OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2025: LIZA GERSHMAN
PHOTOGRAPH: GROUNDED
THE ASSIGNMENT BRIEF
From Liza Gershman: “Grounded, to me, is about finding balance so we can create our best work. When I was teaching, I’d start each day with my students by taking a moment to settle ourselves, a small practice to bring everyone back to centre. Food photography keeps me grounded through the connection with the earth, the farmers, and the stories behind what we eat. Travel does the same. Some see travel as escape, but I’ve never felt more connected to people and place than when I’m on the road with a camera. Grounded can mean many things, but for me, it’s that connection: to land, to others, and to the world through my lens.”
HOW TO ENTER. IMPORTANT NOTES ON FILE SIZE AND ENTRIES
Send your entry to stories@photowalk.show.
Your picture should be 2,500 pixels wide, if possible, for online optimisation. Or send the full-resolution photo, which we will optimise.
Feel free to provide text as well if you think it will help explain the location, context, etc.
Please don’t add borders or watermarks, and be sure to send FULL URL links to your website or a social media channel so that we can link to your work on this assignment page. We’ll use a selection of photos you submit on our Photowalk Instagram to showcase your work to our community and help build connections.
Entries are shown below. Good luck!
Neale
LIZA GERSHMAN
Find an image that speaks of being grounded to you.
DAVID HIGTON
Here's my entry into this month's assignment. I made the image in Macclesfield Forest a few weeks ago. The abundance of fungi this year has been fantastic and I've been making images either on walks with friends or on a time restricted trip to woods on a Wednesday. I always find getting out to photograph in the countryside to be very grounding especially if I can take as much time as I like. Even though I'm five minutes walk to nearby fields I decided to head out to Macc Forest. To use your golf club analogy, I selected my lenses carefully knowing I'd need the sand-iron i.e. the macro - not used all the time but indispensable when required.
After leaving the car in the layby next to Trentabank reservoir (you know the one), I had a quick walk along Standing Stone Road and was soon in one of my favourite parts of the forest and found my first group of fungi. As these were near the popular path, they weren't in the best condition so I continued deeping into the trees till I found a few groups of different fungi in pristine condition, and the specimen that I used for this image. Although I had brought my flash, the image was natural light and a focus stack of 3 images. I did spend another hour or so on other images but as is quite often the case, the first is the one I like the best. Perhaps fungi are an ideal subject for "grounded" as much of them is underground and I certainly had to get down to the ground to make the image but it is taking the time to make a pleasing image which grounds me.
DRAKE DYCK
When I heard the challenge for October was "grounded" I realized this was perfect, as I had just returned home to Vancouver Island, from a 10 day, solo, photography trip to the Rocky Mountains. I was feeling rather burnt out from home renovations, work and generally trying to do too many things at once (including photography, a philosophy podcast and completely revamping my website). I had also been slowly recovering from a back injury early in the year, which is still slowing me down. I went on the trip to get away from everything else, get back to nature and get grounded.
Well the trip did wonders for me and I'm feeling much better all around now. I made some photos I am very happy with and am ready to lead a photowalk tomorrow, in Victoria, BC.
The photo I selected is from Abraham Lake, in the Canadian Rockies. It is an artificial lake created when the Bighorn Dam was built in 1972, and is about 32 km (20 miles) long. It has the same blue-green colour as the glacial lakes caused by what is referred to as rock flour (resulting from fine, silt-like particles created by glacial erosion). Before the area was flooded it was covered in trees. The water levels change during the year, so the trees near the shoreline are often underwater. I used a long exposure to smooth out the water and included a small cluster of leaves in their autumn colour to add some interest, while maintaining a minimalist look overall. The calmness and simplicity of the scene felt very grounded to me, as did the trees' connection with the smooth surface.
SIMON BLAKESLEY
Might airplanes have feelings? Looking at the snow-covered “face” of this Royal Canadian Air Force CC-130 Hercules, I can’t help but wonder a bit. When I heard the one-word assignment was “Grounded”, of course my aviation-consumed mind went immediately to the term used when referring to an aircraft that is unserviceable or broken. The term of course is that the aircraft is “grounded”.
These was shot many years ago at my home airport in Whitehorse, Yukon. It was a bit chilly on February 1, 2008, when I took these images. Records show that -43.1 Celsius was the low temperature at the airport that day (but after -40, who’s counting anymore), hence the accompanying ice fog. This aircraft was sent to rescue another Hercules that had a leaking propeller seal. Having previously been a technician on these aircraft, this is not uncommon at these frigid temperatures. The rescue aircraft arrived with a new propeller, only to develop a leaking brake line- again due to the cold. Reddish patches of hydraulic fluid were spread across the snow-covered apron, serving as a reminder that nothing really likes to work at those temperatures.
See more of Simon’s work on his website.
ANDRÉ GROTE
I have chosen the picture of the oak bark for several reasons.
1. The obvious: a tree is rooted in the ground.
2. When I am in the forest, I feel grounded and protected, just like the bark protects the tree, and it shows signs of everything the tree has experienced. Every time I am among trees, I feel welcome, and when I touch them, I feel connected to nature, which grounds me and brings many daily problems into perspective. Most trees have a much longer lifespan than we do, and they stand serene and still. Maybe not quiet and unobserving, but deeply grounded.
