Seven days of street photography, editing and critique with Steve Simon and local Lisbon expert Miguel Helfrich, finishing with the planned Lisbon Street PhotoFest weekend. Six nights in your own private room are included.
Lisbon rewards a little patience. Light moves across a tiled wall. Someone steps out of a doorway, a tram passes, and a scene you thought you understood becomes something else. We’ll give ourselves time to notice those changes and see where they lead.
This September edition combines a week of shooting, editing and honest critique with the wider conversation of the Lisbon Street PhotoFest. The first part of the week is about making photographs and looking carefully at them together. The planned festival weekend brings a chance to encounter other work and return to your own with fresh questions.
With just six photographers, there is room for individual attention and a real exchange of ideas. We’ll work through guided assignments, photograph independently and return to places that hold our interest. The aim is not to collect every view of Lisbon. It’s to build a selection that feels like your experience of the city.
We’ll begin with a pre-workshop online group meeting and lecture. After Lisbon, a group Zoom critique gives you time to revisit your edit and present a more deliberate sequence. The work continues after the bags are unpacked.
September usually holds on to some of summer’s warmth. Lisbon’s long-term averages are around 27°C (80°F) for daytime highs and 18°C (64°F) for overnight lows. Hotter days and rain are possible, so bring light layers, sun protection and a light rain jacket for our time on the streets.
The Lisbon Street Photo Fest is one of the main reasons for scheduling this edition in September. The festival brings photographers together through exhibitions, talks, photowalks and conversations about the work. Our plan is to spend the first part of the week making and editing our own photographs, then join that wider community for the festival weekend. Seeing how others approach the street can give us fresh questions to bring back to our own work. The 2027 festival dates and program are still awaiting public confirmation from the organizer.
We’ll photograph in morning light, late afternoon and after dark, returning to promising places rather than moving on simply to cover more ground. There is time to explore Lisbon’s neighborhoods and develop a body of work.
Weather guide: IPMA’s 1991–2020 Lisbon climate normals, not a forecast for our week. Festival information →
Street photographs from the Lisbon workshop collection. Open any photograph to see the full frame, then use the arrows or swipe to browse.
Photographs ©Steve Simon. Hotel reference photographs are from the original listing.
Squares, tiled streets and the movement of everyday life give us opportunities to work with layers, distance and gesture. We’ll look for positions where people and background come together, then stay alert as the relationships within the frame change.
Narrow streets and changing elevations ask us to pay attention to light, timing and what lies beyond the obvious view. We’ll spend time in promising situations, returning when useful, and look for the small exchanges that make a neighborhood feel lived in.
Cais do Sodré, local markets and the streets after dark bring different rhythms and technical choices. We’ll photograph activity without losing the individual moment, and work with mixed light, movement and the changing atmosphere from late afternoon into evening.
Our plan is to take part in the festival on September 25–26, with a standard pass included in tuition. The 2027 dates and program are awaiting the organizer’s public confirmation. We’ll share the final arrangements when announced, rather than promise particular speakers or activities now.
Portfolio reviews and additional festival workshops are optional, separately booked and paid for through the festival. If you choose a review, our shooting and editing sessions will help you prepare a considered selection to bring with you.
We’ll also make time to discuss what we’re seeing and hearing. A talk, an exhibition or a conversation can shift how you understand your own photographs. That becomes part of the week’s work too.
This is a working plan, not a fixed route. We’ll remain flexible around weather, light, local access and the final festival program. Meeting details and any changes will be shared before the workshop.
We’ll meet online to discuss preparation, your photographic goals, equipment and our approach to the week. Bring your questions so you can arrive ready to work.
Arrive and settle into our Bessa Hotel base. After orientation, we’ll begin photographing in Baixa and Rossio, following the light toward blue hour. Our welcome dinner gives us time to get to know one another.
A morning market session, planned around Feira da Ladra or another local market, is followed by a lecture and critique. Later, we’ll photograph Mouraria and Intendente, with room to work independently in the evening.
We’ll photograph around Cais do Sodré and Time Out Market, make time for editing and follow the late-afternoon light in Alfama. An optional night session in Bairro Alto gives us another way to look at the city.
Alcântara and LX Factory give us opportunities to work with shape, background and graphic structure. Afternoon critique feeds into an evening session in Graça and an independent assignment.
We’ll begin with a local market, then look closely at your edit and sequence. The afternoon gives you time to return to a key location and work more deeply. Any festival opening activities will depend on the final program.
Our plan combines independent project work with festival activities, subject to the announced program. Optional portfolio reviews require separate booking and payment. We’ll gather as a group to compare observations and reflect on the week.
