Participants will develop a solid methodology and cohesive body of work, strengthen investigative, creative and storytelling approaches and learn how to effectively pitch their projects.  With focus on:

• Environmental and conflict reporting (pollution, ecosystems, energy, agriculture…)

• Investigative and research methods, data verification

• Combining photography with journalism (data, testimony, science Visual storytelling and editing skills

• Refining your presentation and pitch

• Expanding stories beyond press: exhibitions, books, multimedia

Learn alongside international experts in environmental and visual reporting, leading editors and Inland photographers. 

In-depth guidance and feedback, through collective sessions and one-to-one mentorship

Develop a ready-to-pitch or ready-to-publish project, with guidance on how to present your work to international media, festivals and institutions.

Join a community of visual storytellers and connect  with a solid network of peers. 

Grant : One participant will receive a €1,500 production grant to further develop their project, with additional mentorship.

ONLINE SESSIONS

Dr. Doug Weir (Conflict and Environment Observatory founder), has undertaken research and advocacy on the polluting legacy of armed conflicts and military activities since 2005. After working on conflict pollution and the toxic remnants of war for many years, he established the Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS) to monitor and raise awareness of the environmental and derived humanitarian consequences of conflicts. Doug has contributed to a wide range of domestic, regional and international initiatives, including at the UN Environment Assembly, UN General Assembly and the European Parliament. He is a Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Geography at King's College London, and co-chairs the European Citizen Science Association’s working group on citizen science in conflict areas.

Pauline Eiferman (Director of Photography, Le Monde), is a French photo editor and journalist who serves as the head of the photo department at Le Monde, where she oversees photographic coverage and photo editing for the daily newspaper. She regularly appears in Le Monde’s photo department — both curating and contributing to visual coverage and photography analysis. Before rising to this role, she worked across editorial photography and has an international background in visual media — including positions at outlets like Roads & Kingdoms as Director of Photography. Born in Paris, she has lived and worked in Washington D.C., London, and New York, and previously collaborated with publications such as Monocle and the Agence France-Presse (AFP). Her work includes editing and writing on photojournalism and visual storytelling, and she has spoken publicly about how press photography is selected and presented in modern news media.

Arianna Rinaldo (independent curator and editor) Arianna Rinaldo is a freelance professional working with photography at a wide range. From 2012 to 2021 she has been the artistic director of Cortona On The Move in Italy. She is now the Curator of Photography for PhEST, festival of contemporary art focused on the Mediterranean. She was the director of OjodePez magazine, the bilingual documentary photography quarterly published by LaFabrica, Madrid, for 7 years. Arianna’s relationship with photography started in 1998 in New York, as Archive Director at Magnum Photos. Back in Italy in 2001, she joined Colors magazine as photo editor. Based in Milan from 2004 to 2011, Arianna worked as a freelance curator for exhibits and book projects, and a photo consultant for publications, among which 4 years at D, the weekend supplement of La Repubblica. Based in Barcelona since 2012, Arianna continues to develop photography projects at an international level, and teaches workshops, explores photo festivals, and is intrigued by amazing stories told through images. Arianna collaborates with publishing houses for special projects and is a regular participant in portfolio reviews and jury panels worldwide, as well as speaker and lecturer. She has been conducting workshops and masterclasses in various venues, festivals and photography schools in Europe.

ODESA WORKSHOP

Irynka Hromotska is a photo editor at The Kyiv Independent. She previously curated the “Fighting for Dignity” exhibition, highlighting the resilience of Ukrainians, interned at the Magnum Foundation, worked with Magnum Photos, and was an assistant photo editor for then FotoEvidence photo book “Ukraine: A War Crime.” Her photography has been featured in outlets like Radio Free Europe, Reuters, The New York Times, and The Guardian. In her role at Kyiv Independent, Irynka actively fosters relationships with photojournalists covering Ukraine, with a particular focus on promoting long- form visual storytelling.

Kateryna Radchenko is an artist, curator, and photography researcher. She holds degrees in Philosophy and Journalism from Odesa National University. Since 2015, she has been the founder and director of the International Festival Odesa Photo Days.

Roman Pilipey (Chief photographer for AFP in Ukraine), is a Ukrainian photojournalist who has just won the prestigious 1st place in the Photojournalist of the Year, National category. Currently, he serves as AFP Photo Coordinator for Ukraine. His photography career began as a freelance photographer for various Ukrainian news agencies and newspapers while he was studying journalism at one of Kyiv’s universities. In 2014, he joined EPA to cover Ukraine, and in 2017 he relocated to Beijing, continuing his work with EPA. At the beginning of 2023, he started covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine for Getty Images, before joining AFP.

Patrick Wack is a Paris-based photographer and co-founder of the Inland cooperative, specializing in long-term documentary projects that blend geopolitical, social, and subjective storytelling. Self-taught, he lived in Shanghai (2006–2017), Berlin (2017–2021), and Moscow (2021–2023), working as one of the few Western journalists in a Russia at war. His work has covered urban change in China, post-conflict reconstruction in Bosnia, the Uyghur nation, the new Silk Road, and wartime Russia and Ukraine. Wack’s photography has appeared in TIME, The New York Times, National Geographic, The Sunday Times, The Financial Times, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, and Stern. His monograph Dust (André Frère Editions, 2021) on the forced Sinicization of the Uyghur region was shortlisted for the Paris Photo–Aperture Award 2022. He has received the National Geographic Explorer Grant (2022), CNAP grants (2019, 2025), and a French National Commission grant (2022). His recent project Azov Horizons was exhibited as a solo show in the Rencontres d’Arles 2025 program.

