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A Photographic Life
A Photographic Life
Author: The United Nations of Photography
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"To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It's a way of life." Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Whatever your level of engagement with photography The Photographic Life Podcast explains the realities of working with and learning about the medium. Each week photographer, writer, lecturer, filmmaker, and BBC Radio contributor Dr. Grant Scott reflects on news, discussions, themes and issues surrounding the photographic community. This is a podcast for those who do not want kit reviews, photoshop techniques, marketing babble or camera talk. It is for those who want informed conversation about photography and life. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of www.unitednationsofphotography.com, a Senior Lecturer in Photography at Oxford Brookes University, UK, a working photographer, and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained, The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography and New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography.
His documentary film, Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay has been screened across the UK, and in Canada and the US.
Podcast music: Written and performed by Laura Ritchie.
Whatever your level of engagement with photography The Photographic Life Podcast explains the realities of working with and learning about the medium. Each week photographer, writer, lecturer, filmmaker, and BBC Radio contributor Dr. Grant Scott reflects on news, discussions, themes and issues surrounding the photographic community. This is a podcast for those who do not want kit reviews, photoshop techniques, marketing babble or camera talk. It is for those who want informed conversation about photography and life. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of www.unitednationsofphotography.com, a Senior Lecturer in Photography at Oxford Brookes University, UK, a working photographer, and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained, The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography and New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography.
His documentary film, Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay has been screened across the UK, and in Canada and the US.
Podcast music: Written and performed by Laura Ritchie.
412 Episodes
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In this special episode recorded at our A Photographic Life Live 2025 event at Oxford Brookes University Grant speaks with photographic historian Dr Michael Pritchard concerning the importance of creating an organised archive, making money from an archive and how to leave your archive for those who will inherit it.
Dr Michael Pritchard
Dr Michael Pritchard has a practical knowledge of studio and location photography, darkroom processing and printing, and digital photography. He joined Christie’s, the fine art auction house, as a photography specialist in 1986 and grew auctions of cameras and photographic equipment and associated material, setting many world auction records. He was also an auctioneer, and became a Christie’s Director and International Business Director for collectibles across the company. In 2007 he became a consultant for Christie’s working on a new cataloguing and property control system. He also undertook a PhD in history of photography between 2007 and 2010. His thesis examined photographic manufacturing and retailing from 1839-1914. He has taught history of photography at MA level at De Montfort University and catalogued and organised the Kodak Historical Collection at the British Library for public access. Pritchard was recruited to the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) in 2011 as Chief Executive, becoming Director of Programmes from 2018-2023. During his tenure he brought a renewed public profile for the RPS and oversaw an expansion in its public activities, not least growing its membership to the largest in its history. In 2024 he established his own consultancy. He continues to support the RPS. Pritchard continues to actively research the history of photography and regularly delivers conference papers and publishes across the field. He edits the British Photographic History blog and The PhotoHistorian. His knowledge is regularly sought and he shares his expertise and knowledge of photography and its history with other academics and institutions, students, collectors and the general public. He gives regular talks and has broadcast on a wide range of photographic subjects. His most recent book is A History of Photography in 50 Cameras (Bloomsbury).
https://mpritchard.squarespace.com
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work zas a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s next book is Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, Orphans Publishing, is on sale February 2024.
© Grant Scott 2025
In this special episode recorded at our A Photographic Life Live 2025 event at Oxford Brookes University Grant speaks with photographer and filmmaker Chris Floyd focusing on his approach to the photographic portrait, and the physical, spiritual and mental requirements of photographing celebrities.
