-requisite. But we do ask for your answers to a short questionnaire and a small portfolio of your work for final acceptance into the workshop.
You will be concentrating on creating a cohesive set of images from your time in Japan, with local expert mentorship and inspiration as a guide. We will provide a list of suggested topics for you to percolate on prior to the workshop, but final sign-off on your project will be on Day 3 of the workshop.
We will visit and have a discussion at The Photobook Cafe, a restaurant that contains more than 5,000 Photobooks which we will have access to.
Street Philosophies
Steve and Soichi will be teaching you new and powerful street photography techniques guaranteed to push you from your comfort zone to new heights in your work and share their street-shooting philosophies gleaned from a lifetime of wandering urban places, camera in hand.
This intensive workshop will help you find your own unique vision and street style through assignments created to get you past photographic fears and cliches to capturing lyrical, poetic and decisive moments that communicate the energy of the streets. But mostly you will be shooting the theatre that is the street; sometimes together, often on your own.
You’ll learn about the “rhythm of place” and we will discuss the laws and ethics of street photography as well as dealing with difficult situations that might pop up. We will help define a strategy for capturing the rich daily life in Japan; overcoming fears and shyness, approaching strangers, framing, juxtaposition, layering your compositions, letting the image come to you and whether color or black and white best suits your vision. And you will have fun!
VENUES
Our Base: Shinjuku—one of the most populated and diverse downtowns in all of Tokyo, with endless photo opportunities 24-7 and home for many of Tokyo best new and used camera shops.
One of the biggest of the downtown districts, Shinjuku is well known for its neon lights and active night life, as well as the many scenes from the film Lost in Translation. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the busiest railway station in the world, Shinjuku Station. The area surrounding the station is a major economic hub of Tokyo with many companies choosing this district for their head offices.
Our base hotel in Tokyo: Century Southern Tower; 2-2-1 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku 151-8583 Tokyo Japan Phone +81 3 5354 0111
The Century Southern Tower is a large-scale hotel, with direct bus limousine service from both Haneda and Narita airports. Located in the middle of all the Shinjuku action, we can expect amazing night cityscapes and everyday photo-ops in this part of Tokyo which never sleeps.
We have secured Scenic King rooms with an amazing breakfast buffet served every morning in this beautiful hotel.
A great breakfast buffet…
Lounge
View from 20th floor…
The tuition cost covers the entire week of mentorship, luxury accommodation and breakfast, two special dinners and a Suica Card for transportation around Tokyo via trains and subways. Fights are not included. There are cheaper options available in Shujuku close to the Century Hotel and our meeting place for longer stays and we can make arrangements for you additional room nights if you want to get to Tokyo early or stay later. Click here for some alternate accommodation suggestions.
Itinerary
We are working out our final itinerary but here’s a brief description of what to expect. We will have a welcome dinner and a final dinner as well as two lunches included.
June 1 Day 1
Meet at 10am in the Century Hotel Lobby. We will do our meet and greet and immediately start our scouting, visiting at least three different locations.
June 2 Day 2
This will be a big scouting day, visiting multiple locations in Tokyo and working out ideas for our project. There won’t be a class on this day.
Shooting Days, Day 3: June 3, Day 4: June 4, Day 5: June 5
These will be intensive shooting days, where we work on our agreed upon projects. Each of these days we will gather in class for a lecture, critique and discussion, likely in the early afternoon—allowing you to take advantage of the best morning and afternoon/night light.
June 6 Day 6
This is a big editing day. We will be in class most of the afternoon. We will have a deadline for our selects so can make small prints to use in our editing and sequencing discussion. In the afternoon we put together our final sequence. Then we will sleep on it.
June 7 Day 7
Our final class in the morning is to tweak and lock-in our final selection for the book and do one final class shooting trip.
This is an An Intensive & Transformational Shooting Experience with Steve Simon & Soichi Hayashi.
- Dates: June 1-7, 2025
- Genre: Street-Urban-Travel-Photobook Photography
- Group Size: Max. 5
- Skill Levels: Passionate Photographers
- Includes: Tuition, Luxury Accommodation at the Century Tower Hotel in Tokyo (Shinjuku) with breakfasts; Local Transportation, Welcome and final dinners and a final personalized photo book
This intimate and comprehensive 7-day masterclass will take you to some of the most picturesque and exciting locations on and off the beaten path in Tokyo. We focus on creating a specific set of images by each participant to transform in collaboration with our book designer into an edited and sequenced 40 page photography book.
Steve & Soichi have carved out an amazing itinerary designed to give you a great and comprehensive portfolio of images alongside unforgettable authentic Japanese experiences and a final photo book.
To book, click HERE
