Building a Quiet Confidence in Street Photography

Manchester Pride 2025 - © Robert Watson

Building a Quiet Confidence in Street Photography - with Robert John Watson

SATURDAY 21ST FEBRUARY - LOCATION TBC

10:30 AM - 2 PM Approx

£20 plus booking fee

This half day workshop explores street photography beyond technique, focusing on confidence, presence, and intent when working in public spaces. Aimed at photographers with a basic understanding of photography, it looks at how to operate calmly and ethically without bravado or confrontation.

The first part of the session will examine the realities of street practice: building confidence, navigating public interactions, understanding ethics, choosing equipment and settings including lens focal lengths (their strengths and weaknesses), and thinking about reputation, editing, and how work lives beyond social media. Attention will be given to long-term practice rather than chasing individual images.

The second half will involve a guided photowalk, followed by a practical discussion on editing, sequencing, critiquing and recognising what makes an image part of a wider body of work.

This workshop is for photographers interested in developing a thoughtful, sustainable approach to street photography, with an emphasis on clarity, respect, and consistency over time.

As with all workshops booking is essential - BOOKING WILL OPEN 19TH JANUARY 2026

This workshop is for over 18’s only and you need to bring your camera, ideally a DSLR that you know the workings of.

This workshop is subsidised by Derbyshire Makes and during a the workshop a free further opportunity will be announced for all participants.

Robert John Watson is a British photographer with a gift for capturing the unvarnished beauty of everyday life. Armed with his Leica, Watson documents fleeting moments that reveal the raw depth of human emotion and the quiet complexity of urban existence. His work is defined by a rare honesty and a commitment to being exactly where he needs to be when it matters most. He himself says "I am just carrying on the good work that photographers like Garry Winogrand and Robert Frank did. People matter:” Carrie Scott - Art Historian and Curator

Watson works from his studios and darkroom based in the North West of England and is represented in London by Albumen Gallery and in Manchester by Saul Hay Gallery.

www.robertjohnwatson.co.uk

www.derbyshiremakes.co.uk - 6 Hubs of creativity across Derbyshire in Spring 2026