Chris Floyd
Chris Floyd is a British photographer and film maker. His photographic work has appeared in some of the world’s most highly respected publications, including Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Harpers Bazaar, GQ, Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine and Wallpaper* among others. In April 2021 Floyd was commissioned by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to photograph them at Kensington Palace in London in honour of their tenth wedding anniversary. In 2022 he published his first monograph dedicated to the broad sweep of his career 'NOT JUST PICTURES' is a 320 page volume, of portraits, with 60 pieces of written text that tell the stories behind some of his favourite pictures. Floyd has produced commercial work for Apple, Avis, Berry Bros. & Rudd, Glenfiddich, Haleon, Open University, Philips, Sony, The National Lottery, and Virgin Radio. As a director he has produced moving image work for Avis, BMW, Anthropologie, Nissan, Mr Porter, Sleaford Mods, The Smithsonian, Space NK, UBS, and Virgin Radio. www.chrisfloyd.com
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work zas a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
© Grant Scott 2025
In this special episode recorded at our A Photographic Life Live 2025 event at Oxford Brookes University Grant speaks with photographer and filmmaker focusing on her dedication to the long form project, her film Mother Vera and the the need for dedicated research when building a body of work.
Alys Tomlinson
Tomlinson was born and grew up in Brighton, UK and studied English, literature and communications at the University of Leeds.After graduating in the mid-1990s, she moved to New York City for a year, where she undertook her first commission as a photographer, shooting all the pictures for the Time Out Guide to the city. She returned to London to study photography at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and later completed a part-time MA in the anthropology of travel, tourism and pilgrimage at SOAS University of London. During each of several later trips to New York City over four years, she walked the 14 mile length of Broadway, first in full taking 10 hours then in sections, and making street portraits. This resulted in the book Following Broadway (2013). Tomlinson's book Ex-Voto (2019) documents ex-voto (votive offerings made to a saint or to a divinity) left at several European destinations of Christian pilgrimage: the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, France; Ballyvourney, Ireland; and the Grabarka Holy Mount in Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland, close to the border with Belarus. Tomlinson's film Mother Vera, accompanies her Ex-Voto work.
https://www.motherverafilm.co.uk
Lost Summer (2020) is a book of black and white portraits of young people aged between 15 and 19 in north London. With the cancellation of final exams and ritual events such as proms and graduations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tomlinson photographed her subjects in the outfits they would have worn to prom, in their gardens and local parks. Her latest project Gli Isolani (The Islanders) was published by GOST Books in 2022. Alys’s work is collected privately and is in the following collections: National Portrait Gallery (London), The Rencontres d’Arles Collection, The Bodleian Library, AmberSide Collection.
https://alystomlinson.co.uk
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work zas a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s next book is Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, Orphans Publishing, is on sale February 2024.
Image: Vera by Alys Tomlinson
© Grant Scott 2025
In this special episode Grant shares his personal memories of photographer Martin Parr and reflects on his influence on contemporary documentary photography.
Martin Parr
Born in Epsom, Surrey, Parr wanted to become a documentary photographer from the age of fourteen and cited his grandfather, George Parr, an amateur photographer and fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, as an early influence. However, it was not until he was introduced to the work of Tony Ray Jones by Creative Camera and Album editor and writer Bill Jay (www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd47549knOU&t=74s) at a talk whilst Parr was studying photography at Manchester Polytechnic that he identified how his career as a photographer would develop within documentary practice. Parr studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic from 1970 to 1973 with contemporaries Daniel Meadows and Brian Griffin. Parr and Meadows collaborated on various projects,including working at Butlin's holiday camps as roving photographers. They were part of a new wave of documentary photographers, and the 'New British Photography'. In 1975 Parr moved to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire where he would complete his first body of work and spent five years photographing rural life in the area. He photographed in black-and-white, creating his series The Non-Conformistswas widely exhibited at the time and published as a book in 2013. In 1980 