Day of the Dead Photography Expedition in Oaxaca

$3,500.00

JOIN THIS MAGICAL EXPERIENCE IN 2025

10 YEARS OF DAY OF THE DEAD PHOTOGRAPHY EXPEDITION

These 8 days in Oaxaca with Alex Coghe and Brad Zipursky during the traditional celebrations of Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) are a unique photographic and human adventure.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN EXPERIENCE FOR TOURISTS
We are travelers, photographers, observers, writers, videographers, flâneurs. This is not a 4 or 5-star holiday — this is a real photographer–traveler expedition where curiosity, creativity, and immersion are essential.

Alex and Brad will photograph with you, eat with you, and share the journey with you. This is not one of those workshops where you pay for the leader’s vacation, or where a “big name” is advertised but replaced by minor photographers. This is the real thing.

THIS IS AN EXPEDITION LEAD BY ALEX COGHE AND BRAD ZIPURSKY

Alex Coghe

Street Photographer, Writer & Educator based in Mexico City. He works both in color and black & white, with a distinctive approach to authentic street photography that emphasizes form, content, and human presence. Alongside his photographic practice, he shares knowledge through workshops, masterclasses, and writing, building bridges between visual storytelling and personal experience. His work reflects an ongoing exploration of intimacy, urban life, and the poetry of the streets.

Brad Zipursky

Storyographer, Data Storyteller & Street-Documentary Photographer based in Calgary. He explores the intersection of narrative and information, crafting visual and data-driven stories that highlight the human side of everyday life. His work blends documentary sensibility with a passion for storytelling structure, aiming to transform raw experience and data into narratives that resonate and connect.

📅 October 28 – November 4, 2025
📍 Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico
👥 Maximum 4 participants

Discount for the first 3 who sign up (3000 US$ instead of 3500 US$)
Final deadline: October 15, 2025

Languages: English, Italian, Spanish
The expedition will take place even with only 1 participant.

ACCOMMODATION INCLUDED

To keep the group together and build a true sense of community, we will all stay in the same accommodation in Oaxaca City. Comfortable, safe, and well-located : not luxury resorts, but authentic places that keep us close to the action.

WHAT MAKES THIS EXPERIENCE UNIQUE

  • A best-selling experience since 2015

  • Guided by acclaimed street photographer Alex Coghe

  • Authentic cultural immersion: local food, local transportation, engagement with families and communities

  • A true street photography experience documenting Día de Muertos

  • Daily photo reviews and mentoring

  • Safe environment with a leader who knows Oaxaca as his second home

Each participant will leave with a 10-image photo story to be featured in a digital photobook and on The Street Photography Channel on YouTube.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

  • Tuition and daily reviews

  • Accommodation in Oaxaca City

  • Professional portfolio review & mentoring program

  • eBooks & certificate of completion

  • Exclusive fine art print

  • Collective printed & digital photobook

  • Video interview for YouTube with your photos from the expedition

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

  • How to find & tell coherent and meaningful photo stories

  • How to photograph with intent — not just mindless shutter clicking

  • How to visualize your photo and “shoot with the mind” before the camera

  • How to create visually impactful, emotionally strong images

  • Portrait and candid techniques that add depth and meaning

  • Creative use of flash, exposure, and shutter speed for storytelling

  • How to interact with subjects while maintaining a candid approach

  • Techniques for speed, composition, and layering in the streets

  • How to work a scene and push your comfort zone

  • How to build a consistent body of work during a journey

  • And yes — how to drink mezcal and still shoot straight (and maybe even taste chapulines!)

✨ On the first evening (Oct 28), after our welcome dinner, we’ll go out without cameras to “mind photograph” the streets: observing, composing mentally, and later sharing our visions over mezcal in a local bar.

A TYPICAL DAY

  • Group breakfast and photo review

  • Shooting in the streets, markets, cemeteries, parades, and hidden corners of Oaxaca

  • Flexibility to adapt to spontaneous events and opportunities

  • Evening and night shooting sessions during the celebrations

  • Informal dinners and discussions

The expedition starts with a group dinner on October 28 in Oaxaca City and ends the morning of November 4 after breakfast.

OAXACA & DÍA DE MUERTOS

Día de Muertos was declared a UNESCO World Heritage in 2008. Far from being a macabre party, it is a celebration of life, memory, and family. In Oaxaca, these traditions are lived from the inside: altars in homes, cemeteries full of music and candles, parades, food, and rituals where locals welcome their dead with joy and respect.

As participants, you won’t just observe from the outside — you’ll live it from within: traveling like locals, connecting with families, tasting Oaxaca’s world-renowned cuisine, and experiencing mezcal culture at its source.

