A Small Voice: Conversations with photographers and filmmakers

Ben Smith
  • 4.9 (316)
  • VISUAL ARTS
  • UPDATED FORTNIGHTLY

Fortnightly in-depth interviews featuring a diverse range of talented, innovative, world-class photographers from established, award-winning and internationally exhibited stars to young and emerging talents discussing their lives, work and process with fellow photographer, Ben Smith. The most recent 50 episodes are on this free feed, 200+ more are in the archive! TO ACCESS THE FULL ACHIVE OF PAST EPISODES + SPECIAL EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, BECOME A MEMBER FOR £5 PER MONTH!

  1. 277 - Zackary Canepari

    4 DAYS AGO

    277 - Zackary Canepari

    Zackary Canepari is an Emmy Award–winning filmmaker and Guggenheim Fellow whose work moves between documentary film and photography.  He began as a photojournalist in India and Pakistan before creating the Sundance-screened series California Is a place, a portrait of the golden state unraveling at the edges. He later co-directed the feature documentary T-Rex (SXSW), following teenage Olympic boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields as she fought her way toward gold; the film was adapted by MGM into the narrative feature The Fire Inside. His Guggenheim-supported project Flint Is a place expanded documentary storytelling across film, photography, archival material, and immersive media, earning a World Press Photo Award and recognition as Multimedia Photographer of the Year at POYi. His monograph REX won POYi Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Paris Photo–Aperture First PhotoBook Prize. Zackary's documentary Fire in Paradise won an Emmy and an Edward R. Murrow Award and was shortlisted for an Academy Award. He received a second Emmy for directing The Gallagher Effect for The New York Times Presents (FX/Hulu). Instagram In episode 277, Zackary discusses, among other things: How he started in photography The experience of cutting his photographic teeth in India The complicated question of whether it's a good time to be a filmmaker His early project California Is a place, with his collaborator Drea Cooper Learning the ropes through experience His first feature documentary, T-Rex, and being smiled upon by the documentary gods Flint Town Thoughts & Prayers Fire in Paradise   Become a A Small Voice podcast member here to access exclusive additional subscriber-only content and the full archive of 200+ previous episodes for £5 per month.  Subscribe to my weekly newsletter here for everything A Small Voice related and much more besides.  Follow me on Instagram here.  Need a new website? I will build you one with Squarespace. Details here.

    1h 21m
  2. 276 - Jessica Dimmock

    25 FEB

    276 - Jessica Dimmock

    Jessica Dimmock’s work focusses on humanistic and intimate storytelling. She is the recipient of numerous international awards for her photography and video work, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, three World Press Photo Awards for short films, The Inge Morath Award from Magnum, the F Award for Concerned Photography from Forma and Fabrica, The Infinity Award for Photojournalist of the Year from the International Center of Photography, and The Kodak Award for Best Cinematography at the Hamptons International Film Festival. She is a Sundance Edit and Story Lab Fellow, and her first feature film The Pearl was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Dallas International Film Festival and was executive produced by Impact Partners. Her clients include HBO, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Microsoft, The UNFPA, Aperture, Showtime and PBS. She is the co-director of the Netflix series Flint Town as and directed on the reboot of Unsolved Mysteries and AppleTV’s Home. In 2007 Jessica produced a photobook entitled The Ninth Floor (Contrasto).  Her most recent film, co-directed with her partner Zackery Canepari, is Thoughts & Prayers: How to Survive an Active Shooter in America, focussing on the USA's $3 billion active shooter preparadness industry and its effects on teachers and students, released in 2025. In episode 276, Jessica Discusses, among other things: Current projects Her attraction to dark subject matter Her TV mini series Captive Audience Forming close relationships with her subject The random coffee shop interaction that changed her direction forever The chance encounter that led to her first big photography project and subsequent book, The Ninth Floor How the musician Moby played a part in her journey Serendipity and her project The Pearl The challenge of landing lucrative commercial work The Netflix series she co-directed, Flint Town Her most recent film Thoughts & Prayers: How to Survive an Active Shooter in America Website | Instagram   Become a A Small Voice podcast member here to access exclusive additional subscriber-only content and the full archive of 200+ previous episodes for £5 per month.  Subscribe to my weekly newsletter here for everything A Small Voice related and much more besides.  Follow me on Instagram here.  Need a new website? I will build you one with Squarespace. Details here.

    1h 11m
  3. 275 - Philip Blenkinsop

    11 FEB

    275 - Philip Blenkinsop

    On episode 275, Philip discusses, among other things: His ‘cabinet of curiosities’ studio spaceA recent, powerful urge to photograph in AustraliaWhy he left the newspaper world there in favour of ThailandHis early project “The Cars That Ate Bangkok”His sense of anger at injusticeHis ‘near death experience’ on Sleeping Dog MountainProcess, shooting on film, and working close to the subjectThe influence of Koudelka’s book ExilesThe ways in which his old home of Bangkok has changed since he was thereWhy he moved to FranceWebsite | Instagram   Become a A Small Voice podcast member here to access exclusive additional subscriber-only content and the full archive of 200+ previous episodes for £5 per month.  Subscribe to my weekly newsletter here for everything A Small Voice related and much more besides.  Follow me on Instagram here.  Need a new website? I will build you one with Squarespace. Details here.

