The Photowalk

What happens when you've already reached the heights of your profession, but find yourself searching for a new sense of purpose in something you've spent much of your life doing? This week, I'm walking again with my dear friend Giles Penfound, a photographer who once worked at the very highest levels of his profession, documenting conflict and life in some of the world's most challenging and dangerous places, before his life and relationship with photography changed considerably. One moment he was making important legal documents with his camera, and the next, a 'deafening' quiet descended. What followed was more than a decade of trying to find his way creatively again, exploring large-format landscapes, printing, commercial photography, workshops, travel and wedding photography. But the more he searched for a new direction, the harder it seemed to become to reconnect with the very thing that had drawn him to photography in the first place. Giles has now discovered being a photo tourist, an idea that has changed how he approaches photography and the world around him. It's about staying curious, finding interest in places we might otherwise overlook, not labelling yourself, being free to make photographs without feeling they have to belong together as part of a larger body of work or story, and approaching somewhere familiar with the same enthusiasm we'd bring to a country we've never visited. As we walk, we talk about ambition, reinvention, the expectations we place upon ourselves and what happens when the career that once defined us is no longer the whole story. And perhaps, after years of trying different doors, Giles has found one that feels worth opening. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, The Journey Beyond. Links to all guests and features will be on the show page, my sincere thanks to our Extra Milers, without whom we wouldn't be walking each week, DxO.com and Arthelper.com, giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily.

What happens when you have a full-time job, a regular wage and a perfectly ordinary working life, but suddenly find yourself without a home? Photographer, advocate and writer Sam Singleton joins me to share the story behind No Fixed Address, a deeply personal photographic record of 23 nights spent living first in his car and then in a tent, while continuing to work as a mechanic. We talk about the practical and emotional realities of hidden homelessness, the assumptions we make about people facing difficult circumstances, and why Sam chose to document his experience through photographs and words. His work has since appeared in The Big Issue, Invisible People and The i Paper, and his story offers a rather different perspective on what homelessness can look like. The Friday mailbag returns after our travels through Mongolia, with more of your photographic whys from Simon Blakesley, Drew Brown and Alex Mealin. Richard Oldroyd tries to bring some order to my life, Bill Rigby shares a moving story about who he would choose to shoot his portrait, Glenn Sowerby makes a persuasive case for a journey north, and Gary Williams and Kim Frank share memorable moments from photography and life. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, The Journey Beyond. Links to all guests and features will be on the show page, my sincere thanks to our Extra Milers, without whom we wouldn't be walking each week, DxO.com and Arthelper.com, giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily.

This week, we return to Mongolia for the second part of our journey, flying west to Ölgii and travelling into the Altai Mountains, where we meet Kazakh nomadic families and discover the extraordinary relationship between eagle hunters and their golden eagles. Along the way, we share meals and traditional toasts, photograph the beautiful landscapes around Lake Dayan, and travel to ancient petroglyphs near the Chinese border, where people were making pictures thousands of years before the invention of photography. You'll also visit the Sagsai Eagle Festival, experience remarkable horsemanship, enjoy traditional music, and take on a few personal challenges. With our fellow travellers and local guides, we explore the culture, traditions and hospitality of western Mongolia. Recorded on location, with the conversations, laughter and sounds of the journey, this is the concluding part of our Photowalk adventure in Mongolia. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, The Journey Beyond. Links to all guests and features will be on the show page, my sincere thanks to our Extra Milers, without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and Arthelper.ai, giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily.

This week, we're taking you to Mongolia, travelling across the vast open steppe in Russian UAZ vans, meeting nomadic families, and discovering a way of life shaped by the land, the seasons, and the animals that depend on it. Along the way, you'll find traditional Mongolian hospitality, yoghurt vodka, ancient standing stones, wild horses, and a fair bit of bouncing around on roads that barely deserve the name. With our fellow adventurers and local guide Shuren, we explore ruined monasteries hidden in the mountains, hear extraordinary stories of Chinggis Khaan and visit places where Mongolia's remarkable history has left some painful reminders. Recorded as we travel, with the voices, laughter and experiences of the people alongside us, this is a Photowalk adventure through one of the world's most extraordinary landscapes. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, The Journey Beyond. Links to all guests and features will be on the show page, my sincere thanks to our Extra Milers, without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and Arthelper.ai, giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily.

This week, my guest is Kim Frank, an American writer, editor, photographer, filmmaker and explorer who set off for The Himalaya in 2018, determined to find a story worthy of National Geographic, despite knowing very little about the region. She discovered a growing conflict between people and endangered Asian elephants. Ancient elephant migration routes now cross farms, villages and railway lines, with devastating consequences for both humans and elephants. Kim kept returning, documenting the lives of those caught up in the conflict and the efforts being made to help both species live alongside one another. Those journeys became her book, Elephants in the Hourglass, and the documentary Where the Forest Roars. We talk about the personal circumstances that first sent her travelling, the extraordinary encounters along the way, storytelling, photography and finding the courage to do things that frighten us. And Kim, despite everything she's achieved, admits she's frightened of almost everything. Also on the show, a curious case of mistaken location involving a library and a laundry room; Pascal Bernardon discovers photography and the wider world it opens up; Matt Goff talks about neurodiversity as a creative superpower; and Dreich McCrabbit downsizes his camera kit as winter approaches in Clashnessie. Plus, Ewen Bell shares a moment about travel, and Kim Frank returns with her own moment of wonder. Read more about our photographic adventures on our photography travel website, The Journey Beyond. Links to all guests and features will be on the show page, my sincere thanks to our Extra Milers, without whom we wouldn't be walking each week and Arthelper.ai, giving photographers smart tools to plan, promote, and manage your creative projects more easily.