Aged 31, Australian Police Officer Duade Paton's sudden surprise heart attack and near-death experience introduced him to a new life, walking and making photographs of the birdlife of his extraordinary country. Moving out of the city to a small cottage in 130 acres of bush with his wife, he's been planting trees and recording the wildlife of his new home. Now also a YouTuber who spends his time helping others to find photography, Duade talks very openly about his experiences and why...

For a show made out in nature with a microphone, camera and mailbag, today's guest fits like a well-loved and fitted favourite walking boot. Craig Mod is a walker, author, prolific maker of books and photographer. We discuss his long walks across Japan, his love of traditional Japanese country 'tea-drinking shops' called kissaten, making newsletters, his spiritual food pizza toast, the palpably personal nature of his latest work and more.  Also today and from your walking letters;...

Today's guest Karin Majoka is a visual artist, photographer, YouTube content creator and psychotherapist based in Germany. Her short films bring tuition, travel and personal stories together with an underlying love for film photography. Letters and stories today from the mailbag feature; returning to scorched lands of this summer’s cruel wildfires in Nova Scotia to find a welcome gift from Mother Nature, the 'set' of The Shining, and the dribbly-nosed child, we take some feedback from last...

Can art and the spoken word be a voice for peace? Today, following the appalling events of a violent week in the Middle East, I discuss the "Greatest communicator you've never heard of," Abie Nathan; an Israeli humanitarian and peace activist who founded the Voice of Peace radio station which broadcast from a ship in the Mediterranean, with broadcaster Robbie Owen. For two decades it transmitted a message of togetherness and brought together all cultures, beliefs and nationalities to discuss...

Kamal X is an astronaut with a camera, though the missions he flies, the planets he visits, are both familiar and alien. Today he talks of friendship, healing, and his latest book; Black Astronaut, The Stars Belong to the People. From the mailbag, photography as a treatment for stress, anxiety and PTSD, a newfound passion for making pictures, a rumble in the jungle, a postcard from The Fall, graffiti pictures, a trip to London, and quiet Croatian dawns. Also, did you spot the error from last...

Today, documentary photographer David Wright talks about his life behind a lens, making stories about the British, his fascination for modern tribes, the f8 documentary community and why photography is so precious to him. From the mailbag, a whirlwind pictorial trip to Alaska, postcards that don’t have to boast vista-like views, places on photographic bucket lists, what’s ‘Mickey Mouse’ about weddings, the beauty of the British lakes, why printing your pictures is better than hoping Insta...

Is the joy of what we do about the answer, or the search? I find upon the shore of Loch Ness, Steve Feltham, the Nessie Hunter, convinced that there is 'something' beneath the surface of Scotland's most famous loch. In the early 90s, Steve boarded an old library van, leaving the 'rat race' behind to travel from the south of England to the Highlands of Scotland and whilst he hasn't found the Loch Ness Monster, yet, he has found something arguably more significant, about life. Also today, dive...

This week, you're invited to join our Extra Milers in beautiful, majestic, enchanting Scotland. Join us on this year's Photowalk Retreat in the Highlands. We walk the cairns, the battlefields, the moors, the lochs and mountains, learn how to shoot film, battle the squalls, immerse ourselves in history and discover the joys of going off-grid and making new friends. Links to all stories and guests will be on the SHOW PAGE as always and my sincere thanks to mpb.com who sponsor this show and...

We walk together on a Monday, a special programme today to commemorate 9/11, the date in September that changed the course of history forever, socially and geopolitically. The commemoration includes archive interview material with photographer Joel Meyerowitz and photojournalist Jason Florio, with previously unpublished thoughts from the New York City-based street photographer Phil Penman. This programme contains material and language that some listeners may find disturbing.  Links to all...

Phil Penman is my guest today, the British-born, New York-based celebrated street photographer. He’s documented the ever-changing scene of New York City’s streets approaching three decades and we talk about photojournalism, confidence, making news pictures and the rich exciting nonstop tapestry where whatever could happen, probably will. Also today, why adventure is for the now, we find an old school bus in a forest which becomes photographic gold, beautiful scenery on the Emerald Isle, plus...

VII Agency Photojournalist and award-winning storyteller in stills, video and sound, Ilvy Njiokiktjien joins me to talk about personal risk-taking, documenting the social and political issues that continue to shape our world. Also today, perfection; is it really necessary when making pictures, or for that matter doing anything in life? Postcards today from Canada and Indonesia, from calm misty waters to the perils of sulphur mining on the side of an active volcano. NYC street photographer...

The second of two Friday Summer Specials featuring seven former guests from our three-year archive sharing photographic and LIFE wisdom. In this second show, photographer and social activist Misan Harriman, the bush-firefighter and photographer Cam Neville, the mindful landscape photographer discovering still Paul Sanders, the commercial pet and animal photographer Elke Vogelsang, landscape photographer, mentor and YouTuber Adam Karnasz, photographer and speaker Nancy Borowick, and Pulitzer...