Matjaž Tančič is a Slovenian photographer and visual artist based between China and Slovenia. His work spans documentary, portrait, and art photography, often dealing with environmental and social themes. He is a member of Inland and actively develops cross-disciplinary visual storytelling projects and educational programs.

Tjorven Bruyneel  is a Ghent-based photographer whose work explores the boundary between reality and perception, assembling fragments of lived experience into intimate, visual narratives. Using photography as a way to navigate and process the world, she captures subtle, often overlooked emotional and societal shifts with sensitivity and quiet humor. She holds a master’s degree from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent (2007), has exhibited internationally, and received the Charles Deleu Award / DOC*work in 2016. Between 2010 and 2014, she lived in Johannesburg, assisting Thabiso Sekgala and Mikhael Subotzky and contributing to the Of Soul & Joy photography project.

Polly Tootal is a photographer living and working between Eryri in Wales and London, UK. Her work has emerged out of a continual exploration of our environment and the possibilities it has in telling stories. She travels with her large and medium format cameras looking for extremes – theatre/reality, the contemporary world mirroring history, transience/permanence, the bizarre in the banal. Concerned with how contemporary geopolitics restricts and displaces different societal groups due to poverty and injustice - her work focuses on liminal zones, the outskirts of cities where urban and infrastructure meet, highlighting the chaos and control that power forces upon populations and the environment there. In her more recent work, she shows how the degradation of our ecology and natural world after each generation is set as the new baseline for the next, a concept known as the shifting baseline syndrome. Her work has been published in The Guardian, Amnesty International Magazine, Creative Review, Vostok Magazine, GUP among others, and she was 3rd prize recipient of PhMuseum Woman’s Photography Grant 2023. Her work has been exhibited throughout Europe, most notably Unseen Photofestival in Amsterdam and Rencontres d’Arles, France.

Phase 1 -  Build Your Foundation
(Online – self-paced | June 2026)
Start at your own pace with recorded lectures and materials from international experts. Dive into storytelling, investigative journalism, editing, and environmental reporting.

Phase 2  Lectures and project development 
(Online – live sessions | June 2026)
Join three live sessions with editors and experts on publishing, pitching, investigative tools and data use. Begin shaping or refining your project through group discussions, and get paired with Inland mentors.

Phase 3-  In-person lab
(Odesa, Ukraine | 11-13 September 2026)
Take part in an intensive in-person worshop with lectures from local experts, editing sessions and collaborative feedback sessions. Focus on sequencing, storytelling and pitching projects to professionals.

Phase 4 - Refine & Pitch
(Online | September–November 2026)
Continue developing your project with dedicated one-on-one mentoring from Inland mentors. Refine your story and pitch, with guidance tailored to your project’s stage and direction.

Note : Between each phase, participants will have the necessary time to delve more into their creative process and research to develop further their project.

This workshop is designed for early- to mid-career Ukrainian and Ukraine-based photographers and photojournalists who:

• Have an ongoing project or wish to develop a project related to the environmental consequences of war in Ukraine

• Have experience in documentary or journalistic storytelling

• Want to strengthen their investigative and storytelling skills and reach international audiences

• Are able to participate in all phases of the workshop

Applicants must submit an ongoing project or a strong project pitch they wish to develop during the programme.

• Submit up to 15 images from your ongoing project or from a previous documentary project so we can judge your storytelling skills

• Include a short project description (max. 500 words, in English) of your ongoing project or project pitch

• Include a short bio (max. 300 words) and a detailed CV

Apply here

• Deadline for submission: 10 May 2026 at 11:59 pm (CEST).

• Selected participants will be notified via email by 15 May 2026

• In-person workshop in Odesa : 11-13 September 2026

• Online lectures:  June 2026 (to be determined)

• Application and the workshop are free.

• Inland will provide accommodation in Odesa for the 3 days workshop.

• Participants are responsible for their own transportation costs.

• The working language is English.

• Participants are expected to attend all phases of the programme

• Candidate can not apply more than once, each participant may submit only one project for this program.

For question, please contact us at : contact@inlandstories.com

By submitting your application, you agree to the following:

1. Originality – All submitted photographs, texts, and materials must be your original work and must not include AI-generated content.

2. Usage Rights – You grant permission for your submitted work to be used for promotional purposes related to the workshop and public screenings.

3. Participation – If selected, you agree to fully participate in both online and in-person sessions, following the schedule and guidelines.

4. Recording Consent – The workshop sessions will be recorded and made publicly available. By participating, you consent to being recorded.

5. Professional Conduct – Participants must maintain a professional and respectful attitude when engaging with mentors, speakers, and fellow participants.

6. Technical Issues – Inland Photographers and its partners are not responsible for technical issues that may affect participation.

7. Age Requirement – Participants must be 18 years or older by 30 April 2026.

8. Copyright – Photographers retain full copyright of all submitted images. However, Inland House Workshop and its partners may use the images for promotion via print, web, or projection.

9. - Grant — the recipient of the Grant will be selected and announced during the workshop in Arles.

10. - Travel and lodging — The organisation of the workshop is not responsible for the travel and lodging of the workshop's participants. The participants will cover their own travel.

11. Disqualification – Any violation of these terms may result in disqualification from the workshop.