Parr married Susan Mitchell and, for her work, they moved to the west coast of Ireland where he set up a darkroom in Boyle, County Roscommon. In 1982 they moved to Wallasey, England, and he switched permanently to colour photography. During the summers of 1983, 1984 and 1985 he photographed working-class people at the seaside in nearby New Brighton. This work was published in the book The Last Resort: Photographs of New Brighton (1986) and exhibited in Liverpool and London. He and his wife moved to Bristol in 1987, and he began his next major project, on the middle class, who were at that time becoming increasingly affluent under Thatcherism. He photographed middle-class activities such as shopping, dinner parties and school open days, predominantly around Bristol and Bath which was published as his next book The Cost of Living (1989). Between 1987 and 1994 Parr travelled internationally to make his next major series, a critique of mass tourism, published as Small World in 1995. Between 1995 and 1999 he made the series Common Sense about global consumerism. Common Sense was an exhibition of 350 prints, and a book published in 1999. The exhibition was first shown in 1999 and was staged simultaneously in forty-one venues in seventeen countries. Parr joined Magnum Photos as an associate member in 1988. The vote on his inclusion as a full member in 1994 was divisive, with Philip Jones Griffiths circulating a plea to other members not to admit him. Parr achieved the necessary two-thirds majority by one vote. Alongside his photography he was a passionate collector and critic of photobooks. His collaboration with the critic Gerry Badger, The Photobook: A History (in three volumes) covers more than 1,000 examples of photobooks from the 19th century through to the present day. The first two volumes took eight years to complete. The Martin Parr Foundation was founded in 2014 and opened in Bristol in 2017. The Foundation houses Parr's own archive, and his collection of prints and book dummies made by other photographers—mainly British and Irish photography, and work by several photographers from abroad who have photographed in the UK. There is a gallery open to the public—its first exhibition was Parr's Black Country Stories —and it is a hub for talks, screenings and events. Parr was the Foundation's main source of income. He was diagnosed with cancer in May 2021, and died at his home in Bristol on 6 December 2025. https://martinparr.com
©Grant Scott 2025
In this monthly conversation series Grant Scott speaks with editor, writer and curator of photography Bill Shapiro. In an informal conversation each month Grant and Bill comment on the photographic environment as they see it. This month Bill reflects on his recent trip to Paris Photo, whilst he and Grant lock horns over AI and agree about the importance of experts.
Mentioned in this episode:
Jack Davison www.jackdavison.co.uk
Marie-Laure de Decker www.mep-fr.org/en/event/marie-laure-de-decker-3/
Nino Migliori www.keithdelellisgallery.com/artists/nino-migliori
Erica Lennard https://ericalennardphotography.com
Fred Herzog www.equinoxgallery.com/our-artists/fred-herzog/
Emma Hartvig www.emmahartvig.com
Kit Young www.kityoung.co.uk
Henry O. Head www.henryohead.com
Michael Wolf https://photomichaelwolf.com
The Hulett Collection https://thehulettcollection.com
Louis Stettner https://louisstettner.co
Todd Webb www.toddwebbarchive.com
Phillip Toledano https://mrtoledano.com
Sean Scully www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sean-scully-1917
Paul Strand www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/paul-strand
www.bluephoto.co
Bill Shapiro
Bill Shapiro served as the Editor-in-Chief of LIFE, the legendary photo magazine; LIFE’s relaunch in 2004 was the largest in Time Inc. history. Later, he was the founding Editor-in-Chief of LIFE.com, which won the 2011 National Magazine Award for digital photography. Shapiro is the author of several books, among them Gus & Me, a children’s book he co-wrote with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and, What We Keep, which looks at the objects in our life that hold the most emotional significance. A fine-art photography curator for New York galleries and a consultant to photographers, Shapiro is also a Contributing Editor to the Leica Conversations series. He has written about photography for the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, the Atlantic, Vogue, and Esquire, among others. Every Friday — more or less — he posts about under-the-radar photographers on his Instagram feed, where he’s @billshapiro.
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8 magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
©Grant Scott 2025
In episode 394 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the big and small things that impact on the everyday engagement we all have with photography.
Mentioned in this episode:
https://jeanloupsieff.com
www.corinneday.com
www.rankinphoto.co.uk
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8 magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s book Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, Orphans Publishing, is now on sale.
