Photography Workshop · Capri, Italy
Film
to
Phone
The only workshop based on the island itself
April 2027
19–25 April
10–12
Participants max
3 nights
Based on Capri
2
World-class instructors
The only workshop based on the island itself
Film to Phone is a boutique, four-day photography workshop set on one of the Mediterranean's most extraordinary islands.
Co-led by two internationally recognised photographers — Rob Layton on iPhone and Dan Rubin on analogue film — the workshop is deliberately small: a maximum of 10–12 participants, three full nights on Capri, and a carefully sequenced itinerary built around the island's light, history, and geography. This is not a photo tour. It is a structured creative retreat with a commitment to helping participants make better, more intentional photographs.
Rob Layton is a journalist and educator at Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia. For more than a decade, Rob has collaborated with Apple to provide professional feedback on iPhone camera performance, a role that keeps him at the forefront of mobile imaging technology. He has worked with camera app developers including Filmic Pro, Blackmagic Design and LumaFusion.
Rob brings technical rigour and narrative depth to his global smartphone storytelling training sessions. Recognised by the Australian Government as Outstanding Teaching, placing him in the top 1% of educators nationwide. He is a regular trainer and presenter at the International Journalism Festival in Italy. On Capri, Rob draws on his ocean life — foundational to his doctoral research — to inspire and guide attendees' coastal narratives. Rob also specialises in narrative landscape film photography.
Born in Miami Beach and now based in London, Dan is a designer, photographer, co-founder of webgraph, a multi-disciplinary studio based in the US, and ICd, a design and brand strategy studio based in the UK. Former Creative Director at MOO and a member of 100cameras' Board of Creatives, Dan's practice focuses on usability and sustainability alongside a documentary approach to brand storytelling.
Dan speaks at events including SXSW, The Photography Show, WPPI, Smashing Conf, and the Mobile World Congress, leads workshops for Leica Akademie, Apple, Kodak, Polaroid, Ilford, and Fujifilm, and his Skillshare classes have had over 45,000 students. Dan travels the world on photographic commissions for Alfa Romeo, American Express, Apple, Barbour, Land Rover, Leica, The Macallan, Sony, Starwood Hotels, Travel + Leisure, and more.
Every location, timing and creative prompt has been personally researched and walked by Rob on Capri. Subject to minor adjustment.
Attendees land at Marina Grande, take the funicolare up to Capri centre, and check into accommodation. Instructors meet the group no later than 3pm for a gear check and first visual impressions of the island.
Meet at the Piazzetta. Take open-top group taxis down to the southern coastline. Walk along the shore at Scoglio delle Sirene — Sirens' Rock.
Creative Prompt — The Siren's Call: Capture the mystique of the rocks. In mythology this is where the sirens threw themselves into the water when Odysseus rejected them, turning into stone.
Gather at the iconic clock tower in the Piazzetta. Dinner at Ristorante Pulalli — from where Slim Aarons took his celebrated photograph of the square. Introductions and the workshop's overriding philosophies.
Step straight from the Piazzetta into the residential maze of upper Capri. Walk the narrow whitewashed alleys of Via Sopramonte and Matermania towards the Natural Arch.
Creative Prompt — Chiaroscuro Alleys: Capture scenes of local life — the cat sanctuary of Capri, fruit orchards — on the way to Natural Arch. Potential stop at Le Grottelle for independent lunch.
Free time to relax, eat, and wander the town centre at your own pace.
The group begins the 40-minute scenic trek up Via Tiberio. 2:45–4:15pm at Villa Jovis — explore the sprawling exposed Roman ruins where Tiberius ruled Imperial Rome for a decade. Then the wooded connecting trail to Villa Lysis. 4:45–6:00pm: peak afternoon light hits the Art Nouveau pillars directly.
Creative Prompt — Power, Paranoia & Exile: Villa Jovis offered absolute visibility of approaching ships. Anyone Tiberius disliked was thrown from the cliff now named Tiberius's Leap. At Villa Lysis — The Tragedy of Secluded Sanctuary: the Baron built his fortress-villa overlooking Marina Grande yet hidden from the society that exiled him.
Free night for attendees to explore Capri's dining scene independently.
Take the funicolare straight down to Marina Grande. Focus on colours and harbour life.
Creative Prompt — The Working Port: Capture a narrative of boats, local crews preparing vessels, and street life.
Walk from the Piazzetta to the Gardens of Augustus, then descend Via Krupp towards Marina Piccola — standing at the multi-tiered cliff terraces looking down at the serpentine switchbacks below.
Creative Prompt — Scale & Serpentine Lines: The dizzying geometry shows how massive industrial wealth carved a path out of solid inhospitable stone.
Board a private boat at Marina Grande and cruise the island perimeter, tracking the sun as it hits the water, passing through the Faraglioni Rocks.
Creative Prompt — From Sanctuary to Vulnerability: Passing through the Faraglioni is a psychological shift from the island's luxurious safety into the raw beauty of the open sea.
Gather at a traditional spot — La Capannina or Ristorante Al Caprì — to celebrate the final night together.
The sun rises over the sea, casting dramatic light across the Faraglioni rock formations. A beautiful final opportunity for those on afternoon ferries.
Over morning espresso at an outdoor café terrace near the Piazzetta, attendees debrief and share the week's best work. Workshop concludes at 12:00pm. Participants head to Marina Grande for afternoon ferries.
The workshop fee covers the full Capri experience — boutique accommodation, both group dinners, all island transfers, Villa Jovis and Villa Lysis entry, the private boat charter, full instruction, and post-workshop support. Getting to Naples and crossing to Capri is managed through our travel partner AG Boutique Journey.
What's Included
Registrations are managed by our travel partner AG Boutique Journey — a Rome-based Destination Management Company with expert knowledge of Capri and the surrounding region. They handle your accommodation, island transfers, dinners, and boat charter alongside your workshop fee in a single seamless package.
The booking link will be live shortly. For direct enquiries in the meantime:
rlayton@bond.edu.au