We plan to continue with the festival, with time for events or photowalks as the program allows. The workshop concludes late afternoon. Allow for this when planning your departure, or arrange an extra night separately.
With time to reconsider the photographs, you’ll bring a refined selection to our post-workshop group session. We’ll look at how the work holds together and discuss what you want to pursue next.
This intensive workshop is a chance to develop your own vision and street style through sustained shooting, assignments and thoughtful critique. We’ll work past photographic fears and familiar clichés toward photographs that communicate the energy of the streets, whether through a quiet gesture, an unexpected connection or a decisive moment.
Mostly, though, you’ll be photographing the theatre that is the street: sometimes together, often on your own. All levels of photographic experience are welcome. If you find a place or an idea you want to stay with, you’ll have room to follow it. And we’ll make room for the pleasure of being out there with a camera.
We’ll explore the “rhythm of place” and develop strategies for photographing the daily life unfolding around us. We’ll discuss the laws and ethics of street photography, photographing people respectfully and handling difficult situations that might arise.
Through assignments and time in the field, we’ll work on overcoming shyness, approaching strangers, anticipating moments, framing, juxtaposition and layering compositions. Sometimes the most useful thing is to slow down and let the image come to you. We’ll also consider whether color or black and white best suits your vision and the photographs you’re making.
Lisbon comes alive after dark, with opportunities to photograph both wider city views and the atmosphere of its narrow streets. We’ll explore how artificial light, gesture and movement change the way a photograph feels, with night shoots close to our hotel as well as elsewhere in the itinerary.
You’ll practise shooting handheld at higher ISOs and learn when a small, light travel tripod can help. We’ll work with the night light and street life we find rather than relying on one familiar approach. A tripod is optional, not required.
Steve will share his minimalist approach to equipment and a simplified shooting process designed to help you respond quickly when a moment unfolds. He works with Nikon mirrorless cameras and a carefully chosen selection of lenses, but the workshop welcomes all camera systems, including mirrorless, compact, rangefinder, DSLR and camera-phone photography.
We’ll discuss lenses, autofocus, zone focusing, shooting from the hip, live view and flash, along with practical choices that can make the camera feel less like a barrier between you and the scene. Although our focus is street photography, these lessons carry into other kinds of image-making. In class, we’ll look at a selection of your strongest work from the previous day.
Each lecture will lay the foundation for your daily shoots. Honest, thoughtful critique is central to the workshop. We’ll look closely at one another’s photographs, share ideas and offer constructive suggestions. These discussions take place in a supportive environment where you can ask questions, try something unfamiliar and learn from work that may be very different from your own.
Photography doesn’t end when you press the shutter. In some ways, that’s where the next part begins. Finding a consistent way to manage, edit and revisit the thousands of photographs you make is an essential part of developing your work.
Steve will walk you through his own process of organizing, editing, processing and archiving a large photographic library. Using Lightroom Classic, he’ll show you how he finds the strongest photographs from each shoot, moving from memory cards through backups and long-term storage on drives and in the cloud.
You’ll be encouraged to develop a theme during the week and shape it into a final portfolio. Assignments will push you beyond familiar habits, while daily critiques will help you recognize what’s working and where to take the work next. We’ll consider not only individual photographs but how they work together.
Before we meet in Lisbon, we’ll gather online for a group meeting and lecture, discussing preparation, equipment and your photographic goals. After the workshop, we’ll reconnect on Zoom, where you’ll present a refined sequence of your Lisbon photographs for further discussion and critique.
During the week, we’ll narrow the work into a considered selection before the planned festival weekend. Optional festival portfolio reviews and additional festival workshops are booked and paid for separately.
Plan to arrange your own travel to Lisbon and transportation between the airport and BessaHotel Liberdade. Our workshop runs September 20–26, 2027. Arrival-day meeting details will be shared before the workshop, and we plan to conclude late afternoon on Sunday, September 26. Allow for the final activities when booking your departure.
Our base is near Restauradores Square on Avenida da Liberdade. Much of the workshop takes place on foot. Lisbon is compact, but the itinerary involves a great deal of walking, including hills and uneven streets. Tell us about any mobility concerns before booking so we can discuss the demands of the week.
The schedule balances early and late shoots with daytime lectures, critique and editing. Class times may adjust so we can make the most of the light and shooting opportunities. Miguel brings local knowledge to our days in the field, and scheduled local transportation is included when needed.
September’s route is centered on Lisbon and the planned festival weekend. No Sintra or Cascais excursion is scheduled. Final festival arrangements depend on the organizer’s confirmed 2027 program.