A special pop-up episode today of The Photowalk as I trek along an old disused railway path with social photographer Tom Humble who is looking to launch PhoToCo, a photography app to cut through the noise of movies, adverts 'every other post' and feeds you aren't interested in, but do we really need another? Aren't there enough already? What's different about this? Why might it change ALL apps and the way we work? Questions answered today, along with a revisit to a very personal work which...

Across the next two weeks, a brace of Friday Summer Specials featuring seven former guests from our three-year archive sharing important life learnings from their careers about photography, about creativity, about LIFE. In this first show, former army photographer and now documentarian Giles Penfound, the philosophical YouTuber Sean Tucker, documentary photographer Amelia Troubridge, creative thinker Scott Shillum, a National Geo Explorer Hailey Sadler, the landscape photographer and...

Documentary photographer Ian Howorth talks about identity, curiosity and his latest book, A Country Kind of Silence. Also today, the wonder in the ordinary, we visit a tree of life on two continents and there are WISH YOU WERE HEREs from North America. We have a very vulnerable and down-to-earth honest answer to "What's your why" from one of our Extra Milers and a story about acceptance and change, plus it being the second Friday of the month, street photographer Valérie Jardin is here with...

A special edition this week as I vacation in Wales, walking the rugged Pembrokeshire coastline, not with your letters this time, but a selection of recordings that have featured in Extra Mile editions, our Patreon-supported shows which follow the Friday walking episodes. This is a behind-the-scenes invite to hear stories you will not have heard in the free stream. Today, photojournalist Erin Trieb shares a personal encounter that leads to a greater understanding of mental health and the...

Celebrated American sports photographer Jean Fruth joins us while we walk today, to talk about how to 'read the game' for better pictures on the field and in life. Jean is known for her love and photography of baseball, plus mentoring new photographers, though we also talk about the perfect snack, pizza, missed shots and The Rolling Stones. Also this week, WISH YOU WERE HERE, authenticity, why imperfection can be perfect and Mali Davies joins me with the 'feature roughly in the middle of the...

Portrait, celebrity, fashion and theatre photographer, Craig Fleming shares his story from being a roadworker, to photographing Hollywood's finest for the LA Times, though it seems everybody is a portrait opportunity, frequently visiting air and country shows to make personal project portraits of the strangers he meets. Also today, photographers who aren't able to recall faces or visualise objects in their imagination, tackling the why question and Jeffery Saddoris, podcaster, writer and...

Author, mentor, and photographer Gill Moon talks of her love for calmer landscapes finding beauty in the detail, giving others a voice within her books about nature and the environment. Also today, Valérie Jardin returns for part 2 of her series on making better street photographs, today - the art of the grab shot. There's inspiration to make a photographic road trip that you've been planning your whole life, how privacy laws affect your right to make pictures in public, photographing markets...

A podcast that takes a mailbag, a camera, your thoughts (and a dog) out into nature, spending time together making pictures and sharing inspirational stories. Today's guest, documentary photographer Paul Choy from Mauritius shares what he's found to be the 'secret' word of trust whilst recording 'unscripted moments of everyday life he encounters all over the world'. Also today, being 'just a bloke' with a camera, aerial scenes of delight, goldfish; the snack of the walker and will ai make you...

Meeting a stranger along a path leads one special listener to make his first 'street portrait' and unwittingly introduces us to an adventuring hiker who has changed his life, leaving the corporate hamster wheel to become a 'professional' walker. Also today, conquering an American mountain, making your own audio photowalk stories, a scary photographic proposal and the most fantastic story of the flask, a famous Canadian coffee shop and a very expectant mum. See the SHOW PAGE for reference...

We use photography and taking pictures to help with a myriad of positive mindful pursuits, but what happens when the enjoyment of picture-making starts to challenge our creative self-belief, leading us to doubt our work and achievements? My multi-disciplinarian guest Jeremy Bassetti, photographer, lecturer, travel writer and podcaster, believes he has an answer and he shares it today. From the mailbag, finding courage to make stories with complete strangers, happenstance on top of a mountain,...

An extended show this week as I journey to North Wales, to Eryri (formerly Snowdonia) to speak, hike and climb with photographer, teacher, mentor, wild camper and outward-bound survival skills trainer, Andy Fisher. We talk about the majesty of the largest national park in Wales with its nine mountain ranges. We chat about family, survival, mental health, bush skills, human endeavour and meet an unexpected mountaineering guest from the other side of the world. I also face an 'adventure first'...

The only walking photography podcast of its kind, from the Netherlands, Loek van Vliet talks today about his long-term photography project Earthly Windows, a trip through time and space in Europe. Valerie Jardin begins a new monthly series of Visual Stories; a mini street workshop and Extra Miler Matt Dolinski shares his thoughts on how photography helps his mental health. Letters as we walk today on an unknown phenomenon that removes your ability to recall objects in your mind, the walking...

Scott Chouciño changed his photographic career direction completely during and following the pandemic. He embraced quitting at a time many creatives were clinging to whatever social or financial life raft made available. It was a 'plan' that worked. From portraits to food and filmmaking. Also today from your letters into the show, fighting the MojoDemon, a Sicilian monochrome adventure, abandoned movie theatres and looking forward, not back. It being the first Friday of the month, we have a...