© Grant Scott 2025
In this monthly conversation series Grant Scott speaks with art director, lecturer and creative director Fiona Hayes. In an informal conversation each month Grant and Fiona comment on the photographic environment as they see it through the exhibitions, magazines, talks and events that Fiona has seen over the previous weeks.
Mentioned in this episode:
https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/whats-on/boris-mikhailov-ukrainian-diary
www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/2025/cecil-beaton/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLjkQyp2Bjk
www.saatchigallery.com/exhibition/futurespective
Fiona Hayes
Fiona Hayes is an art director, designer, consultant and lecturer with over 30 years’ experience in publishing, fashion and the art world. She has been a magazine art director ten times: on Punch, Company, Eve, the British and Russian editions of Cosmopolitan, House & Garden,GQ India (based in Mumbai), MyselfGermany (in Munich), and Russian Vogue (twice). Between 2013 and 2019, as Art Director of New Markets and Brand Development for Condé Nast International, based in London and Paris, she oversaw all the company’s launches – 14 magazines, including seven editions of Vogue. She still consults as Design Director at Large for Vogue Hong Kong. In 2002 she founded independent photography magazine DayFour, publishing it continuously until 2012. She is Co-Author and Art Director of The Fashion Yearbook, and creative director of books for South African media consultancy Legacy Creates. Outside the publishing world, she has been Art Director of contemporary art auction house Phillips de Pury in London and New York, and Consultant Art Director of Russian luxury retail group Mercury/TSUM. (Fiona would like to point out she is not Russian: she is proudly Irish and studied Visual Communication and History of Art and Design at NCAD Dublin.) She currently divides her time between design consultancy for commercial clients, and lecturing at Oxford Brookes University, the Condé Nast College of Fashion and Design, London, Nottingham Trent University, Ravensbourne University, and Leeds University. She lives in West London. @theartdictator
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s next book is Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, Orphans Publishing, is on sale now wherever you buy your books.
©Grant Scott 2025
In episode 392 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the big and small things that impact on the everyday engagement we all have with photography.
Mentioned in this episode:
Huger Foote https://hugerfoote.com
Gille Tapie www.fashionmodeldirectory.com/photographers/gilles-tapie/
Dewey Nicks https://deweynicks.com
Javier Vallonrat www.mfilomeno.com/artist/javier-vallhonrat/gallery/commercial-2/
Michel Momy https://michelmomy.photography/?photo=0
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8 magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s book Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, Orphans Publishing, is now on sale.
© Grant Scott 2025
In this monthly conversation series Grant Scott speaks with editor, writer and curator of photography Bill Shapiro. In an informal conversation each month Grant and Bill comment on the photographic environment as they see it. This month they throw quotes from famous photographers at each other and reflect on the meanings of those quotes.
Bill Shapiro
Bill Shapiro served as the Editor-in-Chief of LIFE, the legendary photo magazine; LIFE’s relaunch in 2004 was the largest in Time Inc. history. Later, he was the founding Editor-in-Chief of LIFE.com, which won the 2011 National Magazine Award for digital photography. Shapiro is the author of several books, among them Gus & Me, a children’s book he co-wrote with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and, What We Keep, which looks at the objects in our life that hold the most emotional significance. A fine-art photography curator for New York galleries and a consultant to photographers, Shapiro is also a Contributing Editor to the Leica Conversations series. He has written about photography for the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, the Atlantic, Vogue, and Esquire, among others. Every Friday — more or less — he posts about under-the-radar photographers on his Instagram feed, where he’s @billshapiro.
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s next book is Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, Orphans Publishing, is on sale now wherever you buy your books.
© Grant Scott 2025
In episode 390 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the big and small things that impact on the everyday engagement we all have with photography.
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s book Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, Orphans Publishing, is now on sale.