Our home for six nights is BessaHotel Liberdade on Avenida da Liberdade, near Restauradores Square and Lisbon’s street life, cafés and neighborhoods. Your tuition includes a private room from September 20 to September 26 and a daily buffet breakfast.
Having your own room gives you space to rest, catch up on editing and prepare for the next day. The hotel offers complimentary Wi-Fi and in-room safes. Extra nights are separate and subject to availability and confirmed rates; contact us before making arrangements.
Beyond the room, the hotel has an indoor heated pool, a fitness room, a sauna and a Turkish bath, plus a garden terrace with a vertical garden and bar. There are places to unwind, compare notes with fellow photographers or simply take a break from the intensity of the week. Hotel facilities and access remain subject to the hotel’s arrangements.
Food is part of getting to know a place, and we’ll make time to sample Portuguese cooking together. From fresh fish and seafood to local cheeses and the much-loved custard tart, there’s plenty to discover between shoots. Lisbon’s café culture also means good coffee, baked goods and a place to pause are rarely far away.
Daily buffet breakfast, selected lunches and two special group dinners are included. A Fado evening is part of the plan, with final arrangements to be confirmed. Other meals are at your own expense, leaving room to explore independently or join fellow photographers around the table.
Hotel reference photographs from the original listing. Six nights in a private room and daily buffet breakfast are included; extra nights are separate.
Steve Simon is a New York–based Canadian-American documentary and street photographer, educator and the author of five photography books, including The Passionate Photographer, selected as one of Amazon’s Top Ten Art and Photography Books.
He has photographed in more than 40 countries on assignment, with work appearing in publications including The New York Times Magazine, Time, Mother Jones, Le Monde, Colors, Life, Harper’s, Maclean’s and The Walrus.
His photographs have been exhibited in solo shows in New York, Toronto, Montréal and Buenos Aires, and three times at Visa pour l’Image in Perpignan, France. The 9/11 Memorial Museum acquired the complete set of prints from Empty Sky for its permanent collection.
Steve has taught at the International Center of Photography and the School of Visual Arts in New York. His workshops connect practical camera skills with the less predictable work of seeing. He photographs alongside participants, looks closely at their work and helps them become more confident in their own decisions.
Miguel Helfrich is a gifted photographer who has spent a lifetime making photographs. He is our local Lisbon expert and joins Steve in the field throughout the workshop. Steve and Miguel have photographed and scouted the areas in the itinerary, sharing local knowledge, tips and suggested starting points while encouraging you to follow your own interests.
Tuition is $7,400 USD for September 20–26, 2027, in a group limited to six photographers, with instruction and critique from Steve Simon and local field guidance from Miguel Helfrich. It includes six nights in a private room and a standard festival pass. A $500 USD deposit reserves your place and is credited toward the total.
The booking payment is the deposit, not the full workshop tuition.
International airfare, transportation between Lisbon Airport and the hotel, meals not specifically included, optional festival portfolio reviews or additional festival workshops, extra hotel nights, personal expenses, and travel and medical insurance.
The $500 deposit is non-refundable and secures your place in the workshop. If we need to cancel the workshop, your deposit will be refunded.
More than 90 days before the workshop: Payments are refundable, less the non-refundable deposit.
Less than 90 days before the workshop: Payments are refundable only if your place can be filled by another participant.
This policy reflects the fixed, upfront costs involved in reserving accommodations and operating a small-group international workshop. PhotoEducate and The Passionate Photographer Inc. cannot offer refunds or credits for cancellations due to medical issues, travel delays, family emergencies, weather disruptions, or other unforeseen circumstances.
We strongly recommend comprehensive travel insurance that includes trip cancellation and interruption protection, medical coverage while traveling internationally, and coverage for delays, lost luggage and emergency evacuation. Consider the full prepaid cost of the workshop, not simply airfare, and review the policy’s terms, exclusions and limits. Coverage for pre-existing medical conditions depends on the policy and may be time-sensitive.
These comments describe earlier workshops, not the September 2027 festival edition.
If I am honest, I approached this workshop with a combination of excited anticipation and butterfly inducing dread. This is my third Steve Simon workshop; you’d think it would get easier and less stressful. Nope, doesn’t work that way. The excited anticipation is about traveling to new and sometimes exotic locations, seeing old friends from previous workshops, meeting new ones, getting to know Miguel at this particular workshop - enjoying his knowledge of Portugal and his edgy sense of humor - and spending time with and learning from Steve Simon, our dear leader and mentor. The fear is knowing I really have to produce images at the level I know is coming.
