Before/After: Toronto Introduction to Street Photography Workshop 2014

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Student photo by Quoc-Dien Trinh in Toronto

I just finished my Toronto Introduction to Street Photography Workshop with my manager (and fellow co-teacher) Neil Ta. I was amazed by how much the students were able to build their confidence, push outside of their comfort zone, and have huge progress in their photography in such a short weekend! Check out all of their before/after photos below.

If you want to conquer your fears in street photography or take your creativity to the next level, join one of my upcoming street photography workshops!

4 Lessons I’ve Learned from the Magnum Photos Toronto Workshop

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Eric’s Note: This article is written by Neil Ta, my manager and good friend who recently attended a Magnum Photos workshop in Toronto. The project he worked on for the week was “Meat Locker.” Below is his write-up of the experience and the lessons he’s personally learned. You can see upcoming Magnum workshops and events here.

Neil: I recently had the opportunity to attend a Magnum Photos workshop in Toronto as part of the Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival, which is one of the largest of its kind in the world. For the last six years, Contact has invited members of Magnum to run workshops focusing on photojournalism, documentary storytelling, and street photography.

This year’s line-up of instructors included Magnum Associate Moises Saman and Magnum Nominee Zoe Strauss. Moises is most well-known for the work he’s done in Afghanistan and Iraq and his focus more recently has been in documenting the Arab Spring. Zoe’s extensive work is more regionally focused in the community where she was born and raised – Philadelphia.

I ultimately chose to go with Moises over Zoe because I felt his work was a lot different than my own and I hoped he’d be there to guide me through a more photojournalistic project over the week.

Recap of my Toronto Street Photography Workshop

Poutin, Tim Hortons, butter tarts, toonies, loonies, monopoly money, cops on horses, and friendly people– I will miss you Toronto! It was such a huge pleasure everyone in Toronto at my workshop, especially Brian, Tasos, Minsoo, Les, Domenic, Andre, James, Chris, Rockie, Robert, Siri, Neil, Ronnie. Also huge shout-outs to Jenn, Tom, and Andre from 500px!

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect out of Toronto at first, but was so pleasantly surprised of how much fun I had here. Canada, I hope to meet up with you again soon! Read more to see the pictures from the workshop.