© Grant Scott 2025
Mentioned in this episode:
Lee Miller www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/lee-miller
Joy Goodman www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/joy-gregory-fierce-and-fearless/
Mark Steinmetz https://davidhillgallery.net/artists/mark-steinmetz-taken-from-light
Fiona Hayes
Fiona Hayes is an art director, designer, consultant and lecturer with over 30 years’ experience in publishing, fashion and the art world. She has been a magazine art director ten times: on Punch, Company, Eve, the British and Russian editions of Cosmopolitan, House & Garden,GQ India (based in Mumbai), MyselfGermany (in Munich), and Russian Vogue (twice). Between 2013 and 2019, as Art Director of New Markets and Brand Development for Condé Nast International, based in London and Paris, she oversaw all the company’s launches – 14 magazines, including seven editions of Vogue. She still consults as Design Director at Large for Vogue Hong Kong. In 2002 she founded independent photography magazine DayFour, publishing it continuously until 2012. She is Co-Author and Art Director of The Fashion Yearbook, and creative director of books for South African media consultancy Legacy Creates. Outside the publishing world, she has been Art Director of contemporary art auction house Phillips de Pury in London and New York, and Consultant Art Director of Russian luxury retail group Mercury/TSUM. (Fiona would like to point out she is not Russian: she is proudly Irish and studied Visual Communication and History of Art and Design at NCAD Dublin.) She currently divides her time between design consultancy for commercial clients, and lecturing at Oxford Brookes University, the Condé Nast College of Fashion and Design, London, Nottingham Trent University, Ravensbourne University, and Leeds University. She lives in West London. @theartdictator
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work zas a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s next book is Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, Orphans Publishing, is on sale February 2024.
Image: Lee Miller Self Portrait
© Grant Scott 2025
In episode 388 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the big and small things that impact on the everyday engagement we all have with photography.
https://www.artsy.net/article/addicted-art-gallery-markus-klinko-lady-gaga-hello-kitty
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s book Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, Orphans Publishing, is now on sale.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-photographic-live-live-2025-tickets-1693780716719?aff=oddtdtcreator
© Grant Scott 2025
In episode 387 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his garage reflecting on the small and big things that impact on the everyday engagement we all have with photography.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-photographic-live-live-2025-tickets-1693780716719?aff=oddtdtcreator
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8 magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s book Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, Orphans Publishing, is now on sale.
© Grant Scott 2025
In this monthly conversation series Grant Scott speaks with editor, writer and curator of photography Bill Shapiro. In an informal conversation each month Grant and Bill comment on the photographic environment as they see it. This month they reflect on teaching photography and the role of the teacher.
Bill Shapiro
Bill Shapiro served as the Editor-in-Chief of LIFE, the legendary photo magazine; LIFE’s relaunch in 2004 was the largest in Time Inc. history. Later, he was the founding Editor-in-Chief of LIFE.com, which won the 2011 National Magazine Award for digital photography. Shapiro is the author of several books, among them Gus & Me, a children’s book he co-wrote with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and, What We Keep, which looks at the objects in our life that hold the most emotional significance. A fine-art photography curator for New York galleries and a consultant to photographers, Shapiro is also a Contributing Editor to the Leica Conversations series. He has written about photography for the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, the Atlantic, Vogue, and Esquire, among others. Every Friday — more or less — he posts about under-the-radar photographers on his Instagram feed, where he’s @billshapiro.
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s next book is Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, Orphans Publishing, is on sale now wherever you buy your books.
Mentioned in this episode:
Ami Vitale www.amivitale.com
www.instagram.com/amivitale
https://vitalimpacts.org
Stephen Vanasco
www.stephenvanasco.com
Anne Rearick
www.annerearick.com
www.bluephoto.co/category/anne-rearick
Gure Bzterrak
Alex Harris
https://alex-harris.com
www.bluephoto.co/category/art-prints-by-alex-harris
© Grant Scott 2025
In episode 385 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on the big and small things that impact on the everyday engagement we all have with photography.
Mentioned in this episode:
www.motherverafilm.co.uk
https://releasing.dogwoof.com/i-am-martin-parr
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s book Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, Orphans Publishing, is now on sale.
