A Small Voice: Conversations with photographers and filmmakers

Afleveringen

1. 294 - Vladimir Karamazov

   4 november 2026 · 1 uur 18 min

   Afspelen
   Born in Sofia (Bulgaria), Vladimir Karamazov graduated classical drama theatre at the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts. He has a 25 years career as a professional actor and part of the company of the Bulgarian National Theater “Ivan Vazov”. He has performed many roles in theatre cinema and television, but has always loved photography making it his occupation since 2019. He looks for the images, the places, the atmosphere of the plays in which he has performed. And looks for special people with dramatic and interesting stories. Photography helps him understand humanity in its complexity and scale, and reveals the true nature of it. Over the past few years, he has won a number of photography competitions, including from Sony World Photo Awards, the British Journal of Photography and Lensculture. Lees meer

   Vladimir recently published his debut photobook with GOST books, For the Grace of God, which takes takes us into the notorious Belene Prison, located in northern Bulgaria on the border with Romania; the most heavily guarded facility of its type in the country. The work focusses primarily on inmates serving life sentences without parole.

   On episode 294, Vladimir discusses, among other things;

   First night nerves as an actor.

   Thinking only about photography.

   The potential for identity crisis as actor turned photographer.

   How acting taught him about narrative.

   Learning from Anders Petersen.

   How he became curious about life inside prison.

   And how he found his way into the project.

   Solving the question of what a prisoner without parole looks like.

   Learning a lesson in forgiveness.

   Getting help from George Georgiou and Vanessa Winship.

   An insight into the childhoods of prisoners as the source of their criminality.

   Not wanting to give his phone number and changing his mind about doing that.

   Next project on a prison for young offenders.

   A story of hope for a prisoner who was released after 26 years in prison.

   Website | Instagram

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2. 293 - Christina Assi

   21 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 21 min

   Afspelen
   Christina Assi is a Lebanese photojournalist and photo editor. After losing a leg in an Israeli tank attack in southern Lebanon in October 2023, she began campaigning for journalists' safety. Lees meer

   Christina was born in Lebanon. Growing up there in the 1990s, she lived through the instability of the civil war that she documented in multiple stories. In 2005 she moved to Doha, capital city of Qatar, with her family. Christina graduated from the Notre Dame University-Louaize in Lebanon with a bachelor's degree in communications and journalism. In 2018, she began to work for Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Cyprus as a photo editor.

   On 13 October 2023, while live reporting on a column of smoke on the Israeli-Lebanese border along with six other journalists, she was a victim of an Israeli tank shell attack in Alma al-Shaab. The attack involved two strikes and resulted in Christina losing her right leg.One of the two explosions killed her best friend, Reuters correspondent Issam Abdallah. Five more of their colleagues were wounded. All journalists were wearing bulletproof vests and helmets, clearly marked as press. Christina demands that the attack be considered a war crime.

   Since then, Christina became a campaigner for journalists' safety, giving numerous interviews and propelling a rehabilitation programme for people with similar life-altering injuries. On 21 July 2024, with colleague, journalist Dylan Collins, she carried the torch in Vincennes, France, ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic games, representing the journalists who died in the line of duty.

   At the end of 2024, the BBC included Assi in its list 100 Women, which recognises the most influential women in the world each year.

   On episode 292, Christina discusses, among other things:

   Early memories of growing up in Lebanon

   Her first job as a photo Editor for AFP in Cypress

   Buying her first camera with the prize money from a photography competition

   First opportunites with photography assignments

   Being sent to Leban…

3. 292 - Reuben wu

   7 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 20 min

   Afspelen
   Reuben Wu is a multidisciplinary artist who explores new ways of telling compelling stories about the world we inhabit. Lees meer

   His work with aerial lighting and long-exposure photography has defined a singular style in contemporary landscape photography and belongs in the Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the MoMA.

   His practice spans fine art and creative collaborations with brands.

   Reuben was born in Liverpool to parents who had immigrated from Hong Kong. Following their guidance, he pursued Industrial Design at university, though his academic focus often took a backseat to DJing, collecting records and enjoying Sheffield’s vibrant music scene.

