-8.4489, 115.6094
Karangasem
The east. Water palaces, black sand, and ceremonial life that carries on largely unobserved by anyone with a camera.
Bookings open — four departures in 2027
Bali Photography Workshop
Five days of street and documentary photography in Bali — the places everyone knows, and the ones you would never find on your own.
KarangasemMundukDenpasar
The premise
What these weeks are for
These trips are built to help you explore some of the most distinctive parts of Balinese culture — ceremony, ritual, work, and ordinary street life — and to photograph them in your own way. I have been photographing here for more than ten years, and everything that decade has taught me goes into the five days.
Bali can be a tricky place, because a lot of its beauty is hidden. Helping you find it, and photograph it, is my job.
So we work from Karangasem in the east, from Munduk in the highlands — the north coast at Singaraja is an hour down the hill — and finish in the streets of Denpasar, a working Indonesian city of nearly a million people.
What we do
Street and documentary
Street work in Denpasar — crowds, markets, and the pace and nerve it takes to photograph strangers well. Documentary work in the east and north — ceremony, ritual, village life, the slower kind of seeing that needs patience and access more than it needs gear.
We shoot early and late, and go through your work with you in between. You'll edit as you go, not three months later when you've forgotten what you were thinking.
Where we work
-8.2647, 115.0797
North Bali
The northern base, up in the highlands. Cloud, coffee, and the kind of light that arrives for twenty minutes and asks you to be ready. Singaraja — the old colonial capital, harbour and market — is an hour down the hill, and we go at first light.
-8.6705, 115.2126
Denpasar
A working city of nearly a million people, and a genuine street photography town.
Each departure is built around a different ceremony. See the sample itinerary on each date below.
Group size
Small groups, big adventure
Everyone gets proper one-to-one time every day, on their own pictures, and there is room in the week to teach each person at the level they are actually at. That is why all levels are welcome — beginners, and people who have been photographing for thirty years.
A group of 8 also moves easily. We can walk into a market or arrive at a village ceremony without changing it, which matters when the whole point is photographing things as they happen.
It works the other way too. A departure runs with 2, and I confirm each one 8 weeks before the start date. If it is not going ahead, your deposit comes back in full, or moves to another departure — whichever you prefer.
Selected work
From Praying in the Rain.
Who runs it
M D Morgan
Michael Dean Morgan is an Australian photographer working in documentary and street photography, based in Bali.
Born in Darwin, he studied New Media Design at Charles Darwin and Curtin universities and worked as a studio designer before photography took over. His debut book, Looking for Bali, was published by Afterhours in Jakarta. Praying in the Rain, a body of work on how the Balinese encounter the divine, carries an accompanying essay by the writer Diana Darling. An ongoing series, Electric Dreams, documents the warung coffee stalls and vintage television sets of Indonesia.
The details
Practical
- Length
- 5 daysFull tuition every day. There is no free day.
- Group size
- Maximum 8 photographersMinimum 2 for a departure to run. Each departure is confirmed 8 weeks before the start date; if it does not go ahead, deposits are refunded in full.
- When
- 4 departures in 2027Dates and availability below.
- Where
- Karangasem, North Bali, DenpasarThree bases in five days.
- Level
- AnyBeginners welcome. A group of 8 means each person is taught at the level they are actually at.
- Price
- US$1,999 per personUS dollars. US$350 deposit holds a place; the balance is due eight weeks before departure.
- Included
-
- Accommodation for the five nights, private room for each person — no sharing, no single supplement
- Comfortable, well-located guesthouses and small hotels.
- All ground transport during the workshop
- Daily breakfast. Lunch and dinner are at your own cost.
- Bottled water throughout
- All entrance fees and temple donations
- Local guides and fixers
- Anything customary paid to people who are photographed
- Field tuition, every day
- Daily one-to-one review sessions
- Editing tuition
- Not included
-
- International and domestic flights
- Airport transfers
- Indonesian visa
- Travel insurance, which is a condition of joining
- Lunch and dinner
- Alcohol
- Nights before or after the workshop
- Laundry, tips to workshop staff, and anything else personal
Press
On the work
“Michael Dean Morgan's compelling depictions of Bali provide a refreshing alternative to pervasive renditions of the Indonesian Isle.”
Josh Bright, The Independent Photographer, 2022
“Each photograph is able to evoke smells, mystical and aromatic sensations of Balinese reality.”
