WELCOME!
New York and Tokyo are our favorite cities on earth for street photography, and we will be back once again in 2025!
In each workshop, we’ll help you grow your street photography skills — and have a blast doing it. We’ll delve into the history of street photography; go broad and deep on gear choices and techniques including how to approach people on the street; teach you how to expose and compose effectively; go through multiple rounds of constructive critique in a uniquely supportive way; perhaps even challenge you on the meaning of your work to help you hone or find your unique artistic “voice.”
Most importantly of all? We’ll get you out on some of the world’s greatest streets with like-minded photographers!
AGENDA
In New York, it’s three full days starting first thing in the morning (after a reasonable breakfast, of course). In Tokyo, it’s four days, but we’ll begin and end with half day sessions to accommodate the greater number of time zones many of our attendees travel to get there. We hold a group dinner after the second full day.
In either case, you can anticipate anywhere between 3 and 7 miles of walking each day (a function of our start and end times, as well as weather and group preferences). A detailed agenda will be supplied approximately two weeks before each workshop starts. Please consider all of our materials (including the agenda) proprietary and do not share.
Beyond our official hours, we will also - depending again on weather and the demeanor of the group — offer optional shooting sessions before and after these hours in order to take advantage of the light.
You can anticipate homework (OMG!), specifically around curation and editing.
You will want a decent-sized laptop or tablet and editing software for that homework, and we encourage you to set up an Instagram account if you do not already have one. We’ll tell you more about that once you arrive.
SPACE IS LIMITED, SO PLEASE DO ACT EARLY. WE LIMIT OUR WORKSHOPS TO TEN SEATS,
NB: our workshops are dedicated to the amateur spirit, whether you are an enthusiast or professional. We do, however, expect everyone to be proficient with their equipment, from cameras and computers to editing software and the basics of social media. If you’re not there yet, get cracking! These workshops are too fast-paced to allow for individual instruction in the basics. If you have questions, or need a little help ahead of time, please contact us at hugh@3bmep.com.
Please make sure you’ve read our sections on pricing, payment and cancellation policies. By registering to attend any of our workshops, you are agreeing to these terms. Nothing onerous (golden rule stuff), but important nonetheless!
11/28/25 UPDATE: The Prince Kitano New York is currently offering a “Winter on Park Avenue” promotional rate which includes either American or Japanese breakfast and is refundable until shortly before arrival - you may want to grab it while you can (we did!) by going directly to their website (https://kitano.princehotels.com/). It does NOT show up under “Promotions,” but instead when booking look at the bottom lower right for each type of room and click on “View More Promotions.”
Please make sure you’ve read our sections on pricing, payment and cancellation policies. By registering to attend any of our workshops, you are agreeing to these terms. Nothing onerous (golden rule stuff), but important nonetheless!
11/28/24 UPDATE: once you’ve registered for our Tokyo workshop, please email us and we will give you the details for how to access our group rate!
TESTIMONIALS
““Hugh and Claudia’s workshops are special. They will help you discover your unique perspective on the world versus teaching you a bunch of Lightroom hacks. They will help you understand the principle of bearing witness to humanity vs just trying to capture candid snapshots. Working with them will make you a better photographer and may even prove to you that you’re actually an artist. Highly recommended.”
“[A]n amazing workshop… the love of photography translated into a love for life…”
“I had a blast… I grew so much as a photographer in multiple ways…”
”One of the most emotionally beneficial experiences in my life.”
”Convivial, encouraging and had depth from approach to editing and composition… I discovered my “why” as to my motivation for enjoying the photographic process.”
”I learned so much about street photography but I feel like I learned a lot about myself as well. I cannot thank you enough.”
”Your ability to show your compassion, interest, and intelligence served as a magnet for likeminded people. I couldn’t have asked for a better group. “
”…Hugh and Claudia fostered inclusion and respect for each of us as an individual artist….a safe harbor, a supportive cadre! I can’t imagine a better environment for growth.”
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““[T]hree and a half days away from work, family, friends, obligations, just doing something you love with people whose work you are astonished by, is very special.”
“Hugh and Claudia delivered exactly what their website promised me way back when I signed up. The amount of work put into those workshop days and nights (both before AND during) was *so* impressive —- as is the generous spirit with which they brought each of us into their process and encouraged us to find our own. Bravo, Brownstones!”
”A great learning experience.”
”Seriously one of the best things I’ve ever done for my photography!
”An unexpected bonding experience.”
”A privilege and an honor to roam the streets of lower Manhattan in such good company. What a group! What an experience! What a life! “
”We absolutely loved being there.”
”[A] wonderful experience meeting folk I’d love to see again one day. How about a re-union sometime?? “
”Priceless.”
”Looking forward to our next encounter!!!””
ABOUT US
We are the husband and wife team behind the Three Blind Men & An Elephant YouTube channel; we are street photographers. We are SO excited to share our love and passion for street photography with you!
