Flash Photography with Nikita Teryoshin: "
" 3-Day Workshop
Reportage Workshop: Valais Fighting Cows
In this workshop, you’ll delve into the world of Valais fighting cows—a tradition that is not without controversy, straddling the line between archaic ritual, rural identity, and public spectacle. Together, we’ll explore this topic using the tools of street and documentary photography, employing the flash not as an effect but as a deliberate means of intensifying, emphasizing, and visually communicating the subject.
This workshop offers you the opportunity to work alongside internationally acclaimed photographer Nikita Teryoshin and gain deep insight into his precise, focused approach. The focus is on how to use flash and composition strategically to bring order to visual chaos, create hierarchies within the image, and highlight what is essential—without losing the documentary quality of the work.
The workshop begins with a theoretical segment featuring real-world examples: visual strategies in street and documentary photography, the deliberate use of proximity and distance, and an introduction to working with flash in various lighting situations. This is complemented by a portfolio review with personalized feedback.
During the practical session on the second day, we’ll head to Sion in the Valais—the site of the cow-fighting festival—and focus on the preparations, encounters, fights, and the audience. Under often uncontrollable conditions, we’ll learn to sharpen our eye for the “imperfect moment”—for moments that are raw, contradictory, and narratively powerful.
At the end of the course, the resulting work will be reviewed, discussed, and edited as a group. The focus will not only be on individual strong images, but also on image selection, sequencing, and the structure of a coherent photographic documentation.
Who is this workshop for?
The workshop is designed for photographers who want to deepen their documentary work, reflect on their use of flash, and learn how to visually convey complex topics clearly and independently.
Here's what you need to bring
Camera, a flash with sufficient power (at least the size of a hot-shoe flash with a guide number of 60m at ISO 100, or 76 watts), and (if possible) a transmitter, plus enough batteries. Laptop for image editing. If available, a printed portfolio (approx. 15–20 images) from a series; a digital version is also welcome.
Program
Friday, May 8, 2026, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. | Theory & Portfolio Review in Olten
Saturday, May 9, 2026, all day | Field trip to Sion
Sunday, May 10, 2026, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. | Editing, image review in Olten
Lunch and train tickets are not included
COURSE INSTRUCTOR Nikita Teryoshin
LANGUAGE D
PRICE CHF 990.00
NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: MIN. 6 - MAX. 12