© Grant Scott 2025
In this special episode UNP Founder and Curator Grant Scott speaks with documentary photographer Jim Mortram about long form projects, empathy, collaboration, community and social media.
Jim Mortram
Jim Mortram is a British social documentary photographer and writer, based in Dereham, Norfolk in the East of England. His ongoing project, Small Town Inertia, records the lives of a number of disadvantaged and marginalised people living near to his home, in order to tell stories he believes are under-reported. His photographs and writing are published on his website, and have been published by Café Royal Books in 2013, and in the book Small Town Inertia published by Bluecoat Press in 2017. Small Town Inertia Two will be publisshed in 2025. Mortram began the Small Town Inertia website in 2006 with the “Market Town” stories. Its name is a reference to the market town of Dereham, where he lives, fifteen miles west of the city of Norwich in Norfolk. Through photography, his writing and the subject’s own words, Mortram records the lives of the disadvantaged and marginalised, making repeated visits with a number of people living within three miles of his home. Small Town Inertia tells stories of “isolation, poverty, drug abuse, homelessness, self-harm, mental illness, juvenile crime, and epilepsy”, that Mortram believes are otherwise under-reported. Dave Stelfox wrote in The Guardian that “Mortram’s rich, black-and-white images possess a timeless quality that invites easy comparison with the classic documentary work of such British photographers as Chris Steele Perkins, Paul Trevor and Chris Killip.” An exhibition of the work titled Small Town Inertia will be shown at the Side Gallery, Newcastle, England, Saturday 12 January 2019 – Sunday 24 March 2019. https://smalltowninertia.co.uk
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work zas a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s book Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, Orphans Publishing, is on sale now.
Mentioned in this episode:
https://gilesduley.com
© Grant Scott 2025
In episode 383 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his garage reflecting on the small and big things that impact on the everyday engagement we all have with photography.
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8 magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s book Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, Orphans Publishing, is now on sale.
© Grant Scott 2025
In this episode UNP Founder and Curator Grant Scott speaks with photographers Simon Roberts and Nina Emett about their project to establish an artist led collaborative space for photography on the South coast of England.
Simon Roberts
Robert's is based in Brighton, UK, and recognised for his large-format, tableaux photographs exploring the socio-political fabric of Britain. His practice also encompasses video, text and installation. Roberts has been recognised with numerous awards including an Honorary Fellowship to the Royal Photographic Society, the Vic Odden Award. He is the author of several critically acclaimed monographs and outside of his own practice he is involved with several not-for-profit organisations. www.simoncroberts.com
Nina Emett
Emett is founding Director of FotoDocument and a passionate believer in visual story-telling to engage people in powerful narratives, creating active global citizenship to effect positive change. She has commissioned and curated over 30 multi-media arts projects and exhibitions since 2012. She was Strategic Lead for Brighton & Hove City Council’s anti-racism strategy (2005-09) and Director of the Salusbury World Refugee Centre (1999–03). https://www.instagram.com/nina_emett/
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer in 2000. Alongside his photographic career he has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery and launched Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford.
© Grant Scott 2025
In this fourth and final episode of a special four part Summer series Grant Scott reads extracts from his book Inside Vogue House: One Building. Seven Magazines. Sixty Years of Stories.
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8 magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s book Inside Vogue House: One building. Seven magazines. Sixty Years of Stories is on sale now.
© Grant Scott 2025
In this third episode of a special four part Summer series Grant Scott reads extracts from his book Inside Vogue House: One Building. Seven Magazines. Sixty Years of Stories.
Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8 magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.
Scott’s book Inside Vogue House: One building. Seven magazines. Sixty Years of Stories is on sale now.
© Grant Scott 2025





I know my opinion isn't worth a penny, but this is one of the best interviews on photography that I've heard - unpretentious and full of wisdom.
This was wonderful to hear. Thank you.