Don Dillon, Phoenix, ArizonaRead Don’s full Lisbon experience
In pregame preparation, I spent some time with the photographs I made in Tokyo and Havana as well as the rudimentary attempts of street shooting done in another lifetime. They are like visiting old friends with whom I have shared a powerful, split second human moment. I modestly tell people who see my “keepers” that, “even a blind squirrel gets a nut once in a while” or “ when you take a zillion photos, you’re bound to get a decent one occasionally.”
But truthfully, there is so much more to it. This feels like the semi pro street photographer’s tour. There are years of knowledge and experience mixed with lots of rookie mistakes. For me, what makes this such a powerful experience is I always come away from one of these an incrementally better street photographer with a clearer sense of what and why I am doing this in the first place.
For me fear is the best motivator. If we all were just showing up as a nice group of folks out for some travel and vacation snapshots, I would be bored to death and would never come back. But, our Dear Leader has a very gentle way of throwing down the gauntlet and letting us know we are expected to triple down on the amount of time out on the streets shooting, become fearless in going in for the kill shot, cull and edit when normal people are sleeping and eating, and actually producing images that will be critiqued by some very talented people. As they say, “this ain’t easy.”
Lisbon has been one of those tough venues that from time to time really dislike, especially when getting the 15th brushoff or outright angry rejection. I’m not a hunter but this feels like a hard bow hunt for elusive game. I finally know what I am as a street shooter. I know what I have to do to “bag” the elusive jewel. I know I can’t leave the little black camera in a drawer between workshops anymore; that just won’t cut it.
I got more than what I came for.
“What a fabulous experience. I learned more about photography in one week than I had in 5 years. Steve is very knowledgable about the technical side as well as composition. He is very patient, gives excellent feedback and will work one on one with you on any photography subject you want. I asked him for help on night photography and at 10 PM he was out on the streets of Havana with me with step by step instructions on how to take the shot. 5 star plus rating!!”
Gary Niederpruem, Chicago
“Best workshop I’ve ever taken! Steve is not only a great photographer, he is also a terrific teacher. He is patient and very hands- on. In some workshops the instructor sends students out to shoot after a short lecture–Steve goes out with his students, coaching them throughout the process. His course is well organized and covers diverse topics. He is funny and engaging and generous with his time and knowledge. I had SO MUCH fun and am ready to sign up for the next one. Highly recommended!”
Anna Blanco, New York City
"My week in Steve’s Street Shooting workshop challenged me tremendously. There’s nothing like taking your work apart and putting it back together with new vision to make you a better photographer. If you take this workshop, I guarantee you will see the world differently at the end."
Anne Dunford, Ithaca, New York
"Steve’s passion for photography is contagious and his teaching abilities and knowledge extraordinary! I highly recommend this workshop to anyone interested in photography."
Paul Lavergne, San Juan, PR
“Participating in the NYC Street Photography Workshop was an enriching and exhilarating experience. It challenged me to step out of my comfort zone to improve my skills. Steve’s curriculum and hands on approach offered me an opportunity to learn new techniques, add some creativity and visualize subject matter from another perspective. Each day presented abundant photo opportunities, resulting with the capture of some amazing images, exceeding my greatest expectations.”
Chapman Solomon, Mountain View, CA
"Not only is Steve a great photographer, he is also a caring, compassionate person as well. He is constantly trying to help participants achieve their photographic goals in a gentle, caring, and sincere manner. Sadly, the critiques of my work were very helpful. Steve was right-on in terms of his suggestions to better my work. The totality of the workshop was terrific, primarily because the parts were all excellent as well. Choice of shooting locations, image reviews, suggestions, videos shown, and galleries visited were all great. Steve also promoted wonderful interactions among the participants. The venue was perfect for the workshop. We could spread out, leave your things there, use the facilities, and eat the goodies provided. You know you’re in good hands with Steve! An outstanding workshop!!"
Stephen Sholl, New York City
"This is an outstanding workshop, led by a world-class photographer. It is impossible to spend time in a room with Steve Simon and not be inspired to get out there and make great images …I had high expectations and you exceeded them…Steve is very personable, articulate and passionate about photography, very welcoming with a warm, engaging personality. Steve’s style is outstanding. I knew of Steve from the TWiP podcast and would have attended if he was talking about how to watch paint dry…”
Steve Lavelle, London
"I just spent the last three days with Steve Simon, What a wonderful experience, the best time spent in a workshop ever. Steve is a perfectionist, every presentation not only had spectacular photography but also the perfect music to enhance the mood, a roller coaster of emotions. He cannot hide his journalistic background every single image tells a story. His technique is flawless; his teaching patience unparalleled. I am eager to start a new chapter of my photography applying what Steve taught me in the last few days."
Oscar Piñeyro, Dallas
September 20–26, 2027 · Lisbon · Limited to 6 photographers
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