The Photowalk
The Photowalk is a mailbag-driven podcast where we walk, make pictures together, and meet with special guests along the trail. For anyone who likes to take pictures.
info_outline
#540 The biggest street story in London
07/17/2026
#540 The biggest street story in London
This week, The Photowalk explores the story of Notting Hill Carnival through the people who have lived it, photographed it and helped shape it over the decades. My lead guest is photographer Wayne Crichlow, co-author of Carnival of Resistance, a remarkable new book documenting Carnival through the eyes of those who know it best. Along the way, our conversation takes some unexpected turns. We meet London documentary photographer Sam Shervington, whose grandmother, Barbara, was there during Carnival's formative years, and Wilf Walker OBE, a music promoter whose story spans from the early days of Notting Hill Carnival to the fields of Glastonbury. Also today, we talk of Charlie Phillips, whose camera created one of the most important visual records of London's Caribbean community. We look back at the Mangrove Nine, discover the traditions behind J'ouvert and Jab Jab, and meet some of the people whose lives have become woven into the history of Carnival itself. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. BUY THE NEW SHOW ZINE,
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/42121760
info_outline
#539 "A life worth living"
07/10/2026
#539 "A life worth living"
This week, the conversation with Harry Borden moves beyond the portraits that made his name and into the ideas that continue to drive him. We talk about his "why", his growing YouTube channel and the deeply personal 4 Hugs Wide project. Harry also reflects on the detached retina that changed his outlook on life and speaks openly about a particularly difficult period, so just a gentle note that this part of the conversation touches on mental health. It's an honest, thoughtful and optimistic discussion with one of Britain's most respected portrait photographers. From the mailbag, we have some Hoptimism from Denmarkland too... and with an H. All will be revealed in a letter from Hegaard the Dane. If you don't believe in the power of a photograph, then Jim Farmer just might change your mind with today's opening letter. Chris Rawlings puts photography, AI and digital art into the same boxing ring with a question that's sure to divide opinion. We've got some biscuit tin answers to the question, "Which photographer, past or present, would you choose to make your portrait?" Valerie Jardin returns with this month's Teach Me Street, where she's very happily disappearing into a world of black and white, and the last letter of the show has a tortoise theme. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. BUY THE NEW SHOW ZINE,
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/42027150
info_outline
#538 Heard. Seen. Believed.
07/03/2026
#538 Heard. Seen. Believed.
Harry Borden has spent more than four decades photographing some of the world's most recognisable faces. His portraits of actors, musicians, business leaders and every UK Prime Minister from Margaret Thatcher onwards have appeared in publications including The Observer, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Magazine and Vanity Fair. But behind those well-known portraits is a photographer equally drawn to quieter, more personal work. In the first of a two-week conversation, Harry joins me to talk about photographing celebrities, captains of industry, and Prime Ministers; how he approaches portraiture when the clock is ticking; and why curiosity has always mattered more than reputation. We also begin exploring some of the personal projects that have shaped his career, before next week's episode turns more towards the story of Harry himself. The mailbag is in particularly good form this week, too. Michael Assmann writes a thoughtful and moving letter about fatherhood, Paul Holdorf shares a photo essay on darkness. Sandro Correia wonders how to rediscover his love of photography. Paul Eaves pens an unexpectedly poetic tribute to his washing machine, we unveil a brand-new Biscuit Tin Question, bring the latest quarterly photo assignment to a close, and hand over the next challenge to none other than portrait photographer Platon. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. BUY THE NEW SHOW ZINE,
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/41952480
info_outline
#537 A field full of stories: SPECIAL
06/26/2026
#537 A field full of stories: SPECIAL
What makes someone spend years restoring a traction engine, collecting children's bicycles, or keeping an old British car on the road when most of us would have given up long ago? This week, The Photowalk heads to the Dene Rally, where members of our community join me for a weekend of photography, conversation and a series of photographic challenges. We meet those who dedicate their lives to the magic of steam, there are family stories attached to classic cars, cowboys looking for new horizons in sleepy Hampshire, spooky fairground attractions, portraits with strangers and a story that proves the power of legacy negatives. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily.