   After graduating, his passion for music led him back to Liverpool’s creative community, and with Daniel Hunt, Mira Aroyo, and Helen Marnie, he formed the band Ladytron in 1999. Their first single earned Single of the Week in the NME. Soon they were signed to a label and invited on a world tour, at which point Reuben left his job at an industrial design consultancy to dedicate the next decade to music.

   When Ladytron took a break, Reuben again faced the challenge of reinvention. Though uncertain, he committed to pursuing photography professionally. After years of persistence and occasional strokes of luck, he established himself in the field, bringing his own visual perspective shaped by his design and musical background.

   Reuben works globally and lives in Chicago, USA.

   On episode 292, Reuben discusses, among other things:

   His creative family

   Industrial design

   Musical success with Ladytron

   The challenge of reinventio

   How his incredible light paintings came about

   The role of serendipity.

   Website | Instagram

   Episode sponsors:

   ThinkTank Photo - New: FocusPoint Crossbody camera bag!

   Boat Drinks Studio web design. Claim 15% off a new website. Link in bio.

   Become a A Small Voice podcast member here to access exclusive additional subscriber-only content and the full archive of 200+ previous episodes f…

4. 291 - Iva Sidash

   23 september 2026 · 59 min

   Afspelen
   Iva Sidash is an independent documentary photographer and visual storyteller from Ukraine. Born in 1995, she focuses on deeply personal narratives shaped by the realities of war. Since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she has documented intimate stories of fragility, resistance, and memory that unfold behind the frontlines. Lees meer

   Her work merges artistic sensibility with documentary practice, revealing the human experience through a lens of emotion, nuance, and resilience.

   A graduate of the International Center of Photography in New York, Iva is a member of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers and Women Photograph. She is the recipient of the 2024 Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant, a Women Photograph fellowship, and the Chris Hondros Award at the Eddie Adams Workshop.

   Her photographs have been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, INSIDER, Der Spiegel, and The Financial Times. Her exhibitions span both solo and group presentations across the United States and Europe, highlighting her growing
   international recognition as a compelling voice in documentary photography.

   On episode 291, Iva discusses, among other things:

   Daily normality in Kyiv

   How a car accident led her to street photography

   How she transitioned from street photography to documenting the war

   The power of trying to portray life during wartime

   Ethical concerns

   Her project What Is Unseen and what the title means

   Winning the Ian Parry Grant (and being in that ‘family’)...

   …And the Chris Hondras award

   Going to the ICP in New York

   Her story there about injured Ukrainian soldiers undergoing rehabilitation on Staten Island

   Future plans for other projects she’s interested in, including diaristic work

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5. 290 - Richard Sharum

   9 september 2026 · 1 uur 23 min

   Afspelen
   Richard Sharum is an editorial and documentary photographer based in upstate New York. Mainly focusing on socio-economic or social justice dilemmas concerning the human condition, his work has been regarded as in-depth, up-close and personal. Lees meer

   Selected exhibitions have occurred in Kyoto, Japan, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Reggio Emilia, Italy, New York City, Boston, Chicago and Dallas, and his work has been added to the permanent collection of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and The Wittliff Collection, as well as others.

   Richard's commissions include those by The Meadows Foundation, Centers for Community Cooperation, Harvard Law School, Student Conservation Association, Children's Medical Center (Oncology), Children's Cancer Fund.

   His publications include those by LFI (Leica International), British Journal of Photography, LensCulture, The Atlantic, Texas Monthly, Publico (Portugal), El Pais (Spain), Observer (UK), The Wall Street Journal, B+W Photo Magazine, Huck Magazine, Glasstire, PATRON, Creative Review, among others.

   Richard has published two photobooks, Campesina Cuba and Spina Americana, both with GOST. His third, American Homicide, will be released early in 2027, also by GOST. The last two of these titles will be joined in 2028 by American Avenue, to form a trilogy of books entitled Of Thee I Sing.

   He is represented by The Hulett Collection, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

   On episode 290, Richard discusses, among other things:

   His goal of reaching a wider audience among the general public.

