Today’s show explores captivating encounters and stories that turn fleeting moments into meaningful connections with people through the lens. Four guests who are experts in the field help me on this mission. Paul Hutson is a writer and photographer who has spent decades recording the stories of everyday people he encounters in pictures and words. Gabrielle Motola discusses the philosophy of asking strangers for a portrait and rejection. Valérie Jardin talks about candid street pictures and...

Merryn Glover is an award-winning international author whose work spans fiction, drama, poetry, journalism and radio plays. Raised in South Asia, educated in Australia, and a resident of Scotland for nearly 30 years, Merryn's culturally rich experiences are reflected in her writing. Merryn brings a unique perspective on how storytelling can enhance your visual art, offering invaluable insights for photographers wanting to add authenticity and depth to the written side of their work. Is...

Today, I chat with Balwinder Bhatla, AKA Mr. Whisper, a London-based visual storyteller and professional photographer. Bal specialises in delicious candid low-light street photographs, taking us on walks where the urban landscape transforms into a very different kind of place, where every pool of light or mysterious shadow becomes a photographer’s muse. He has shot stories in his style for BMW, Netflix, Google and Disney, including making a series of pictures to promote Star Wars Rogue 1. And...

Photographer Tatiana Hopper is a YouTuber and writer becoming well-known for her wonderfully accessible thought-provoking documentaries on master photographers, filmmakers and stories about personal creative photography endeavours. She challenges you to think about your why, your legacy, and introduces you to ideas and artists you may not otherwise have discovered.  Also on the show, finding solace in making photos of family, a strange gift arrives at the office, Poetry along the Path is...

It’s our end-of-the-month social media special! In this episode, we feature renowned photographers Sean Tucker, Valérie Jardin, Phil Penman, Emily Renier, and Neil Ford, along with your insightful letters. We discuss the currency of likes, explore preferred platforms, the ever-evolving channels, and navigate the social expectations of growing your following. Beyond the feed, we also tackle the critical topic of mental health and its intersection with photography in today's social media era....

One of the most personable landscape photography YouTubers to walk the fells of England’s Lake District is my guest this week, Glenn, AKA Black Crag, named after a geological feature of this extraordinary part of the UK. In his words, “I'll normally be found on a fell side or rummaging around in a deep ghyll somewhere because the Lake District is more than just my home; it's my lifeblood,” and I suspect after hearing today’s show you’ll have subscribed not just in terms of his channel, but...

My guest today is Tim Clinch, a celebrated photographer known for his diverse and dynamic career spanning multiple continents. Having begun his career in London, he ran his own studio before embarking on a globetrotting journey that took him to Spain, France, and now Eastern Europe. His work graces top publications like Conde Nast Traveller and Forbes Life. Tim is renowned for his food and travel photography, with numerous books and prestigious awards to his name. From the mailbag, Phil and...

Today, I’m joined by documentary photographer John Angerson, described as one of Britain’s most creative and versatile photographers, on a walk along an ancient wall in Silchester, England. This wall, part of a once-thriving Roman town, nearly led Silchester to become England’s capital. We talk about his long-term project, Love Power Sacrifice, where for 20 years, John photographed a cult-like religious organisation called the Jesus Army. Also, how the most normal of scenes can be the site...

Today, it’s a show with a difference. It’s officially a week off, though I’d miss you if we didn’t chat, so I’ve compiled a short sequence of past pieces that have featured on the Patreon channel’s MORE and EXTRA MILE editions. It’s an opportunity for those who don’t belong to this additional community within The Photowalk show to hear what I promote at the end of each week’s podcast. I thought you might like to peek behind the scenes, as it were. All will be explained within the introduction...

Renowned for exploring industrial landscapes and abandoned architecture, Christopher Payne delved into the forgotten corners of America's built environment for projects like Asylum and North Brother Island, to the latest, most advanced technologies that build the country now in his latest book, Made In America. What goes on in a shipyard that builds nuclear submarines? Chris has seen and photographed it. From the mailbag, photographing a stranger changes Steve Reeves' outlook on life, Jeremy...

Ian Randall is a sports photographer whose journey into the genre was as unexpected as it has been impactful to his life. Fate led him to photography, a twist of destiny in a life abruptly disrupted by an unwelcome visitor: cancer. His story resonates deeply with anyone who has faced this formidable foe, whether personally or through the lens of a loved one's struggle or loss. And his superpower? It seems to be a single photograph. From the mailbag, Rikki Bunder finds solace sleeping under...

Storyteller Al Brydon is a walker with a camera enraptured by the landscape and human interaction with it. He's published and exhibited internationally, and his projects may surprise you, including his fascination with graveyard bins and an encounter with a phantom cat. Also today from the mailbag: a Route 66 adventure, the best natural medicine that we ALL have access to, Mexico in an RV, a story witnessed by a centuries-old tree, and synchronised picture making on our trails. Plus, it...