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/41810595
info_outline
#536 The Scottish Retreat Special 2026
06/19/2026
#536 The Scottish Retreat Special 2026
This week, The Photowalk returns to the Scottish Highlands for a special show recorded during our latest 2026 retreat in Scotland. Together, we follow the Black Water as it gathers pace through the woodland gorge at Rogie Falls, find historic scenes in Cromarty, explore the wartime shoreline of Roseisle Beach, and spend time beside Loch Maree, one of Scotland's most celebrated lochs, where the mountain of Slioch rises directly from the water, just shouting for pictures to be made! Along the way, there are conversations about photography, friendship, creativity, large-format cameras, and the unexpected power of writing, not simply as a way of recording thoughts, but as a way of discovering them. Joined by Lynn Fraser, Michael Assmann, John Anderton and Giles Penfound, this journey takes you through a part of Scotland that has become deeply woven into the story of The Photowalk. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily.
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/41697040
info_outline
#535 The art of absolute patience
06/12/2026
#535 The art of absolute patience
This week, The Photowalk heads indoors to the Highland Print Studio in Inverness for an experience that's a world away from the instant gratification of modern photography. Over two days, we learn the centuries-old art of polymer photogravure, transforming digital photographs into richly textured fine art prints through a process of light, water, ink and an extraordinary amount of patience. Guided by master printmaker John McNaught, and joined by Lynn Fraser, Michael Assmann, John Anderton and Giles Penfound, we discover why so many photographers become captivated by this tactile craft. Along the way, we explore the history of photogravure, meet some of the artists who have embraced it, and find out why, in an age of endless scrolling, there is still something magical about slowing down and making a photograph you can truly hold in your hands. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/41617120
info_outline
#534 Two Scots, Two Stories
06/05/2026
#534 Two Scots, Two Stories
While I'm away in Scotland leading the Scotland 2026 retreat, I thought it would be fitting to bring you a special edition from The Photowalk archive. So, it’s an interview-only special where I’m revisiting two conversations with Scottish photographers whose work has left a lasting impression on me, and whose careers have taken them in very different directions. Albert Watson was born in Edinburgh and has spent more than five decades producing some of the most recognisable photographs ever made. From portraits of actors, musicians and world leaders to fashion and commercial work, his images have appeared on countless magazine covers and gallery walls around the world. Kieran Dodds grew up in the Highlands and is known for thoughtful long-term documentary projects that explore people, place and identity. We revisit his fascinating Gingers project, which saw him travel the globe photographing red-haired people in countries where you might least expect to find them. Two photographers, two very different careers, and a chance to hear again from a pair of Scots whose work continues to inspire photographers around the world. The NEW Zine is launched: . Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/41543180
info_outline
#533 Welcome aboard the TIME MACHINE
05/29/2026
#533 Welcome aboard the TIME MACHINE
This week on The Photowalk podcast, I’m joined by photographer and collector Tim Rice, whose remarkable archive of cameras, lenses, film stocks and photographic memorabilia has become something of a museum dedicated to photography’s past. From rare equipment to historically important oddities, we talk about the stories attached to the machines that once documented the world. Also returning to the show is independent curator and photography historian Hilary Roberts, former Head Curator of Photography at the Imperial War Museums, as we explore the idea of curation through photographs, archives, memory and history. In the mailbag, Phil Ferris writes from Oregon reflecting on place, stillness and impermanence before returning home to Cornwall, Don Ridgway follows the ancient stone circles of Britain and Tyler Cahoon shares thoughts from his Camino walk between Porto and Santiago, where photography became less about documenting others and more about understanding himself. There’s also the return of The Photo Assignment, plus news about the launch of the very first Photowalk zine, . Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/41460350
info_outline
#532 Finding solace in the symphony of sunrise
05/22/2026
#532 Finding solace in the symphony of sunrise
This week’s guest is Paul Sanders, who returns after a long absence to talk about his latest move to seek ‘still’. Paul spent years operating at the sharp end of British newspaper photography as Picture Editor of The Times, living among relentless deadlines, pressure, and the pursuit of tomorrow’s front page. Somewhere within that world, though, he began to realise that achievement and contentment don’t always arrive hand in hand. Over time, photography became less about proving himself and more about paying attention again. His pictures now are often shaped by solitude, weather, atmosphere, and the Cornish landscape. He speaks honestly about burnout, depression, creativity, and rebuilding a sense of purpose through time spent alone with a camera. We also discuss his new book, Still, which sold out within weeks of its initial publication. In the mailbag today, Adriano Henney discovers that his toughest critic may in fact be living under the same roof, David Munro is beginning a photographic project that lets him follow the beautiful game wherever his travels happen to take him, Glenn Sowerby finds himself among the black velvet and eyeliner of a Goth festival, our own Neil Ford is photographing people dressed in foam costumes while attempting half marathon world records, and Bob Demers, (Bob of the Desert) is asking the world to stop shouting! Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/41385460
info_outline
#531 "Failing is a big part of photography, I LOVE to fail!"
