We invite you to join photographer Michael Turek for an immersive week of documentary photography in Japan’s cultural heart, Kyoto. This all-inclusive workshop is designed not only to strengthen your technical and artistic skills, but also to deepen your ability to tell meaningful visual stories. Joining Michael on this workshop will be Founder of Curated Kyoto, Sara Aiko. Sara will be our host, translator and Kyoto expert during our stay. She will provide the group with rare access to artisans, sacred spaces, and centuries-old traditions, allowing you to photograph a side of Kyoto few visitors ever see.

In Kyoto, every detail is intentional: a stone placed in a temple garden, a brushstroke in calligraphy, the choreography of a tea ceremony. Nothing is accidental. This makes the city an extraordinary setting for a photography workshop focused on slowing down, observing deeply, and creating images infused with meaning. You’ll leave not only with a portfolio of striking photographs, but also with a renewed sense of purpose in your creative practice—an approach to photography, and to life, grounded in intentionality.

What does it mean to create modern travel photography? How can an image move beyond cliché to capture the spirit of a place? Over the course of this workshop, Michael will guide participants in exploring these questions through discussion, assignments, and one-on-one coaching. Together, we’ll create a supportive space that encourages curiosity, risk-taking, and discovery—helping you hone a more intentional photographic voice.

In Kyoto, beauty often resides behind closed doors: in the workshop of a master craftsman, in the precise ritual of a tea ceremony, or in the fleeting interplay of light across a tatami mat. This workshop opens those doors. With private access to artisans, cultural practitioners, and sacred properties, you’ll work side by side with Michael to document the rhythms of a city that balances deep tradition with modern life.

Michael is a long-time Leica film camera shooter (M3 and M-A) and has developed a Blended Exposure technique that is specific to Leica film cameras. These images are all created in-camera (in a Leica M3 from 1962), on film and the pairings between the left and right side of each frame are completely random. For those interested, Michael will also share this technique and guide you through the process.

Participants are welcome to bring their own film cameras (with a limited number of loaners available) or work digitally. The emphasis is less on tools than on cultivating presence, deliberation, and intent.

For participants traveling from the United States, we recommend two convenient options for reaching Kyoto:

Option 1: Fly into Osaka

The closest international gateway to Kyoto is Kansai International Airport (KIX), located just outside Osaka. From KIX, Kyoto is about 90 minutes away by taxi or private transfer, which we can help arrange. This is the most direct and seamless route into the city.

Option 1: Fly into Tokyo

Alternatively, you may fly into Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND) or Narita Airport (NRT). From Tokyo, the famous Shinkansen bullet train connects you to Kyoto in roughly 2.5–3 hours. Trains are frequent, comfortable, and provide a chance to see the Japanese countryside along the way.

Kyoto is a very walkable city and as with any city based workshop, we find that walking is the best way to get to know and photograph the place. Be prepared for a lot of walking with your camera equipment. Of course, we’ll also utilize taxis and subway where appropriate. We’ll have private transportation for our day trip to Nara.