FEATURING PHOTOJOURNALIST ED KASHI

My guest today is documentary photographer Ed Kashi, who returns to The Photowalk. Across a career spanning more than four decades, Ed has photographed some of the most powerful and major social and political stories of our time. We talk about the power of mature storytelling eyes, returning to photographs made decades ago and seeing them differently, and what experience changes about the way you work. Then we turn to something photography is increasingly facing: trust. If AI can make a convincing photograph of an event that never happened, and even construct a believable photographic history around it, what happens to our belief in the photograph as evidence or reality? Ed has spent his working life documenting real people and real events, so I wanted to know how he sees what comes next, and far from a gloomy outlook, he has hope for the medium of photography for the decades to come.

Also today, Rob Lee discovers ethnography after losing his enthusiasm for photography, David Higton finds a kitchen table with a story, Richard Rawlings goes looking for pools of light, and our growing collection of Moments recordings brings words on silence from Adriano Henney and beauty from Ewen Bell.

Email your stories, thoughts, and pictures to the show. If you can optimise/resize photos to 2,500 pixels wide, that’s always much appreciated. If you’d like to support this show and have access to further content and the midweek Extra Mile show, we’d welcome you as an EXTRA MILER. There’s also our Facebook group, a safe place to meet and talk with photographers of all interests, the Photowalk YouTube channel, plus the show is featured on Instagram and Substack.

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MORE ABOUT names, words, THE MUSIC and places FROM TODAY’S SHOW

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Join us in Venice for the Venice ‘26 retreat, photographing a city built on water, light, and ritual as winter settles across the lagoon. Together we’ll wander through early-morning markets, quiet canal edges, hidden monasteries, and the weathered backstreets of Castello and Cannaregio, with time to slow down, take photographs, and build creative confidence in a city that reveals itself gently when the crowds disappear. Places limited.

From today’s conversation with Ed Kashi, read more about: Heat Watch, Overheated, Too Hot to Work, and Ageing in America.

See BOOK SPACES from Rob Lee. Also see the project talked about in the show: University House Reading Room.

VII began as VII Photo Agency in 2001, founded by seven photojournalists just days before 9/11. In 2023, the agency was acquired by The VII Foundation and became part of its non-profit work. Today the Foundation supports in-depth visual journalism, long-term documentary projects and free training for emerging journalists, particularly in parts of the world where access to media education is limited.

Magnum Photos is a photographer-owned cooperative founded in 1947 by a group including Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David ‘Chim’ Seymour. Its photographers have documented major events, people and everyday life around the world for more than 75 years, while retaining control over their work and copyright.

See Adriano Henney’s equisite book about Venice, Beyond the Mask.

Richard Rawlings shares pools of light on his Instagram, featured in the show today.

Paul Sanders is a British landscape photographer and former Picture Editor of The Times. After leaving newspapers in 2011, he turned towards a slower, more personal approach to photography. Today his work and teaching explore the connection between photography, the natural world and wellbeing, including through his Still mindful photography workshops.

See Reflections of Life, the YouTube channel talked about within the show today - embedded films below in the video gallery.

MUSIC LINKS: The Magnetic Buzz wrote today's playout song California on my Mind. Music on the show is sourced primarily from Artlist and also features in Michael Brennan’s Spotify playlist GoFoto. For Apple Music users, follow this playlist.

Kelvin Brown’s flickr Photowalk inspired group - join by invite by clicking on to THIS LINK.