ENCOUNTERS 2025: LONDON

APRIL 24TH & 25TH 2025

Encounters: A Unique Photowalk Experience

You’re invited to step away from the screen and onto the bustling streets of London for ENCOUNTERS, our first one-of-a-kind two-day non-residential photography experience designed for Photowalk podcast listeners who are passionate about making pictures, storytelling, exploring history and human connection. This is a photographic and social experience where meeting like-minded photographers can encourage, inspire and build upon your storytelling skills. We’ll embrace photographic challenges, learn about London’s past and work as a group, stepping beyond the recognised format of street photography workshops to create a zine and podcast feature from our time together. It’s a chance to uncover hidden stories, develop or learn new skills, and become part of the Photowalk podcast too.

NEALE JAMES

  • DAY 1: ENCOUNTERS

    We’ll meet early for a complimentary continental working breakfast to learn about who we’re walking and working with. I’ll introduce the concept of ENCOUNTERS: photographing a stranger and making a story about that person, or finding a place and telling the story of that place.

    I’ll provide a list of possible locations to inspire your challenge and discuss my own approach to working with strangers, or making a sound or photo-essay about a place.

    Following lunch, the ENCOUNTERS challenge begins; you’ll have a four-hour window in which to work solo or as a guided partnership to create your story for the published zine and podcast feature.

  • EVE: THE LEGEND OF JACK!

    Reconvening late afternoon over coffee and pastries, we’ll share our experiences, discuss the ENCOUNTERS assignment and fully debrief.

    We’ll talk over our stories and prepare for the low-light evening challenge.

    After supper, we embark upon the first of two guided historic ENCOUNTERS.

    Shrouded in fog and fear, the legend of Jack the Ripper lingers in the narrow alleys of Victorian London, where shadows whisper stories of a faceless phantom who vanished into history, leaving only terror in his wake.

    On this guided photowalk, we’ll capture the haunting atmosphere of these locations, enveloped by the narrative of a time pre-modern detective techniques.

  • DAY 2: GANGS OF LONDON

    Assuming you managed to sleep after tales of Victorian London and the Legend of Jack, our second day starts once again with coffee, feedback and conversation before taking a photo walk together along the Thames, heading east as a warm-up for the day ahead.

    You’ll be set some individual micro-assignments from previous guests of the show, photographs and stories that will feature in the zine you’ll be presented from your weekend.

    After lunch, the second historical photowalk discovers the gritty heart of London’s East End on a tour that delves into its gang culture, from the notorious reign of the Kray twins to today’s underworld. The tour is lead by a recognised London guide.

  • THE ZINE AND PODCAST

    We often discuss on the show, that photography is a way of sharing our wonder for the world pictorially and emotionally, and we’ll be articulating this in the form of a zine presented to you following the experience, made from the work and stories you have been a part of.

    I’d like you to remember our time photographing newfound friends and places, and so this is a perfect tactile way to do so.

    We will also make across our two days a podcast sound segment about our experiences, which will appear as a feature within an upcoming edition. A download of this feature will be sent to you to mark our experience together.

WHAT IS AN ENCOUNTER?

In a storytelling context, ENCOUNTERS refer to memorable interactions or moments of connection with people, experiences, or places that leave an impression worth recording. These can be brief or profound, planned or spontaneous, and range from meeting someone new to stumbling upon an inspiring or unexpected location. Encounters with places could mean discovering a hidden park, visiting a bustling market, or standing in the majesty of one of London’s landmarks like a Cathedral. These are moments where the essence of the place connects with you on a personal level. Such encounters, whether with individuals or environments, are the threads that often weave the most vivid and meaningful entries in a pictorial diary.

 Q&A TO COVER THE EXPERIENCE

  • This is a non-residential workshop/experience, so you are free to stay where you would like, although the suggestion is to find a place close to central London, so you’re close to our meeting points each morning.

  • We’ll be meeting at a central London location Thursday 24th April at 9.30am, the day will be a long one into the evening. Friday starts at 9.30am and we finish at 4pm.

  • The cost per place is £550, breakfast and light lunch is included. Thursday’s supper is a shared cost.

  • Travel to and from the event, plus any travel you wish to take during your challenges by public transport is not included. Please be sure to organise your own travel insurance.

  • If the event has to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances, you will be refunded in full, although please ensure you are able to recoup your own travel/hotel expenses. If you are unable to attend due to health or other issues, your place can be refunded in full up to and including thirty days before your attendance.

  • Bring the camera/kit you regularly enjoy using. We will be walking reasonable distances, so if you intend to bring a tripod, be sure it is a comfortable weight and style to carry on a backpack. We recommend you have kit insurance to cover for unlikely loss or damages.

  • Whatever the weather, we’ll be photographing outside, so definitely pack comfortable shoewear plus bring rainproof gear, too, as we’re not allowing rain to stop play.

  • London is a busy place and it’s a long day, so we recommend dogs have a couple of days in their own paradise. Sir. Barkalot will not be making an appearance.

  • Why of course!

TO REGISTER INTEREST

Interested parties will be responded to within 48 hours of receiving reservation notice. If you require further information please call 01635 273181.