Giorgia Massari, Collater.al
“A sustained inquiry into how ritual and contemporary existence share the same space.”
Uday Khambadkone, Between, Still, 2026
Michael's first book, Looking for Bali, was published by Afterhours Books in Jakarta.
Dates
Four departures in 2027
Each one is five days, 8 people, US$1,999 per person. Dates are published well ahead so there is time to find sensible flights.
3–7 March 2027
Melasti processions to the sea early in the week, ending on the Ogoh-ogoh parade the night before Nyepi.
22–26 May 2027
Timed for the village harvest ceremonies (usaba) in Karangasem.
10–14 August 2027
Starts on Penampahan, the day before Galungan, the biggest festival of the Balinese year. Streets lined with penjor, temples full, families home.
12–16 September 2027
Includes the temple festival at Pura Luhur Pucak Padang Dawa, where barong from villages across Bali gather.
Privately
Private, on your dates
Can't make a group departure, or travelling alone? I also teach privately, any time of year. One day, four days, or whatever works for you. Tell me what you have in mind and we'll work it out. A couple where only one of you photographs is fine — say so and we will build around it. Want to build a trip around a particular ceremony? See the 2027 ceremony calendar.
The March departure
You will be here for the silence
This one ends on the evening of the Ogoh-ogoh parade — giant demon effigies carried through the streets and burned, the loudest night of the Balinese year. The next day, 8 March 2027, is Nyepi.
For twenty-four hours the entire island stops. No traffic, no work, no lights after dark, nobody outside. The airport closes completely, so you cannot leave until 9 March 2027 and will need a night beyond the workshop.
That extra night is the point rather than the cost. Almost no visitor ever sees Bali silent, and you cannot photograph it — that is the rule, and we keep it. You spend the day editing the week's work with the island switched off outside. It is the best editing day I know of.
Book your flight out on 9 March 2027 or later. Nothing flies before then.
Booking
How booking works
A US$350 deposit holds your place. The balance is due eight weeks before departure. There is no online payment on this site — tell me which departure you want and I will send you the details and an invoice.
A departure needs 2 people to run. That decision is made 8 weeks before the start date, which is before your balance is due and while flights are still changeable. If it does not run, your deposit is refunded in full or moved to another departure, whichever you prefer.
Travel insurance is a condition of joining, and needs to cover you for the dates you are here.
Reserve a place
Tell me which dates
This reaches me directly, not a mailing list. I reply to every one, usually within a day.
No deposit is taken here and nothing is charged automatically. Your address is used to answer you and nothing else.
Questions
Before you ask
Can I do this on my own, on different dates?
Yes. I teach privately any time of year except Nyepi, for as long or short as suits you. Message me and we'll work it out.
What will I come away with?
A body of work from the week, edited and sequenced. And, more usefully, a clearer idea of what you are trying to say with your photography and how to go about saying it. That part isn't about Bali — it works on whatever you photograph once you are home.
What level do I need to be?
Any.
What camera do I need?
Whatever you already have and like using. Digital or film, one lens or three, a phone if that is what you photograph with. Nothing in the week depends on particular equipment and no part of it is a demonstration of anyone's kit. Bring a laptop if you have one, for the editing sessions.
Is it suitable for film shooters?
Yes. Bring plenty — and note that the editing sessions will be less useful to you.
Can my partner come if they don't shoot?
Get in touch. It depends on the group and the accommodation.
Is it physically demanding?
Some early starts and a reasonable amount of walking, often in heat. No hiking beyond the ordinary.
What's the group size?
8 maximum, and 2 minimum for a departure to run. Everyone's work gets looked at properly every day.
How do I book, and when do I pay?
A US$350 deposit holds your place, and the balance is due eight weeks before departure. Nothing is charged on this site — you tell me which departure you want, I send you the details and an invoice.
What if not enough people book?
A departure runs with 2 people or more. If it is short, I decide 8 weeks before the start date — before your balance is due, and while flights can still be changed. Your deposit then comes back in full, or moves to another departure. I would rather tell you that plainly than pretend it never happens.
Do I have to share a room?
No. Everyone gets their own room and there is no single supplement to pay.
What happens with Nyepi on the March workshop?
It ends on the night of the Ogoh-ogoh parade, and the following day the island shuts down completely for Nyepi — including the airport. You will need one extra night and cannot fly out until the day after. It is the quietest day you will ever spend, and we use it to edit.