Australian Leica ambassador Russell Shakespeare invites you to go back to basics today for an assignment inspired by one of his early mentors/trainers. It's a challenge set for the next seven days; a way to think differently about how you approach making your pictures. I'll be fascinated to see what you come up with, so email what you make to the show via the contact page. Supported by our Patron Extra Milers and MPB.com

#337 The Assignment: Russell Shakespeare

The Photowalk is a mailbag-driven podcast where we walk and make pictures together, and meet with special guests along the trail. For anyone who likes to take pictures. Available wherever you get your podcasts.

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Renowned for exploring industrial landscapes and abandoned architecture, Christopher Payne delved into the forgotten corners of America's built environment for projects like Asylum and North Brother Island, to the latest, most advanced technologies that build the country now in his latest book, Made In America. What goes on in a shipyard that builds nuclear submarines? Chris has seen and photographed it. From the mailbag, photographing a stranger changes Steve Reeves' outlook on life, Jeremy Durham on 'what we do,' Neil Ford is pondering the question, 'why post on social media,' and Michael Mixon is coming out of a creative lull, though has some words of quiet genius when it comes to why we make pictures. Plus it's the last call for those joining in with this month’s assignment. 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.

#434 The last unknown place in New York City

Ian Randall is a sports photographer whose journey into the genre was as unexpected as it has been impactful to his life. Fate led him to photography, a twist of destiny in a life abruptly disrupted by an unwelcome visitor: cancer. His story resonates deeply with anyone who has faced this formidable foe, whether personally or through the lens of a loved one's struggle or loss. And his superpower? It seems to be a single photograph. From the mailbag, Rikki Bunder finds solace sleeping under the stars in the outback, Casey Sisterson learns the hard way that bison can be quite stubborn subjects to photograph, and Gert Jan Cole offers a glimmer of hope for those intrigued by film development but intimidated by the thought of chemical processes. Plus, we're introducing a new segment dedicated to showcasing the incredible poetry shared with us.  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.

#433 Asleep for FOURTEEN years!

Storyteller Al Brydon is a walker with a camera enraptured by the landscape and human interaction with it. He's published and exhibited internationally, and his projects may surprise you, including his fascination with graveyard bins and an encounter with a phantom cat. Also today from the mailbag: a Route 66 adventure, the best natural medicine that we ALL have access to, Mexico in an RV, a story witnessed by a centuries-old tree, and synchronised picture making on our trails. Plus, it being the second Friday of the month, street photographer and mentor Valerie Jardin is here with Visual Stories. This month, we’re talking about the humour dogs bring into our lives photographically. 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.

#432 Graveyard Bins and Phantom Cats!

Imagine a five-pointed star. Now attach a word to each point and think of them as the core principles or values associated with how and why you create or make photographs. Today as we walk together on the Photowalk show, the philosophical YouTuber Sean Tucker discusses five that I have chosen, and we ask you to consider your own during this exercise of creative self-discovery. It's also an expanded letters show today: the special nature of the pictures we make of strangers, collaborations, the wonderful opportunity when exhibiting your work, photographs on the side of a mountain and documenting where you live as a legacy. 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.

#431 Find your FIVE points of creative thinking

Stephen Dupont is an Australian photographer recognised around the world for his concerned photography on the human condition, war and climate, earning him dozens of prizes including the W. Eugene Smith Grant, and a Robert Capa Gold Medal Citation. Today he talks honestly about books, the why of photography, life, death and the camera.   Also on the show, remembering and respecting, taking a pilgrimage of quiet in France and Belgium along the Western Front of WWI, getting sentimental about the pips, and postcards from Toronto, plus the countdown has begun for the last week of entries to this month’s assignment from iconic American photographer Stephen Wilkes. 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.

#337 The Assignment: Russell Shakespeare

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