#490 WALKING THE PERIMETER OF THE UK!

FEATURING FINE ART AND ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER QUINTIN LAKE

Quintin Lake is my guest today, sharing stories from the literal edges. From 2015 to 2021, he walked the entire coastline of mainland Britain, covering all 11,000 km of it, creating The Perimeter, a six-year photographic journey that explores light, isolation, design, and the quiet drama of the country's outermost margins. A fine art and architectural photographer, Quintin’s eye has always been drawn to form and structure. We also talk about his personal work, including Absent Pyramida study of Chernobyl 21 years later, and Cold War Spaces of Fear. Quintin’s work is marked by precision, stillness, and a deep attentiveness to place. In this conversation, we explore endurance and creativity, the solitude of long walks, and what it means to photograph with intention.

Also on the show today from the mailbag: Jade Lee has an idea for our 500th episode that allows you to participate, wherever you are in this world. Christopher Parsons shares how sneaking into the right place led to the shot, Bill Frische gifts us a new word you’ll want to make your own, and Reed Gidez explores an abandoned hospital with a camera in hand. Also, today, Gary Ramage invites you to take part in the new One Word Assignment.

Email your stories, thoughts, and pictures to the show. If you can optimize/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 thriving 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, VERO and X.

As well as our Extra Milers, we’re also supported by our friends at Arthelper.ai who make marketing easier, helps more people find your work, and keeps your voice true—so you can get back to what you love most: making art. Enter PHOTOWALK at checkout to receive 30 days of the pro version free.

PLEASE HELP TO BUILD OUR COMMUNITY BY SHARING THIS EPISODE TO YOUR FAVOURITE SOCIAL PLATFORMS

LEARN:

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

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST BY EMAIL, if you’d like to attend the 500th show recording on Wednesday 30th July, 2025, at Greenham Common, (former airbase) in Berkshire, England.

Rotor bunkers were part of a secret Cold War radar defence system built in 1950s Britain. Around 66 bunkers were constructed, many deep underground and blast-resistant, designed to track Soviet bombers and coordinate RAF defences. They housed radar control rooms, comms centres, and living quarters, built to survive an attack. Though decommissioned within a decade, some became nuclear command centres. Today, sites like Hack Green and Kelvedon Hatch are preserved as Cold War museums. Also see Bervie Brow.

C.S. Lewis was a British writer, scholar, and thinker best known for The Chronicles of Narnia and his reflective works on faith, imagination, and the human condition.

Stephen Wilkes’ emotionally charged project on Ellis Island, a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. Also hear the episode he appeared in.

Save Ellis Island is a non-profit organisation dedicated to restoring the island’s historic hospital buildings, preserving an often-overlooked part of American immigration history and honouring the stories of those who passed through its halls.

Sehnsucht is a German word describing a deep, aching longing for something just out of reach — a kind of nostalgic yearning for a place, time, or feeling that may never have fully existed, but still calls to us.

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

MUSIC LINKS: Louis Island wrote today's playout song Escape This Town. 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.

CLICK LINKS FOR OFFERS AND SUPPORTERS


THE SHOWPAGE GALLERY

QUINTIN LAKE

Quintin Lake’s photographs from The Perimeter above, and pages from the book below.

Pictures from Absent Pyramid above, and below, photographs from Pripyat and Spaces of Fear.



CHRISTOPHER PARSONS

Christopher Parsons tells the story of a room 15 floors up, that gives him a unique perspective on a scene he knows well within the show, above. Below photographs from his project ‘All sales final’.


REED GIDEZ

Photographs from Ellis Island made by Reed Gidez. See more of his work on Instagram.


NEALE JAMES

Sketchbook photos from today’s photowalk, concentrating on shafts of light.


VIDEO LIBRARY

The following videos or subjects are referenced within today’s show.

Referenced within the show today, when discussing The Bay.

The unexpected not so secret, secret bases of the UK.

Neale James

Creator, podcaster, photographer and film maker

Next
Next

#489 BECOME WILD WITH WONDER