Imagine a five-pointed star. Now attach a word to each point and think of them as the core principles or values associated with how and why you create or make photographs. Today as we walk together on the Photowalk show, the philosophical YouTuber Sean Tucker discusses five that I have chosen, and we ask you to consider your own during this exercise of creative self-discovery. It's also an expanded letters show today: the special nature of the pictures we make of strangers, collaborations,...

Stephen Dupont is an Australian photographer recognised around the world for his concerned photography on the human condition, war and climate, earning him dozens of prizes including the W. Eugene Smith Grant, and a Robert Capa Gold Medal Citation. Today he talks honestly about books, the why of photography, life, death and the camera.  Also on the show, remembering and respecting, taking a pilgrimage of quiet in France and Belgium along the Western Front of WWI, getting sentimental about...

As we walk today, two guests feature in the show. Photographer and creative retreat mentor Margaret Soraya from the Isle of Harris shares how the arts have helped her mental health immeasurably during a period of grief following the passing of her mother. Former school deputy head Emily Renier, now Fujifilm UK's latest ambassador, recounts how a mental breakdown reset her life both creatively and spiritually. Also on the show today, how the recent eclipse seems to have brought people...

Welcome to a photography podcast where we walk together with a mailbag of stories and pictures. My guest today, John Dolan, understands and completely embraces the importance of the photographic moment over photographic perfection. The second edition of his best-selling monograph, The Perfect Imperfect, is about to be released, and in it, he invites photographers to look beyond the shot list and find beauty and truth in imperfect moments. He has photographed the most recent Whitehouse...

Today, a holiday-special interview with the iconic fine art photographer Stephen Wilkes. Since opening his studio in New York City in 1983, he's built an unprecedented body of work and a reputation as one of America’s most iconic photographers, widely recognized for his fine art, editorial and commercial work. Stephen Wilkes talks candidly about being mentored by a photographic great, Jay Maisel, the most extraordinary and at times haunting project on Ellis Island, plus Day to Night, his most...

Mary Jo Hoffman is an aeronautical engineer-turned-artist. Twelve years ago she began a daily practice of photographing found nature, no subject too small or ordinary. Now, Phaidon has published her first book Still: The Art of Noticing. This is a story about a creative serendipitous find that has become, a beautiful way to live. Also today, philosophical YouTuber Sean Tucker answers a question about finding the energy to pursue photography despite daily life competing for space in one's...

I'm joined on Surrey's Chobham Common for a photo walk with award-winning photojournalist Jason Florio to announce 2025's Photowalk Show Adventure, which is going to be in India, photographing and riding the urban-suburban and rural countryside trains in and out of Mumbai. There's an invite to make our adventure YOUR adventure as we explore Mumbai, including the cave temples of Elephanta Island, and enjoy Holi, a Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love, and Spring. It's an...

Photographer Daniel Meadows has spent his life documenting British society, using photographs, audio recordings, and short movies. He is the creative architect of a sublime idea: putting a bed, a darkroom, and a photographic studio into a 1940s double-decker bus, touring it to meet and photograph as many people as he could to document British life, which has become a historic gem. From the mailbag, Tony Lorenzo, who bought a 1930s family photo from a box in a market, which then became a...

As I walk with your letters and inspirational stories, I'm joined on the show by studio guest Michelle Valberg, the Canadian Geographic Photographer, Nikon ambassador, and international fellow of the Explorers Club. Michelle has just returned from an adventure voyage photographing wildlife of the Antarctic Peninsula, navigating icebergs and rough seas to make extraordinary photographs. Also on the show from the mailbag, stuck in a watery rut in East Africa whilst seeking The Maasai, escaping...

On a long-distance bike adventure from London to St. Petersburg, an 'accidental' photographic find led photographer Christopher Herwig to subsequently cover tens of thousands of miles by car, bike, bus and taxi in 14 former Soviet countries, documenting unexpected treasures of modern art; 'Soviet Bus Stops'. This is an unbridled story of passion for a project that has consumed more than two decades of Christopher's life, and today he shares his enthusiasm for photographing the extraordinary...

Hans Johnson is an international award-winning film and television composer. He records and collects sounds from the cultures and people he spends time with, celebrating diversity and encouraging harmony and togetherness through his music. His videos and pictures often lead the compositions he makes and today, he shares the stories behind his music. Also, philosophical YouTuber Sean Tucker talks about the importance of retreat and recharging to energise your creativity, plus letters into the...

This week, join me, Neale James on the show in West Africa and journey with our Photowalk team as we explore The Gambia with those attending this special Photowalk Retreat; Mat Bobby, Lynn Fraser, Michael Assmann and Shannon Coppin, guided by photojournalist Jason Florio and film producer Andy Thompson plus new-found Gambian friends. We walk and learn together about what makes this small, welcoming country known as The Smiling Coast so uniquely special, how a recent political past has left an...