Breathe Pictures Podcast | Photography And Film Making

Canadian explorer, photographer, filmmaker and international speaker Jill Heinerth joins me today for a bumper edition of The Photowalk podcast. We talk about the medical importance of our oceans, cave diving, incredible creatures beneath the waves, swimming with Polar bears and the story of a sub-marine diving mission into and iceberg. Also today, the why of making sketchbook pictures, the nostalgia of vintage prints, plus mentor and street photographer Valérie Jardin returns to launch this year's monthly Visual Stories features, which in 2024 is all about photographic feature making, starting with ONE CENTURY. Links to all guests and features will be on the showpage, my sincere thanks to MPB.com who sponsor this show and the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking each week. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available here.

Today's guest is the celebrated Canadian wildlife photographer Michelle Valberg, who shares stories of her photographic adventures at the two poles and the incredible animals she observes as she creates emotional imagery that has the power to make viewers feel. From the mailbag on today's show, how introversion affects what you photograph, favourite places in the world to MAKE those pictures and how being devoured by forest has you feel, making your own book or zine in 2024, how your experiences as a child can influence your photography as an adult plus there is news of a second retreat week in Scotland. It is the first Friday of the month, so it’s assignment week, and this year, all our challenges are one-word photographic assignments. Links to all guests and features will be on the showpage, my sincere thanks to MPB.com who sponsor this show and the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking each week. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available here.

The final Photowalk edition of 2023 takes me to Oxford to visit Tony Lorenzo, who, in the early part of this century, found two fading 1930s photographs in a box on the floor of a shop in London featuring a girl called June. This is the story of a quest to find who June was in real life from those and other photographs subsequently found, a photographic detective story that takes Tony up and down the UK piecing together June's 'lost' family album. Also today, we say farewell to a very special friend of the show, Nils Amelinckx, replaying some of his inspirational words about the precious nature of the outdoors and photography. Plus, a roadside encounter with Kathleen Watson, whose mission, it seems, is to spread cheer and raise a smile. Links to all guests and features will be on the showpage, my sincere thanks to MPB.com who sponsor this show and the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking each week. WHY: A Sketchbook of Life is available here.

Nine years in the US Navy, Rachelle Steele learned her photographic craft the hard way in operations that tested her resolve. She laid down the camera for five years before rediscovering a love for black and white photography, studying at the Academy of Art University, which lead to new adventures making collections of storytelling photographs of her life and for others.  Also today demons in markets, biscuits that take your teeth out, pictures and memories of ancient henges, Canadian wildlife and Visual Stories for December with Valérie Jardin. Links to all guests and features will be on the showpage, my sincere thanks to MPB.com who sponsor this show and the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking each week.

Alastair Humphreys is a man who has the word adventurer on his business card. He's adventured to the most incredible remote places, cycled across the world on a modest budget, crossed the ocean in a rowing boat, run across a desert, though his view of exploration changed as he sat in a small red tent in a remote part of Greenland. Now he champions micro-adventures, writing about and photographing more 'achievable' life experiences. Also today, fascinating Gambian traditions, a Nat Geo photographer's quote that nails, possibly, why making photographs is important and does adversity lead to stronger creativity? Links to all guests and features will be on the SHOW PAGE as always and my sincere thanks to mpb.com who sponsor this show and the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking each week.

Roger Hutchings is an award-winning British documentary photographer who was mentored by the Magnum photographer David Hurn. Today he talks of a life spent making pictures about people and how they navigate their lives in the most extraordinary of situations. Also on the show today, your comments and letters: we revisit a letter from last week where Tony Lorenzo went about some pretty impressive detective work to find the identity of a mystery girl in a vintage photograph, two walks and a cycle ride that have helped to bring 2023 to a more positive conclusion and what’s lurking in the clear Canadian depths of Lake Simcoe? Links to all guests and features will be on the SHOW PAGE as always and my sincere thanks to mpb.com who sponsor this show and the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking each week.

I'm walking this week with photographer Mali Davies in cultural Liverpool, birthplace of The Beatles, looking for the city's famous Liver Birds and challenging ourselves with low-light street photography, and as we're focusing on street photography, mentor Valérie Jardin returns for her monthly series, Visual Stories. Also today, letters from the mailbag; finding your why, how photography is a great passport for friendship, and the most incredible detective story about finding someone from a 1930s photograph bought within a collection in a London shop. Links to all guests and features will be on the SHOW PAGE as always and my sincere thanks to mpb.com who sponsor this show and the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking each week.

Today, we walk part of England's oldest road, the 5000-year-old Ridgeway, with the mailbag for a special letters edition. In the show, teaching photography to young creative minds, road trips in paradise, photo projects for the new year ahead, the why of life and photo making, revisiting Japan and a chance encounter that leads to a special portrait moment. Also thoughts from previous guests, including writer/photographer Craig Mod and VII Agency's Ed Kashi. Links to all guests and features will be on the SHOW PAGE as always and my sincere thanks to mpb.com who sponsor this show and the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking each week.

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 creativity is a tonic for physical and mental health. Also today from the mailbag, a letter imploring you to spend less time looking in life's rearview mirror, shops that sell everything, a postcard from Lake Huron and a magical trip to Iceland. We also reveal the winner of last month's assignment about the 'beautiful game'. Links to all guests and features will be on the SHOW PAGE as always and my sincere thanks to mpb.com who sponsor this show and the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking each week.

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; photographing on the street, how bold do you need to be and what is all the fuss about street work anyway? The illegally felled historic tree, Sycamore Gap and why the end is not the end. More of your postcards and travels with a camera, the follies of England-land and a powerful PS asking you to look up to the words of Marcus Aurelius. Links to all guests and features will be on the SHOW PAGE as always and my sincere thanks to mpb.com who sponsor this show and the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking each week.

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 week’s show about the peace episode, a 'Wish you were here' postcard from a 'beautiful' dark alleyway in Australia and what railway model enthusiasts like Tom Hanks share with photographers. Links to all guests and features will be on the SHOW PAGE as always and my sincere thanks to mpb.com who sponsor this show and the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking each week.

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 peace across the region. Also, Valérie Jardin, our street mentor, talks about making collections of pictures and there are letters about self-belief, a photographic pilgrimage, the muscle trains of Australia and motivation to venture out with a camera. 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 the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking every week.

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 week's show? News about the Scottish retreat in 2024. Since it's the first week of the new month, there's a fresh assignment, set by portrait and fashion photographer Craig Fleming. 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 the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking every week.

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 will reward you with likes, plus our friend, artist and podcaster Jefferey Saddoris muses about original work being our finest. 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 the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking every week.

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 bombing gulls, a rampant panda, we climb aboard the RV 'Stopped Life in the Fast Lane for Life in the Life Land,' we go for an audio walk with an Extra Miler in Australia, witness a perfect Greek island sunset, laze on a surfboard and escape to the deserts of our lives. 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 the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking every week.

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 the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking every week.

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 stories and guests will be on the SHOW PAGE as always and my sincere thanks to mpb.com who sponsor this show and the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking every week.

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 how leaving your work for a stranger to find can lead to the most incredible opportunities. As it’s the second Friday in the month, our street mentor Valérie Jardin is here, and this time, the subject is humour. 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 the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking every week.

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 Phil Penman sets a new assignment for the month and photojournalist Jason Florio shares a little more of his love for the smiling coast of Africa, The Gambia. 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 the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking every week.

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 prize-winning photojournalist Cathal McNaughton. 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 the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking every week.