Documentary practice in the field.
The Eyewitness Collective is a collaboration between Laurin Strele, Ethan Swope, and Roberto Flores dedicated to documentary photography, fieldwork, ethical storytelling, and building a serious international community around visual journalism.
We started Eyewitness in 2025 after our joint workshop in Cuba. Since then, we have been developing workshops, travel labs, exhibitions, community projects, podcasts, and collaborative formats for committed photographers who want to work seriously in the field.
We create spaces for serious documentary practice.
Eyewitness Collective is built for photographers who want to move beyond surface-level travel photography and develop a deeper, more responsible relationship to people, place, and story.
Our work combines field experience, visual discipline, ethical reflection, editing, sequencing, access, mentorship, and the long process of turning encounters into meaningful visual narratives.
Workshops, field labs, exhibitions, podcasts, and project development.
Workshops
Intensive documentary photography workshops built around fieldwork, daily assignments, editing sessions, group critique, access, and direct mentorship.
Field Labs
Smaller, research-driven travel labs for photographers who want to develop stronger long-term projects and work with more intention in unfamiliar environments.
Collaborative Storytelling
Projects that bring together photographers, local communities, writers, editors, artists, and cultural partners to create deeper documentary work.
Exhibitions
Physical and online presentations of documentary projects, workshop outcomes, field essays, and collective visual narratives.
Podcasts
Conversations around ethics, conflict, fieldwork, photography competitions, career-building, visual journalism, and the reality behind the image.
Competitions & Open Calls
Support with editing, sequencing, project statements, portfolio building, and preparing work for photography competitions, grants, awards, and open calls.
Ethan Swope, World Press Photo winner.
Eyewitness co-founder Ethan Swope was awarded in the 2026 World Press Photo Contest for his story Los Angeles on Fire, photographed for Associated Press.
His recognition reflects the level of field experience, visual discipline, and journalistic seriousness that shapes the Eyewitness Collective.
Supporting emerging photographers from different countries.
The Eyewitness Program is our growing initiative to support young and emerging photographers who have the dedication to work seriously, but may not yet have the same access, financial resources, or professional network as others.
Through scholarships, reduced-price workshop places, mentorship, portfolio support, and career guidance, we aim to help photographers build stronger bodies of work and take meaningful next steps in documentary photography.
A collective for photographers who want to grow with purpose.
Joining Eyewitness means becoming part of a serious documentary photography community — not just attending a workshop. It is a place to learn, exchange, receive feedback, and stay connected to people who care about the same questions.
- Field-based learning Work in real situations with guidance before, during, and after the field.
- Editing and sequencing support Learn how to shape raw images into stronger narratives, portfolios, essays, and submissions.
- Photography competitions and grants Receive guidance on selecting work, writing project statements, and preparing submissions.
- Community and visibility Connect with other photographers, share work, receive feedback, and become part of future exhibitions, open calls, and collective projects.
- Career development Build stronger projects, clearer positioning, and a more serious documentary practice over time.
Learn documentary photography where stories unfold.
Our workshops combine fieldwork, access, editing, critique, ethics, and long-form storytelling — designed for photographers who want to work seriously and responsibly.
Led by photographers working in the field.
Eyewitness Collective is shaped by three photographers with different backgrounds, visual languages, and field experiences — united by a shared commitment to documentary storytelling.
Laurin Strele
Laurin Strele is an Austrian documentary photographer and photojournalist whose work focuses on human experience in conflict zones, cultures in transition, and places shaped by crisis and resilience. His approach combines quiet observation, atmosphere, and long-form visual storytelling.
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Ethan Swope
Ethan Swope is an American documentary photographer whose work deals with people, place, crisis, and social reality. Awarded in the 2026 World Press Photo Contest, he brings strong field awareness, emotional precision, and journalistic discipline to Eyewitness.
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Roberto Flores
Roberto Flores supports Eyewitness Collective through field coordination, local knowledge, production experience, and visual practice. His work helps connect photographers with people, places, and situations in ways that are grounded, respectful, and logistically possible.
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Bear witness. Tell the story. Protect the truth.
Eyewitness Collective is for photographers who want to approach the world with seriousness, humility, and courage — and who understand that documentary work begins long before the shutter is pressed.