   Team window vs. team mirror

   His new book American Homocide

   The fascination for true crime among the public

   How murder affects all the groups involved

   Getting access to the detective squad he embedded with

   The portrayal of violence on screen

   His obsession with time

   The need to be empathetic and open

   The impact of being exposed so many murder victims

   The murder detectives he got to know and photograph

   Corresponding with the perpetrators

   Part three of his planned trilogy, Amer…

6. 289 - Clémentine Schneidermann

   26 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 8 min

   Afspelen
   Clémentine Schneidermann is a French photographer living and working between Paris and South Wales. She recently completed a practice-based PhD at the University of South Wales, Cardiff entitled Photographing Children in a Social Context: Narratives and Strategies (2021). Clémentine works on long term projects & commissions and is interested in new creative practices in social documentary photography. Her approach is collaborative and playful, with an interest in communities and childhood, as well as our relationship to identity and culture. She is a co-founder of Bleak Fabulous with Charlotte James, a photography-based creative studio working across different disciplines with an emphasis on communities and collaboration. Lees meer

   On episode 289, Clémentine discusses, among other things:

   How having a camera made it acceptable to stare at people

   Studying in Switzerland… and then Newport, Wales

   Falling in love with Wales immediately

   Her book project, I Call Her Lisa Marie

   Her project Ffasiwn

   Collaborating with kids… and Charlotte James

   Getting involved with Alexander MacQueen

   Her forthcoming book marking ten year of Ffasiwn

   Bleak Fabulous - trying to create stable income

   Winning the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize

   Work she has done in Greenland

   Her other collaboration: The Emmas

   Referenced:

   Mary Ellen Mark

   Sebastian Bruno

   Bruce Davidson

   David Barnes

   Ken Grant

   Paul Reas

   Lina Hashim

   Jacob Aue Sobol

   Website | Instagram

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7. 288 - Aria Shahrokhshahi

   12 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 13 min

   Afspelen
   Aria Shahrokhshahi (b. 1996) is a British-Iranian multi-disciplinary artist, whose practice has been shaped by a deep fascination with the intricate dynamics of diverse communities and the complexities of the human condition. With a focus on social structures and the human experience, Shahrokhshahi's work serves as a critical exploration of the relationships and power dynamics that inform everyday life. Lees meer

   Aria’s debut photobook, Wet Ground, featuring images from Ukraine shot over a period of several years both before and after the Russian invasion in Feburary 2022, was published in April 2026 by Loose Joints.

   He is currently putting the finishing touches to a feature documentary film entitled While We Heal, which also focusses on the war in Ukraine and explores the themes of healing, loss, and resilience.

   On episode 288, Aria discusses, among other things:

   Formative experiences (11 different schools!) growing up in Nottingham

   How walking around the city with a camera was the start of his photography journey

   Negative feedback Facebook group / YouTube channel

   Early education at the Photo Parlour lab (later named Sequence) from Dan Wheelan

   Using large format and why the decision to shoot B&W came out of the cost of film

   Falling in love with Ukraine

   It not being enough to just take pictures

   Why ‘Ukraine, I guess?’ was an informal category of picture during editing

   Having nothing to say about war but being interested in what happens around it

   The way in which war rearranges the social hierarchy

   Poem by Charlotte Shevchenko-Knight

   How the title ‘Wet Ground’, and the book itself, came about

   The importance of collaboration

   The feature length doc he is making in Ukraine

   The importance of having a commercial practice

   Referenced:

   Lee Friedlander

   Laytoya Ruby Frazer

   Don McCullin

   Tim Hetherington (Which Way Is The Front Line From Here)

   Shelby Lee Adams

   Minor White

   Alec Soth

   Gregory Halpern

   Nigel Shafran

   Alessandra Sanguinetti

   Myriam Boulos

   Sohrab Hu…

8. 287 - Lorenzo Meloni

   29 juli 2026 · 1 uur 7 min

   Afspelen
   Lorenzo Meloni is an Italian photographer. Lees meer

   He has documented some of the defining conflicts of the 21st century across the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. For more than a decade, he has worked in territories marked by wars, revolutions and profound political and social transformations, developing a visual practice that views conflict not merely as an event, but as a historical, material and cultural process.

   In recent years, his work has expanded beyond the battlefield. Revelation, an ongoing project, explores how science and technology are changing our relationship to the material world.

