Whether you prefer to learn out in the world with a camera in your hand, or at your own pace from your desk, our courses are designed to help you move your photography forward with intention. All of our courses are designed to get you inspired, and more importantly, to make practical application easy. In every course, you’ll get real-world insights from photographers who have done the work.
Self-Guided Street Photography Courses
How to Self-Publish a Photo Book
You’ve made the photos. Now what? This self-paced course is designed to help you turn a body of photographic work into a finished photo book without getting lost in endless decisions or feeling overwhelmed by the process.
What’s Inside
Across 7 practical lessons and just under 3 hours of video instruction, we’ll walk through the entire self-publishing process together. Learn at your own pace, revisit lessons whenever you need to, and work on your book as you go. By the end of the course, you’ll have the knowledge, confidence, and tools to create a print-ready photo book of your own.
What You’ll Learn
Lesson 1: Start with Why
Clarify the purpose behind your book, define your theme, think through your audience, and give your project a strong foundation before you start making design or production decisions.
Lesson 2: Image Selection & Sequencing
Learn how to choose images that serve the story, cut what doesn’t belong, create visual rhythm, and sequence your photographs in a way that feels intentional and cohesive.
Lesson 3: The Anatomy of a Photo Book
Get familiar with the parts of a book, including front matter, introductions, captions, essays, acknowledgments, copyright pages, author bios, and other elements you may want to include.
Lesson 4: Printing Considerations
Explore printing options, paper choices, book sizes, binding, quantities, costs, sample packs, proof copies, and what to look for before committing to a full print run.
Lesson 5: Book Design & Layout
Learn the core design terms and layout considerations that matter most when creating a photo book, from margins, bleed, spreads, gutters, typography, white space, and exporting a clean print-ready PDF.
Lesson 6: Marketing Your Book
Start thinking about marketing before your book arrives from the printer. You’ll learn how to talk about your project, build interest, gather marketing assets, and create a simple launch plan.
Lesson 7: Sales & Distribution
Figure out how you’ll price, sell, ship, and distribute your book, whether through direct sales, bookstores, third-party sellers, print-on-demand, or a combination of channels.
You’ll also receive a downloadable workbook with exercises, planning pages, checklists, and reflection prompts to help you apply each lesson directly to your own photo book project.
This isn’t theory. It’s the process we used to create our own book, Where the Streets Lead. The course covers the most helpful gems gleaned from our own research and experiences, and we also talk about our biggest wins and mistakes, vital info to save you time, money, and frustration. This is the course we wished we had when we first dove into self-publishing.
What Students are Saying
“I think that any photographer who has been photographing long enough to even think about a book, whether they are ready or not, should certainly take this course. Even if it’s half a project (meaning that they will continue photographing that same project for a few more years), because it will not only help them see where they are within that project to get a feel for how complete or incomplete it is, but it will lay the foundation for the future, final book. With this experience behind them, and a copy of the book in hand, when the project is finished it will be a much easier transition to a final book that they will distribute. It’s a win, win situation. A professor once said, if you want to publish a book one day, start now. What better opportunity than the SPM course? I think that even if a photographer wants to put together a soft cover promo piece that this course would be helpful to them as well. You can’t lose!” – Craig Litten
Not sure if self-publishing is the route for you? In the video below, Bob Patterson and Ashley Riffo discuss the pros and cons of approaching a traditional publisher vs. self-publishing your photo book.
Ready to pitch your book idea to a publisher? Or get your thoughts organized as you work on self-publishing? Grab our free Book Proposal template here. This will be an invaluable tool no matter which route you take. (Trust us on this one!)
Coming Soon: In-Person Learning
Street Photography Workshops, Critique Groups & Guided Learning
If you’ve ever felt unsure of what you’re doing out on the street, or like you’re wandering without direction, this is where things start to click.
Street Photography Essentials is designed to help photographers build confidence, awareness, and intention in their work. Whether through immersive workshops, critique-based learning, or shorter guided experiences, the goal is the same: helping you better understand what draws you to a scene and how to make photographs that actually say something.
These educational experiences are presented in collaboration with FotoFramework and led by photographers Virginia Hines and Sureita Hockley, with Ashley Riffo participating in select sessions.
What you can expect:
- Small, focused groups so you receive real feedback and personal attention
- Real shooting time in the field
- Guidance on how to see, not just what to shoot
- Conversations about intention, storytelling, and editing
- Personalized feedback from seasoned photographers and an experienced magazine editor
- Final critiques and the opportunity for your work to appear in Street Photography Magazine
Offerings will include both online and in-person experiences, from focused workshops to longer-duration learning opportunities.