05/15/2026
#531 "Failing is a big part of photography, I LOVE to fail!"
This week’s guest is American photographer Tim Rice, whose career has covered everything from social photography and headshots to branding and commercial work, the sort of varied, real-world photography that has supported generations of working professionals behind the camera. Tim began his journey running a one-hour photo lab before the arrival of digital photography changed the industry almost overnight. Our conversation explores that transition, alongside his enduring affection for film, analogue processes, vinyl records, and cinema. In the first part of this extended conversation, we talk about photography’s changing landscape, craftsmanship, and the value of physical media in an increasingly digital world. We also discuss Tim’s upcoming photographic road trip across America’s “middle ground”, inspired by the observations and journeys of photographers Todd Webb and Robert Frank during the 1950s. In this week's mailbag, R.J. Campbell reflects on a photograph of his father and on how certain pictures seem to take on more meaning as the years pass. The biscuit tin question produces a wonderfully inventive collection of answers, Kari Price writes in from Australia with a letter that somehow manages to connect macro photography, street observation, Honeybrown beetles and burnt Basque cheesecake, Kelvin Brown is tempting us with barge life and Dennis Muir reflects on the hidden realities of photography, including muddy parking spots and creaking joints. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/41298680
info_outline
#530 Sean Tucker on writing: What pictures cannot say
05/08/2026
#530 Sean Tucker on writing: What pictures cannot say
I’m joined by photographer, writer and philosophical YouTuber Sean Tucker for a conversation about writing as a creative act; a way of noticing, a way of understanding yourself, and perhaps even a way of staying awake to life. What began as a listener letter about creative block and photography has become a much bigger conversation about expression itself and how sometimes words can unlock parts of our creativity that pictures alone cannot reach. Sean talks beautifully about the role writing now plays in his daily life and creative practice, how it sharpens observation, and why putting thoughts onto a page can become far more than simply “content creation.” Along the way, we wander into philosophy, memory, creativity, identity, grief, and the strange human need to make sense of our experiences by shaping them into stories. The conversation also touches gently and honestly on personal loss and suicide, particularly toward the latter part of the episode. And because writing has increasingly become part of my own creative life too, I also share a deeply personal audio essay from the series Halfway to Maybe about gratitude, existence, loss, and the sheer improbability of being alive at all. This is a thoughtful edition, most certainly, a reflective one, and a conversation about creativity. In the mailbag, Tomas Nilsson is thanking Holga for his newfound vigour for photography, appreciating that sounds a little like an interesting cheese and wine party from the 70s, Kelvin Brown has essential viewing homework for a weekend film, and Adam Flack solves the strange barking in the woods that unnerved me in an earlier episode. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/41213795
info_outline
#529 "Don't ever lose these pictures"
05/01/2026
#529 "Don't ever lose these pictures"
Today I feature Fran May, a British photographer whose black-and-white work from the 1970s captures a version of Britain that has largely vanished: northern towns, street markets, pubs, kids playing out, and Brick Lane in London. What makes the photographs remarkable is how unforced they feel. Nothing is staged, nothing is trying too hard. They are just honest slices of ordinary life, made by someone who came to England from the wide open spaces of Canada and Hawaii and found something worth documenting in the terraced streets and shop fronts of a country that still had one foot firmly in the post-war years. Fran worked under the mentorship of Bill Brandt, and