   In 2022, he published the monograph We Don’t Say Goodbye, a fragmented narrative on the rise, dominance and fall of the Islamic State as a territorial entity. TIME named it one of the 20 Best Photobooks of 2022.

   On episode 287, Lorenzo discusses, among other things:

   How he has changed his way of working

   'Starting as a revolutionary and becoming a deserter'

   How his photography journey began in Yemen

   How the power of photography is metaphorical not descriptive

   His interest in borders and history

   His book, We Don’t Say Goodbye. The theme of repetition. And why the cover is orange

   The caliphate and Islamic State

   His now project, Revelation

   Focussing on one thing at a time

   Dealing with the instability of a freelance life and keeping some freedom

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9. 286 - Ximena Borrazás

   15 juli 2026 · 1 uur 9 min

   Afspelen
   Ximena Borrazás is a Uruguayan photographer and documentary filmmaker born in Montevideo in 1992. She focuses on armed conflicts, migration, and humanitarian crises. Her work combines visual sensitivity with a strong commitment to social justice, often addressing the experiences of women and displaced populations. Lees meer

   She has published with major international outlets, including National Geographic, The Guardian, BBC, CNN, DW, France 24, Al Jazeera, and the Associated Press, and has worked with institutions such as UNHCR, UNESCO, and IOM.

   Ximena’s project in northern Ethiopia documents the devastating aftermath of the Tigray conflict, one of the deadliest wars of the 21st century. Her images portray survivors of sexual violence, displaced families, and the enduring effects of famine and trauma. This work earned her the 2024 Tom Stoddart Award for Excellence, the Gentex Corp Personal Safety Award from the Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant, and the Africa Mundi Award for best photographic publication in Planeta Futuro of El País.

   Her long-term documentary project The Scars of War, which began in Tigray, combines photography, testimony, and documentation to investigate conflict-related sexual violence through a forensic lens. Rather than treating sexual violence as an isolated act, the project traces it as a weapon of war, examining physical, psychological, and social evidence left behind, and the systems, or lack thereof, that respond to it.

   Ximena is currently based in Ukraine where, aside from continuing to photograph, she has a full-time job as a Liaison and Communications Officer with the United Nations.

   On episode 286, Ximena discusses, among other things:

   Working for the UN in Ukraine

   Her first experience of visiting the Polish border

   The nature of working amidst drone warfare

   Challenges of being a freelancer in a conflict zone

   Why she doesn’t really want to be a photographer

   The experience of being in Kyiv on a daily basis

   Her life before photography

   Ea…

10. 285 - Sam Faulkner

    1 juli 2026 · 1 uur 16 min

    Afspelen
    Sam Faulkner is a London-based photographer and the founder of Print Swap, an iOS app. where photographers and visual artists exchange gallery-quality physical prints directly. No buying, no selling, no follower counts. Lees meer

    Sam came to photography the hard way, travelling into Afghanistan in 1994 with a battered Canon, a few rolls of film and very little plan. His work has since moved between reportage, portraiture and long-form photographic projects, including Unseen Waterloo, his battlefield portrait series exhibited at Somerset House.

    Print Swap began with a gap Sam’s own wall and a long-held habit among photographers: trading prints of each other's work. In a world of endless images and thin attention, it is built on a simple belief: a print on the wall changes the relationship.

    In episode 285, Sam discusses, among other things:

    How his new app., Print Swap, came to fruition.

    How he got into reportage photography in search of adventure.

    Kashmir and Afghanistan - talkng your way in and talking your way out.

    Coming back with the six rolls of film that won him the Ian Parry Award.

    The influence of Nick Danziger’s book Danziger’s Adventures.

    Changes in the industry.

    His global story about ‘the war on drugs’.

    Lessons learned from shooting Mario Testino.

    The threat of AI and the issue of trusted brands within the news media.

    His decision to step back from photojournalism.

    His new working life directing commercials.

    His Unseen Waterloo project.

    Referenced:

    David Hurn

    Jonas Bendiksen

    Ian Teh

    Omar Ashtawy

    Neil Burgess

    Nick Danziger

    Aidan Sullivan

    Mario Testino

    Stephen Dupont

    Website | Instagram

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