PRACTICAL INFO

  • All levels welcome

  • Any camera accepted

  • Laptop and SD cards required

  • Oaxaca is one of the safest states in Mexico, and Alex (who lives there) will guide you every step of the way

✨ This is your chance to live and photograph the most vibrant celebration in Mexico — not as a tourist, but as part of a close-knit group of photographers guided by Alex Coghe.

📧 For info and reservations: alexcoghe.store@gmail.com

JOIN THIS MAGICAL EXPERIENCE IN 2025

10 YEARS OF DAY OF THE DEAD PHOTOGRAPHY EXPEDITION

These 8 days in Oaxaca with Alex Coghe and Brad Zipursky during the traditional celebrations of Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) are a unique photographic and human adventure.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN EXPERIENCE FOR TOURISTS
We are travelers, photographers, observers, writers, videographers, flâneurs. This is not a 4 or 5-star holiday — this is a real photographer–traveler expedition where curiosity, creativity, and immersion are essential.

Alex and Brad will photograph with you, eat with you, and share the journey with you. This is not one of those workshops where you pay for the leader’s vacation, or where a “big name” is advertised but replaced by minor photographers. This is the real thing.

THIS IS AN EXPEDITION LEAD BY ALEX COGHE AND BRAD ZIPURSKY

Alex Coghe

Street Photographer, Writer & Educator based in Mexico City. He works both in color and black & white, with a distinctive approach to authentic street photography that emphasizes form, content, and human presence. Alongside his photographic practice, he shares knowledge through workshops, masterclasses, and writing, building bridges between visual storytelling and personal experience. His work reflects an ongoing exploration of intimacy, urban life, and the poetry of the streets.

Brad Zipursky

Storyographer, Data Storyteller & Street-Documentary Photographer based in Calgary. He explores the intersection of narrative and information, crafting visual and data-driven stories that highlight the human side of everyday life. His work blends documentary sensibility with a passion for storytelling structure, aiming to transform raw experience and data into narratives that resonate and connect.

📅 October 28 – November 4, 2025
📍 Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico
👥 Maximum 4 participants

Discount for the first 3 who sign up (3000 US$ instead of 3500 US$)
Final deadline: October 15, 2025

Languages: English, Italian, Spanish
The expedition will take place even with only 1 participant.

ACCOMMODATION INCLUDED

To keep the group together and build a true sense of community, we will all stay in the same accommodation in Oaxaca City. Comfortable, safe, and well-located : not luxury resorts, but authentic places that keep us close to the action.

WHAT MAKES THIS EXPERIENCE UNIQUE

  • A best-selling experience since 2015

  • Guided by acclaimed street photographer Alex Coghe

  • Authentic cultural immersion: local food, local transportation, engagement with families and communities

  • A true street photography experience documenting Día de Muertos

  • Daily photo reviews and mentoring

  • Safe environment with a leader who knows Oaxaca as his second home

Each participant will leave with a 10-image photo story to be featured in a digital photobook and on The Street Photography Channel on YouTube.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

  • Tuition and daily reviews

  • Accommodation in Oaxaca City

  • Professional portfolio review & mentoring program

  • eBooks & certificate of completion

  • Exclusive fine art print

  • Collective printed & digital photobook

  • Video interview for YouTube with your photos from the expedition

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

  • How to find & tell coherent and meaningful photo stories

  • How to photograph with intent — not just mindless shutter clicking

  • How to visualize your photo and “shoot with the mind” before the camera

  • How to create visually impactful, emotionally strong images

  • Portrait and candid techniques that add depth and meaning

  • Creative use of flash, exposure, and shutter speed for storytelling

  • How to interact with subjects while maintaining a candid approach

  • Techniques for speed, composition, and layering in the streets

  • How to work a scene and push your comfort zone

  • How to build a consistent body of work during a journey

  • And yes — how to drink mezcal and still shoot straight (and maybe even taste chapulines!)

✨ On the first evening (Oct 28), after our welcome dinner, we’ll go out without cameras to “mind photograph” the streets: observing, composing mentally, and later sharing our visions over mezcal in a local bar.

A TYPICAL DAY

  • Group breakfast and photo review

  • Shooting in the streets, markets, cemeteries, parades, and hidden corners of Oaxaca

  • Flexibility to adapt to spontaneous events and opportunities

  • Evening and night shooting sessions during the celebrations

  • Informal dinners and discussions

The expedition starts with a group dinner on October 28 in Oaxaca City and ends the morning of November 4 after breakfast.