it shows in the seriousness with which she approached the everyday. There's a touch of street about the show because Valerie Jardin returns for another edition of Teach Me Street. The mailbag is as wonderfully unpredictable as ever: Margaret Ellison in New Zealand writes about losing her way photographically and finding it again through writing; Robin Taylor-Hunt, Maurice Webster and Colin Mayer send postcards from India, Venice and what appears to be a particularly chilly beach in Blackpool, respectively; and Gene Westberg is celebrating our profanity-free zone. We’ll remind you of this quarter’s photo assignment, and you’re invited to join the show for this year’s Photowalk meet-up at a country fair to make photographs of people. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/41114650
info_outline
#528 Mike Tyson and the pigeon
04/24/2026
#528 Mike Tyson and the pigeon
This week’s guest is Paul Mobley, one of America's most accomplished portrait photographers, a man who has spent his career looking people in the eye to tell their stories through photography. He trained under Annie Leibovitz in New York, went on to shoot for some of the biggest names in advertising and editorial, and has pointed his lens at everyone from Adam Sandler and Daniel Radcliffe to Amy Schumer and Bill Burr, as well as major brands like Apple, Ford and American Express. But it's his personal work that sets him apart. Paul has spent years driving across the United States, well over 100,000 miles of it, making four books that document ordinary Americans living lives most people never stop to notice. Farmers, firefighters, everyday heroes, and centenarians in all fifty states who've lived through world wars, the space age and the digital revolution and still have something to say. He shares stories about how he puts sitters at ease, plus a tale where it could have all gone wrong with Mike Tyson, until a pigeon showed up. Also, in the mailbag as we walk, between my chat with Paul, you are about to be introduced today by Phil Ferris to an Australian urban poet who is the gem in my life I didn’t know I needed, but now I’ve found him, I need to share his name with you. Wallace Shackleton shares his memory of the Camino by bike, a slight warning for reasons that will become clear; Richard Rawlings’ letter is most likely to make you itch, and we check in with Raja Bhagavatula, who has found his own magical place on earth, in Scotland, next to an oil rig. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/40994560
info_outline
#527 A society of the Endless Image
04/17/2026
#527 A society of the Endless Image
This week’s guest is Ruth Guest, a photographer and cyberpsychologist who’s spent a lot of time thinking about what’s really going on when we make pictures in a world that never seems to stop producing them. We explore the topics of losing your spark with photography, the pressure of everything we see online, and what happens when you start copying others without even realising it. It’s less about cameras and more about what’s happening in your head when you pick one up. We also touch on why we shoot in the first place, whether it’s for work, for memory, or just to hold on to something that matters, plus what changes once those images are shared with the world. If you’ve ever questioned your own reasons for taking pictures or felt a bit lost in all the noise, this is an episode for you. In the mailbag this week, Jeff Smeraldo writes in about photographing family and why it matters more than we often realise, especially when it comes to legacy. Hegaard the Dane is stepping into what he calls a “proper grown-up job,” which somehow leads us to news of a brand-new meet-up. Dennis Linden introduces a YouTuber who came to photography later in life, someone who didn’t follow the usual path, and the photo assignment returns, set by photographer and artist Gael Hillyard. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/40904960
info_outline
#526 The India Photowalk Special 2026
04/02/2026
#526 The India Photowalk Special 2026