3. I have taken this picture on a little Canon Prima 105 point and shoot on Kentmere Pan400. A cheap camera and not the most expensive film. Developed and scanned in my basement darkroom. Just to show you do not need expensive gear and mega-megapixels to take photos. More importantly, go out shooting —photos, that is. And about the process, whether digital or analogue. Whatever sparks your creativity is great. And for me, shooting analogue sometimes with cheap and/or old cameras and developing and scanning gives me peace and again grounds me.
DREW BROWN
Searching through my images, I was struggling to find something that would fit the ‘grounded’ theme. Then I remembered a visit to Crosby Beach in Liverpool. Crosby Beach has an installation of 100 cast iron figures created by Antony Gormley and titled ‘Another Place’.
See more of Drew’s work on Instagram.
VICTORIA ROBB
I've chosen the photograph I took during the Merryn Glover forest session on the Scotland 2025 photo retreat. For that I lay on the ground, sinking gently into the forest floor of moss and needles, and looking up as the treetops towered above me, I felt a deep sense of calm. Of oneness. That to me is what being grounded felt and feels like.
KEITH JOHNSON
Nothing like a walk through a grave yard to make you realise how short life is in the grand scheme of things and to make that you need to make the most of the time we have here.
See more of Keith’s work on Instagram.
MARTIN PENDRY
Please find attached my submission for this month’s theme on Grounding.
I’m an osteopath — have been for 28 years now — which means I’ve spent almost three decades standing on my legs while asking patients, “Where does it hurt?” It took me four years to earn my degree, and I’ve since worked in both private practice and the NHS. Along the way, I’ve been involved in various osteopathic organisations, taught students, and somehow avoided becoming fossilised myself.
In osteopathy, grounding isn’t just a trendy mindfulness term; it’s survival. To be effective with the last patient of the day, you need to be just as connected, balanced, and focused as you were with the first. Many of our techniques rely on fine palpation — the information your hands gather from another person’s body — and that requires being truly grounded in both body and mind.
Years ago, I found my own rather unusual grounding cue: a toy dinosaur. Don’t ask me why — perhaps it’s the solid stance, or maybe the tiny arms remind me to stay humble. Either way, this little plastic guardian sits proudly on my clinic shelf, among my anatomical models, as a daily reminder to find my centre of gravity (preferably between my feet, not under my desk).
It’s my cheerful, prehistoric reminder that to look after others, you first have to stay balanced yourself — because these days, patients can bring you everything from sore backs to existential crises about GP waiting times.
See more of Martin’s work on Instagram.
JAN CURLE
Grounded in Venezia. I was in Venezia for a 5-day bookbinding course and was looking for a grounded gondola to capture on camera. Couldn’t find one, but this boat seemed to fit the brief in a very literal sense of grounded.
Whilst the image isn’t great quality, it’s a bit grainy - taken across the canal with iPhone SE, ie. no real lens options - I particularly like the red details, it’s almost a red, black and white photo.
So difficult to find anything straight in a image taken in Venezia. What to straighten? I chose the red metal pole, highlighting the angles of the canal poles.
See more of Jan’s work on Instagram.
MAURICE WEBSTER
Please find attached my photo for the Assignment this month - hopefully no words needed as to why I have chosen this. Let the viewer provide the narrative.
[At first I was worried it was an accident, but I looked a little closer! Neale]
See more of Maurice’s work on Instagram.
STEEVEN ZEISS
I’ve attached my interpretation of this month’s assignment, „Grounded.“ The picture is from my September road trip across Norway, covering 5000 kilometers. It shows the Vøringsfossen waterfall.
The topic is explored in various ways. One obvious aspect is the people standing on the platform over the edge. However, the scale and beauty of the scene are what truly capture the essence of the assignment. I hope the 14mm lens in the picture conveys the scale effectively.
Driving through the fjords of Norway and standing at these breathtaking points of our planet fills me with a profound sense of grounding and peace. The natural beauty is simply awe-inspiring.
AXEL TRAPP
I hope my photo postcard finds you in a good mood and good health. This card is also my entry for the October assignment "Grounded".
So please look at the photo and then turn the card over. Here's the text on the back.
Hi Neale,
Greetings from Lubmin. In case you don't know: Germanyland, near Greifswald, Baltic Sea. I stayed there with a group of incredible people whom I trained as wildlife trackers. After finishing my work, I went on my daily photowalk...
You find me grounded in the truest sense of the word. Yes, it is indeed a selfie. I took this photo one evening on the pier in Lubmin.
Amazingly, there were no tourists or other people around. So I set up the tripod, checked the settings, and click. That was really fun, and of course, it took a few tries to get the photo.
Some people told me the photo looked like a scene from a crime or horror movie. Hmmm, what do you think?
However, as a tracker, I usually feel pretty grounded (in the sense of being close to nature and down-to-earth).
Oh yes, that reminds me: have you ever noticed the bird alarms on your photo walks? They're usually ground alarms, which could, of course, have been triggered by Sir Barkalot, although I suspect you, too.
SCOTT GINTHER
This photograph displays a mix of water, air and hidden earth. You need all three. The gull knows that at any moment it has the gift of choosing between them. In this case and at this time, the bird chooses to be grounded while still touching the other two.
See more of Scott’s work on Instagram.