OAXACA & DÍA DE MUERTOS

Día de Muertos was declared a UNESCO World Heritage in 2008. Far from being a macabre party, it is a celebration of life, memory, and family. In Oaxaca, these traditions are lived from the inside: altars in homes, cemeteries full of music and candles, parades, food, and rituals where locals welcome their dead with joy and respect.

As participants, you won’t just observe from the outside — you’ll live it from within: traveling like locals, connecting with families, tasting Oaxaca’s world-renowned cuisine, and experiencing mezcal culture at its source.

PRACTICAL INFO

  • All levels welcome

  • Any camera accepted

  • Laptop and SD cards required

  • Oaxaca is one of the safest states in Mexico, and Alex (who lives there) will guide you every step of the way

✨ This is your chance to live and photograph the most vibrant celebration in Mexico — not as a tourist, but as part of a close-knit group of photographers guided by Alex Coghe.

📧 For info and reservations: alexcoghe.store@gmail.com

DAY OF THE DEAD PHOTO EXPEDITION 2023 - ALL PHOTOS BY ALEX COGHE

Oaxaca is a city that I love deeply and that I know very well, and this is to the advantage of this photographic expedition. The trip will not include only the city of Oaxaca, we will also go to different villages in the state of Oaxaca. We will visit Mitla, Zaachila and much more. In addition to working hard, we will have so much fun working on our visual stories of the many events that will animate day and night.

Magic celebrations of the Day of the Dead with your camera with dances, exhibitions and ceremonies in the cemetery. Immerse yourself in the markets and villages to photograph colorful craftsmanship. Photograph the ancient ruins of Monte Albán and the magical place of Hierve el Agua to create unique and wonderful landscape photographs. A lunch with a family. Assistance during the preparation of an altar in a private house. Daytime and night time photography sessions. Techniques and approach Street Photography Style. Learn to photograph with content: how to tell a story through an image. Review of photos and unlimited feedback (lifetime tutoring program with Alex Coghe) Inclusion in an editiorial project Learn how to wok on assignment, including photographic photo training Historical information thanks to our anthropological guide Carmen Subia.

There is a special atmosphere in Oaxaca, the "hermosa" Oaxaca, during the Dia de Muertos. It's not just a traditional party. It can change your perception of life and death. How it happened to me.For this reason I don't want my photographers to take pictures that anyone will do there. We need to get into a particular state of mind, in order to get a portrait that is not just a portrait or a photo that captures a certain energy, because we have entered in depth, respecting the celebrations and the people of Mexico.

OUR TESTIMONIALS:

It was an incredible experience. Life changing in fact. Alex Coghe is an exceptional photo coach. If you truly wish to have a fully culitrally emmersed street photography expedition look no further. - Brad Zipursky

I took Alex's workshop in Oaxaca some years ago and it was one of the best I did. Perfect combination of photography and magic that Oaxaca brings. Widely recommended! - Gabriel Velasco Robles.

There is a special atmosphere in Oaxaca, the "hermosa" Oaxaca, during the Dia de Muertos. It's not just a traditional party. It can change your perception of life and death. How it happened to me.For this reason I don't want my photographers to take pictures that anyone will do there. We need to get into a particular state of mind, in order to get a portrait that is not just a portrait or a photo that captures a certain energy, because we have entered in depth, respecting the celebrations and the people of Mexico let's photograph the magic The photographic expedition of the Day of the Dead with Alex Coghe offers the exciting opportunity to be guided through the colorful, mystical and frantic celebrations of the Day of the Dead in Oaxaca with Alex's relaxed photographic advice. - Héctor Muñoz Huerta.

We had an in-depth, culturally immersive, rich opportunity to experience and photograph the Day of the Dead Celebration and the active markets, archaeological history, and artistic creations of the Oaxaca region. I was able to reflect on what, why, and how I photograph. This trip was not a superficial tourist view of the Day of the Dead celebration. We were able to share the experience with the residents and participants of the Oaxaca region. - Stephen Cysewski

Note: Please be advised that due to the unique and dynamic nature of the agenda in Oaxaca, the scheduled activities outlined in this itinerary may be subject to change. We strive to provide you with the best possible experience, and in some cases, adjustments to the plan may be necessary to accommodate local events, cultural celebrations, weather conditions, or unforeseen circumstances. Rest assured that any changes will be made with the intention of enhancing your photography expedition and ensuring you have a memorable and enriching experience. Your guide and instructors will keep you informed and updated throughout the journey, and we appreciate your flexibility and understanding as we navigate the intricacies of Oaxaca's vibrant culture and traditions. Thank you for your cooperation, and we look forward to sharing this extraordinary photographic adventure with you.