India is not a country that eases you in gently. It doesn't really do gentle. It's a place of somewhere between 1.4 and 1.5 billion people, the most populous nation on earth, having overtaken China in 2023, and it carries that scale in everything: the noise, the colour, the traffic, the sheer press of human life happening all around you at once. It is the world’s largest democracy, has a space programme, a film industry that dwarfs Hollywood, and somewhere in excess of twenty official languages. It's not a country so much as a civilisation that happens to have borders around it. In this special, we go to two cities. Kolkata, in the east, formerly Calcutta, and Varanasi, on the Ganges, which may well be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world and which confronts you, very directly, with questions about life and death that most of us spend considerable energy avoiding. Into all of this walked eight photographers, Anne, Bill, Fraser, Lloyd, Mercedes, Nicola, Owen and Peter, along with my travelling partner, in The Journey Beyond Lynn Fraser, and our Indian mentors and guides: Shivam, Shubh, Mohit and Arvind. What you're about to hear is an India special edition of the Photowalk Podcast, and honestly, as you’ll hear, it affected us in ways we weren’t expecting. It’s a long episode, and for that I make no apology… but I hope that, with the music, the characters, the surprises, and the scenes described, you will feel you have photowalked there with us. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/40717430
info_outline
#525 How to change your life profoundly
03/27/2026
#525 How to change your life profoundly
After a handful of specials, four weeks away from the studio, and a journey that took me from Austria to Bangladesh and on into India, it feels a little overdue, and very welcome, to make this a mailbag week, walking one of my favourite photowalk paths with camera and Sir Barkalot, spending a good hour and a bit with the letters you've been sending in, some contemplative music, the wind doing its thing along the path, and the welcome return of Valerie Jardin, our street photography mentor, fresh from her own travels in Mexico, for TEACH ME STREET. Letters and stories today from Martyn Cox, who wonders if exotic places and travel lead to making better photographs, Paul Morgan has some thoughts on Bangladesh and her workforce, Andreas Noeh shares a super project from New York where loft life rules for artists, Jon Otis has me diving for cover behind the sofa of flattery, Dennis Linden is researching family history and creating his own, Tom Cavness practices Haiku, and Monika Adler finds profound beauty and peace with her photography and a famous English backdrop. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/40639690
info_outline
#524 The Bangladesh Photowalk Special
03/20/2026
#524 The Bangladesh Photowalk Special
Today, the show travels to Bangladesh. It’s the first of two specials, as we visit India too in the coming weeks. Bangladesh is roughly the size of England, with a population of between 170 and 200 million people. Dhaka is one of the busiest, loudest, most relentlessly alive cities you are ever likely to walk through. The city runs on noise, an orchestra of car, bus, rickshaw and tuk-tuk horns and beeps that never quite stops, layers of sound that, after a while, start to feel almost normal. We walk the riverbanks of the Buriganga, explore the shipyards of Keraniganj, lose ourselves in the markets of Old Dhaka, and find ourselves unexpectedly invited through a wall into a Krishna festival in full swing. Along the way, we photograph the sand carriers of the river and spend time in a city that rewards anyone willing to look past the surface. Into all of this walked my travel partner, Lynn Fraser, and I, with cameras and the great fortune of having GMB Akash as our guide, a World Press Photo winner who has spent his career photographing lives on the margins in a way that gives people back their dignity rather than reducing them to their hardships. This isn't a formal interview with him, more time spent together in his city, with his people. You'll get a very clear sense of who he is. We certainly did. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/40549165
info_outline
#523 Long live your photo blog!
03/13/2026
#523 Long live your photo blog!