Hugh & Claudia Brownstone
HUGH
© 2020 Claudia Brownstone
Hugh is a writer, photographer, filmmaker, and Webby award-winning YouTuber (The Art of Street Photography with B&H) born and raised in New York. With Claudia, he produces and is the voice and face of the YouTube channel Three Blind Men & An Elephant. They’ve created more than 300 videos on gear & conversations with imaging industry luminaries including legendary photographers Elliott Erwitt and Joel Meyerowitz; Director of the Henrí Cartier-Bresson Foundation Agnès Sire; International Center of Photography Executive Director Mark Lubell; Leica Camera Chairman Dr. Andreas Kauffman; Blackmagic Americas President Dan May; Cooke Optics Chairman Les Zellan; and co-founder of Staley-Wise Gallery Etheleen Staley and many more.
Both of Hugh’s limited edition runs of Streets of New York, The Book sold out.
You can see his work here; you’ll find his most recent images on Instagram.
Hugh fell in love with photography the moment he held a Kodachrome slide up to the light for the very first time; you can learn more about that in this short film produced in association with the Stadtbibliothek der Trier and others in Germany. He built his first darkroom by the age of 12; worked in a camera store by 14; ran a summer camp photography program by 16; taught a section in Cornell University’s Psychology department (“The Interface between Psychology and Photography”) by 21.
His love for and knowledge of the art are clear; his enthusiasm, infectious.
CLAUDIA
© 2021 Hugh Brownstone
Claudia is the other half of the husband and wife team behind Three Blind Men & An Elephant. She’s our creative director; a photographer in her own right, gimbal operator, camera operator, audio tech, location scout, and often the co-director or co-producer of Three Blind Men & An Elephant productions.
You can see her work here; you can find her most recent images on Instagram.
Her background in the visual arts began at the renowned Kunstgewerbeschule Zurich in Switzerland. After graduating and going on to create window displays for some of the largest stores in Switzerland, her career shifted into fashion, commercial, corporate, editorial, and catalog photography and video production. Beyond her logistical expertise, her work as a make-up artist has appeared on the covers of major fashion magazines across Europe.
When it comes to our workshops, Claudia brings a unique and uniquely supportive perspective and empathy.
OUR 2023 Webby Award-WINNING series with B&H: “The Art of Street Photography”
PRICING (INCLUDING EARLY BIRD SPECIAL & ALUMNI DISCOUNTS)
Accommodations, meals and travel are NOT included in our prices.
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: Automatic 5% if you register by January 1, 2025 for New York for by June 1st, 2025 for Tokyo.
WORKSHOP ALUMNI DISCOUNT: Returning attendees will receive a 10% discount (not in combination with early bird but in place of it) but PLEASE: contact us BEFORE you register so we can give you the super-secret discount code for use at checkout!
VENUES
This year we’re delighted to announce that will we be returning to our home away from home in Tokyo — the Kitano Tokyo. We’ve arranged for an exceptional group rate at this exceptional hotel; once you register we will send you the details.
We’re also pleased to announced that for the first time ever we will be holding our New York workshop at the Prince Kitano New York. We always encourage our attendees to stay under one roof - it makes coordination, timely arrivals and departures, and forging lasting bonds MUCH easier — but we don’t have a special rate available for New York. In any case attendees are free to choose and book their own accommodations. NB: Please don’t underestimate how unpredictable travel times in New York in particular can be; please DO allow plenty of extra time to arrive ON TIME at the Kitano New York for our street shoots and class sessions.
liability, Payment & Cancellation POLICIES
Please read what follows carefully, because by registering for our classes, you are also agreeing to it (the good news is that it’s really nothing more than “golden rule” kind of stuff):
1) You won’t hold us liable for injury, illness, theft, damage, travel cancellation fees, etc. or any of the rest of the usual litany of things listed in most legally-crafted clauses of this type that we’ve either forgotten or not listed here because life is short and we just don’t want to devote the cycles to thinking about them. We DO encourage you to have travel insurance.
2) Payment in full is required at time of registration, $500 of which is a non-refundable registration fee. Like any business we incur costs in setting up these workshops and forego other revenues opportunities — whether those workshops occur or not.
3) In the event of cancellation on your part, we’re always happy to apply your payment to any one of our other street workshops (no carry-over past 2026). If you cancel more than two months from start date, we can alternatively issue a refund less processing fees and non-refundable $500.
But:
If you notify us less than two months out — but still at least one month before start date — we can alternatively issue a 50% refund.
If you notify us less than one month before start date, we can only offer to apply the full payment to our next workshop - no refund, and again no carry-over past 2026.
4) If WE cancel a workshop for any reason (and believe us, we LOVE these workshops, so it would have to be pretty dire), it’s your choice whether to receive a full refund minus processing fees or have us apply your payment to your choice of any one of our subsequent workshops, although once again, no carryover past 2026.
Any questions, contact us directly via email at hugh@3bmep.com. If you’d like to book a short, no-cost, one-on-one video session ahead of making a decision, please mention this in your email and we’ll make that happen.
And THAT is the end of THAT. No more weasel words! Hope you didn’t find any of this anything other than reasonable.