Where the Sea Knocks at the Door

On Milos, I would like us to begin with a window. Outside, the brightness of the Aegean; inside, a face, a wall, a little shade. We will have three days in the house, six photographers and three models, to discover how much can happen within that simple relationship.

A house becomes more generous when we give it time. We recognise the hour when a room feels right, find a quiet place to make a portrait, and return to a photograph that stayed in our thoughts overnight. Working in small groups lets everyone follow an idea without hurrying towards somebody else’s result.

The models will help shape those ideas. A turn of the head, the way a hand comes to rest, a movement that was never planned: these are decisions we make together. I want there to be room for conversation and trust, so that each photograph can grow out of the encounter rather than an instruction mechanically carried out.

Meet the Model is a gathering for people who want to make photographs in good company. There is no course to complete and no scheduled programme of tuition. We share the pleasure of working, the freedom to experiment and the small discoveries that become possible when we stay in the same place for several days.

I will be alongside you throughout. If you need help with an image, a lighting decision or an unfamiliar piece of equipment, ask me. I will happily offer a suggestion or a short practical explanation, entirely free of charge. Sometimes a few minutes spent trying something together are enough to open a different possibility.

The houses are reserved for our photographic production. Because reserving the location is a cost we would incur in any case, accommodation within the property is offered without an additional charge. You may stay with the group or choose your own arrangements; the participation fee is unchanged. The lodging accompanies our time making photographs together.

We will also make time for the food of the island and the pleasure of sitting at the same table. I like the moment when cameras are put down and people begin to tell their own stories. Meals are included in the participation fee; beverages are paid for individually.

On Milos, in Greece, houses have blue gardens and small stairways that brush the water. Milos has turned its syrmata — once fishing villages — into magical places where time is measured only by the sound of the sea. Spending a few days photographing here means living in contact with the blue of the Aegean: in the morning, dipping your feet in the water before you've even had your coffee; in the evening, falling asleep to the rhythm of the waves.

Imagine opening your eyes at dawn with the sea a step from your bed. The water laps silently at the walls of your room, the sun brushes the doors painted cobalt blue and sage green. Everything is in dialogue with the landscape, and the air smells of salt and wild oregano: the lime-washed walls, the olive-wood beams, the Cycladic ceramics. This is the reality of the syrmata, carved into the volcanic rock.

In the western Cyclades, shaped by fire and by the caress of the Aegean, Milos still guards a thousand secrets of a land that was once the centre of the world. It was here that the famous Venus (now in the Louvre) was discovered in 1820, but the true essence of the island beats around the life of the sea, around fishing, and around these shelters turned into small houses where one can lose oneself and forget the passing of time.

Every detail tells the story of these houses: the stone steps worn by the footsteps of generations of fishermen, the nets spread out in the sun, the octopuses hanging like paintings outside the tavernas.

Mandrakia, Klima, Firopotamos

Mandrakia, a geometry of colour on the sea. An amphitheatre of white houses and pastel-toned syrmata is mirrored in a small circular harbour. In Mandrakia, drowsy cats will welcome you while the scent of grilled octopus fills the air. Stone stairways lead down to the water, ideal for a swim on days without the Meltemi. Stop at the Medusa taverna to taste fresh fish served with a view of the limestone cliffs.

Klima: flowering romance on the bay. A few steps from the Roman Theatre and the Catacombs, Klima is a ribbon of coloured houses — pink, yellow, blue — that brush the sea. Once boat shelters, today they are bohemian suites with private terraces. At sunset the façades light up in warm tones, creating a natural set. The only sound is the lapping of the water beneath your room.

Over many years of working as a photographer, and of running both a photographic studio and an equipment-hire service, I came to understand what photographers truly hope to find when they arrive on a set. Not simply more equipment, but the freedom to make an image without being stopped by the absence of the right tool.

This is what London Photographic Workshop places at your disposal: a rare, complete photographic production, brought together in one place and made available to you for the duration of the event. It is the kind of equipment most photographers encounter only in fragments, over many years, and which would cost a considerable sum to hire for a three-day production.

You will be able to work with HASSELBLAD X2D II cameras and a selection of HASSELBLAD lenses; SUNBOUNCE natural-light systems, including reflectors, screens, Sun-Swatter and Sun-Cage; PROFOTO, BRONCOLOR and BOWENS studio flash; professional battery-powered PROFOTO flash, with a complete selection of modifiers; LEE Filters and professional matte boxes; MANFROTTO photographic tripods; and MATTHEWS grip equipment.

This is not equipment assembled for display. It is a working set of serious tools: the cameras, light, modifiers and support systems that allow an idea to become a photograph when the moment arrives.

Respect is part of the photographic language, not an administrative footnote. All models and participants must be eighteen or older. The models determine their individual nudity and posing boundaries. Consent is specific, ongoing and may be withdrawn at any time. No participant may touch a model without explicit permission. No phones, spectators or behind-the-scenes recording on closed sets.

Images may not be published, exhibited, sold or submitted to competitions outside the agreed model-release terms. No generative-AI training or synthetic alteration of a model’s body or identity. A private changing and resting area must always be available. Models receive proper breaks, meals, accommodation and transport support.

Alcohol is served only after photography has finished for the day. Before each session, the artistic director holds a short consent check-in covering wardrobe, nudity level, location, participating photographers and intended images.