David duChemin is back for his third visit, and this time we're tackling a surprising topic: the enduring power of photography blogs. In an age of algorithms and fleeting posts, David makes a compelling case that blogs aren't dead and are thriving as vital spaces for deeper storytelling and better connection with your audience. Through a curated collection of photography blogs, we explore why long-form content and owning your platform matter more than ever, whether you're shooting for clients or purely for the love of it. David is a photographer and author based on Vancouver Island, Canada. A former humanitarian photographer, his work shifted after a life-altering accident in Italy in 2011 left him a below-the-knee amputee. We also talk about his adventures in Kenya. Join David in this special to discover why the blog remains one of photography's most powerful tools. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/40342400
info_outline
#522 Seeing slowly at the end of The Earth
03/06/2026
#522 Seeing slowly at the end of The Earth
David Wright returns from Antarctica with the story he promised to share with us at the start of the year. He talks of the deep stillness he encountered on his expedition as a guide, and the practicalities of photographing this vast beautiful land and seascape. David is known worldwide as an award-winning filmmaker and photographer who has worked in more than seventy countries for clients including National Geographic and the BBC. His path has gradually moved toward personal projects, and this Antarctic voyage is a part of that chapter, where the focus is on seeing slowly, working with isolation and weather, and translating one of the planet’s most remote places into images. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/40324235
info_outline
#521 Just one shot, part 2
02/25/2026
#521 Just one shot, part 2
In this second part, former professional documentary photographer Giles Penfound and I are back at Penwood in Berkshire, England, to make one special single picture using 5x4, paying homage to the late Dennis Lee, an American community member who passed at the start of 2026. In this episode, you get to see what all of that waiting, all of that patience, actually produced. We reveal the finished photograph: the large-format portrait of a remarkable tree. We also pick up the conversation where we left it, talking more about what happens when you deliberately take your foot off the accelerator, not just as a photographer, but as a person moving through the world. Giles came from documentary work, where speed and instant story were everything, and watching him operate with a 5x4 plate camera in a quiet wood in Berkshire is about as far from that as you can get. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/40229420
info_outline
#520 Just one shot, part 1
02/20/2026
#520 Just one shot, part 1
Sometimes the most profound photographs aren't made in an instant, they're cultivated over days, even weeks. In this special two-part episode, I walk with photographer Giles Penfound in Penwood in Berkshire, as he slows down to make a single large-format image of a giant tree, a portrait created in honour of a photographer known to us both. Working with a 5x4 plate camera, Giles has transformed his practice from the fast-paced world of documentary work to something more deliberate, contemplative, and rooted in presence. Across two weeks, we explore what it means to truly slow down: waiting for light, sitting with a ‘subject’, and navigating the mental space that opens up when you're no longer chasing the next frame. We discuss mental health, the quality of light, and choosing a different pace of life in a world that demands speed. This is photography as meditation, as ritual, as a way of being fully present with the world. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/40149995
info_outline
#519 Milestones in your life
02/13/2026
#519 Milestones in your life
This week, I speak with Gary Williams, a professional singer who's performed at Buckingham Palace and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, where the late Martin Parr once photographed him. Over the last two years, Gary has built a thriving business photographing micro weddings at London's iconic town halls, the same venues where Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Lily Allen, and Ed Sheeran have tied the knot. We discuss reaching his photographic milestone of 100 weddings in just two years, the process of building a practice as a newcomer to professional photography, and what he's learned along the way. It's 100 not out. Then Valérie Jardin returns for her monthly Teach Me Street segment, where she offers creative feedback on candid street photos submitted by two photographers, examining the decisions made and the stories behind the images. From the mailbag, Sven in Switzerland is trying to lose the imposter syndrome character on his shoulder, Gene Westberg wonders if he missed a photographic trick during the pandemic, Jussi Jääskeläinen takes us on a hike in North Eastern France, Adriano Henney shares what he loves about Venice, and there's a moment of Spike Milligan silliness, or at least an ode to him, from the Doctor of Reflection, Robin Chun. Plus, news about some very special editions coming in the next four weeks. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/40092155
info_outline
#518 What is a photograph?
02/06/2026
#518 What is a photograph?
This week, Steven Seidenberg is my guest, a photographer, philosopher, and writer whose work focuses on empty spaces, ordinary places, and the things most people pass by. His photographic books include The Architecture of Silence and Pipevalve: Berlin, and his work has been shown internationally, from Europe to the US and Japan. Alongside the photographs, he writes prose and poetry that explore similar themes, examining perception and what it means to truly notice what’s in front of us. It’s certainly one of our more thought-provoking conversations of late, as Steven even questions what a photograph actually is, if it’s not a printed, tangible, tactile thing. From the mailbag, Andrew Larking writes about self-criticism, sharing a story that touches on depression and the instinct many of us have to try to push through it alone; Richard Rawlings writes about neurodiversity, and Jim Farmer reports on unexpected wildlife encounters that may or may not involve actual alligators a little too close to home! Also today, a chance to join in with a new community feature for 2026 called HERE AND THERE. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/40017455
info_outline
#517 Dreaming in Photos
01/30/2026
#517 Dreaming in Photos
This week, I speak with Cathal McNaughton, a well-respected international photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize winner. We discuss his biographical film I Dream in Photos, his recent photography in Ukraine that focuses on ordinary life continuing alongside the war brought to their country, and the role family plays in shaping how and why he photographs. Along the way, Cathal shares a personal discovery that has refocused attention on him, after a career spent observing others. It becomes a conversation about self-understanding and what it means to keep making photographs when the relationship with the camera itself is being questioned. From the mailbag, Richard Rawlings pairs photographs with prose as walking helps him appreciate nature, Marilyn Davies nudges anyone still circling a 365 feature, to just start, even if February becomes the starting line, and Jaki G heads celebrates Lisbon’s street photo festival, and walking with the celebrated Phil Penman who swapped his adopted New York for the Portuguese capital. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/39932570
info_outline
#516 Standing where Orwell stood
01/23/2026
#516 Standing where Orwell stood
This week, I talk with Craig Easton, and the conversation embraces AI, trust in photojournalism, and how a still photograph can still hold its own. But the heart of this chat sits on a Scottish island. Picture a house at the end of a single-track road, miles from anywhere, no shop, no pub, just weather, water, and time. This is Barnhill, on the Isle of Jura, where George Orwell came to live and work while writing Nineteen Eighty-Four. Craig travelled to this fabled place to make his new book 'An Extremely Un-Get-Atable Place'. This is a conversation about place, curiosity, and paying attention. On today’s walk from the mailbag, Jade Lee discovers just how powerful it can be to swap pictures with people in other countries, Jean-Maurice Cormier shares some thoughts on travel and street photography, and Phil Ferris appears to be listening from the shower in what may or may not become a formal complaint, all while we pack coffee, biscuits, film, and a copy of 1984 into our camera bags. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/39844990
info_outline
#515 Strangers when we meet
01/16/2026
#515 Strangers when we meet
Strangers When We Meet is a street portrait project built as much on conversation as photography. In it, Tim Allen approaches people he has never met, talks with them, and then makes their portrait. Beneath that simple exchange sits a longer story about family influence and a decision to move his life to the town where he now photographs its people. The family thread isn’t about cameras being passed down, but about a father who could talk to anyone, and how that way of meeting the world found its way into the work. We talk about Tim’s book, Strangers When We Meet, published to raise funds for St Michael’s Hospice, and his return to Artisans, a project documenting people who make things for a living. From the mailbag: Glenn Sowerby has been making street pictures at big-city football matches. Chris Hughes reckons he may already have made his one big picture for 2026, just days into the year, and Jeff Smeraldo is deep into proper family photographic history. Also today Valérie Jardin returns for the first of our monthly TEACH ME STREET features and she shares news about We are Minnesota, plus there’s an invitation to come to Scotland in 2026 and further afield to India, Mongolia and Venice. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/39752235
info_outline
#514 THE ONE, big pictures from 2025 Part 2
01/07/2026
#514 THE ONE, big pictures from 2025 Part 2
Late last Autumn, I asked you to send me one photograph you made in 2025. Not a greatest hit and not something that had done well online, just the one you kept coming back to when nobody else was watching. The one you might show a friend and say, “Yeah, this really means something.” What arrived was more than I expected. Over a hundred pictures came in, each with a story attached, some short, some long, some so open it made me pause. The level of trust that this show evokes never feels normal, and this project really brought that home. THE ONE was never meant to be a competition. There was no ranking, no winners, no pecking order. The pictures we talk about are simply the ones that made me stop, sometimes because of the image, sometimes because of the story that sat behind it. I invited 10 photographers over two weeks to talk about their work, and this is the second of those two special editions. If your picture isn't included in these two episodes, it doesn’t mean it was missed. This grew bigger than anyone expected, and THE ONE now has a home on the website, ready to be returned to throughout the year. John Lancaster talks about a health scare that pushed him to look at both life and photography differently. Wendy Brandon takes us out onto the water, finding calm among whales and ice. Jan van der Hooft shares a deeply personal story of love, loss, and what it means to keep making pictures. Michael Tenbrink brings his blurred, dreamlike landscapes into the mix, while Gene Westberg reminds us that some of the best images happen when you wander off the main path. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/39650540
info_outline
#513 THE ONE, big pictures from 2025 Part 1
01/02/2026
#513 THE ONE, big pictures from 2025 Part 1
Before Christmas, I asked you to send me one photograph from 2025. Not necessarily what you consider to be your best, not your most liked, and not something measured against anyone else in either competition or social media terms. Just the picture that said to you, “This was my 2025.” The one you kept coming back to. My plan was to invite ten photographers to the first episode of 2026 to talk about their pictures and the why behind them. Over a hundred arrived, each with a story attached, and it quickly became clear that with the compelling stories you sent in, we’d need to spread this across two editions, and so that is where we are. As I spoke to the people behind these pictures, the conversations opened out into how we see, why we photograph, and what was going on in life when the shutter was pressed. This episode is the first half of those conversations. Unrushed, unscripted, and simply photographers talking about images that meant something to them, and by extension, saying a little about themselves. David Wright reflects on serenity in photography through an image that feels like an emotional time capsule. John Charlton talks about a Northern Lights photograph whose meaning runs far deeper than the light in the sky. Wayne Richards joins me on the path to talk about a rag tied to a railing that all but demanded to be photographed. Kim Cofield shares thoughtful advice drawn from her experience of making animal portraits, and Mark Creamer looks back on a photograph made in the middle of a disaster zone. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, . Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/39585520
info_outline
#512 The time it takes to be truly seen
12/19/2025
#512 The time it takes to be truly seen
Today’s guest is Phil Sharp, a portrait photographer whose work has been on my radar for a while, and who was brought back into focus for me through a couple of prompts and a short film made by Sean Tucker. Phil’s approach is considered, patient and personal. He creates a setting where people are given time, often during longer sessions in his London studio, to settle rather than perform. Music often plays a part in that process, helping to establish a mood that is very evident throughout his portfolio. This conversation isn’t about cameras or lighting setups. It’s about how you create the conditions for someone to feel comfortable enough to show whatever emotion arrives, whether that’s openness, uncertainty, or anything in between. It’s about trust, presence, and what can happen when a photographer is willing to slow things down, away from the watchful eyes of publicists in the corner of the room. If you’re interested in portrait photography, there’s plenty here. But if you’re interested in how time, attention, and thoughtfulness affect the way people appear in photographs, a human approach, I think you’ll find a lot to sit with in this one. From the mailbag, Phil Ferris clears up a curious fascination with bottoms, and no, it’s not quite what it sounds like. There’s a long service award for Morris Haggerty, a sunnier than usual update from Jack Antal in San Diego with a nudge towards making books, and Per Birkhaug checks in from the Norwegian mountains with a few thoughts about age and perspective. There are some thoughts about the end of the year as we look ahead to the show in 2026, and an invitation to come to as we meditate a little in the middle of today’s edition. Links to all guests and features will be on the , my sincere thanks to our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and , giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/39465495
info_outline
Reflections: Should I know you?
12/15/2025
Reflections: Should I know you?
is a short-form feature within The Photowalk podcast, offering thoughtful observations on a creative life and the themes that we often discuss on Fridays, including perfectionism, impostor syndrome, comparison, confidence, and more. It’s a pause at the start of the week to recalibrate, recorded in the studio between the walks. Each Monday, you’ll find Reflections on The Photowalk podcast feed, providing a creative reset to start the week. From Tuesday to Friday, it continues exclusively on our member-supported channel, , for those who walk a little further with us. From Terry Wogan to “my five-year-old could do that,” a bemused look at how creatives are spoken to, and spoken over. My sincere thanks to who sponsor this show, plus our without whom we wouldn't be walking each week. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available .
/episode/index/show/breathepictures/id/39403210