    1h 15m
  4. 274 - Joachim Ladefoged

    28 JAN

    274 - Joachim Ladefoged

    Joachim Ladefoged is a Danish photographer born in 1970. He has worked as a professional since 1991, and is a member of the international photo agency VII. Today he is a staff photographer at the Danish Daily Jyllands-Posten, but over the years he has worked regularly for magazines such as The New York Times Magazine, Mare, The New Yorker and TIME. Joachim has received numerous awards for his work from institutions such as Visa D'Or, World Press Photo, POYi, Eissie, and Agfa, as well as Picture of the Year in Denmark. Over the years he has published 3 monographs, Albanians, Mirror and Time After My Time. Joachim photographs everything with the same inventiveness and diligence, whether sports, war or commerce. His highly accomplished career has seen him master complex, violent news stories, commercial assignments, daily news, and rich, vibrant, and spectacular feature stories. Joachim is credited with being one of the driving forces behind the new wave of Danish photojournalism. In episode 274, Joachim discusses, among other things: Having arthritis as a teenager and the impact it had on his life (good and bad)Starting his career as an intern at a local newspaperMoving on to ‘the best job in the world’ at national newspaper PolitikenWinning the World Press Photo awardWords of wisdom received from Magnum legend Constantine ManosGetting into Magnum… and being chucked out againBeing part of ‘the new wave of Danish photojounalists’Why changing direction on becoming a father was “the right decision, but a hard decision”Why three photographers were just made redundant on his newspaperHis approach to shooting and lighting portraitsHis book project Time After My TimePhotographing his kids with the iPhoneInstagram   Become a A Small Voice podcast member here to access exclusive additional subscriber-only content and the full archive of 200+ previous episodes for £5 per month.  Subscribe to my weekly newsletter here for everything A Small Voice related and much more besides.  Follow me on Instagram here.  Need a new website? I will build you one with Squarespace. Details here.

    1h 15m
  5. 273 - Lee Shulman

    14 JAN

    273 - Lee Shulman

    Lee Shulman is a visual artist, filmmaker, and founder of The Anonymous Project, one of the most significant archives of vernacular color photography in existence. Since 2017, the project has amassed nearly one million Kodachrome slides from the 1940s to the early 2000s — intimate, everyday images that might have otherwise been lost to time. Through curation and transformation, Lee reanimates these personal photographs, weaving them into compelling narratives that explore memory, family, love, and cultural shifts across generations. Lee’s career also extends into film direction, notably with his debut feature documentary, "I Am Martin Parr," released in 2025. This film chronicles a road trip with renowned photographer Martin Parr, revisiting iconic locations from his oeuvre. Shulman's prior collaboration with Parr on the "Déjà View" project, which paired Parr's distinctive photographs with images from The Anonymous Project, laid the groundwork for their working relationship. The documentary provides an affectionate portrayal of Parr's artistic process and enduring work ethic, further cementing Lee’s engagement with the broader discourse of photography. Born in London in 1973, Lee lives and works in Paris. His work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale and Rencontres d’Arles, and is held in major collections such as the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and Photo Elysée in Lausanne. Website | Instagram   Become a A Small Voice podcast member here to access exclusive additional subscriber-only content and the full archive of 200+ previous episodes for £5 per month.  Subscribe to my weekly newsletter here for everything A Small Voice related and much more besides.  Follow me on Instagram here.  Need a new website? I will build you one with Squarespace. Details here.

    1h 10m

  6. 31/12/2025

    272 - Year In Review 2025

    Featuring: Ed SykesIan HowarthDina LitovskyJoseph Michael LopezMike AbrahamsIan MacdonaldKatrin KoenningTomasz TomaszewskiMackenzie CalleMarc WilsonPaul SeawrightMohamed BourouissaAnna ArendtMarjolein MartinotRankinTony DocekalEli ReedMerlin DalemanMike BrodiePaul SngEd KashiRachel Elizabeth Seed   Become a A Small Voice podcast member here to access exclusive additional subscriber-only content and the full archive of 200+ previous episodes for £5 per month.  Subscribe to my weekly newsletter here for everything A Small Voice related and much more besides.  Follow me on Instagram here.  Need a new website? I will build you one with Squarespace. Details here.

    1h 8m
  7. 271 - Rachel Elizabeth Seed

    17/12/2025

    271 - Rachel Elizabeth Seed

    Rachel Elizabeth Seed is a Brooklyn and Los Angeles-based nonfiction storyteller working in film, photography, and writing. In 2025, she won the Truer Than Fiction Spirit Award for her debut feature film, A Photographic Memory, which is also a New York Times Critics Pick. Rachel’s work has received support from the Sundance Institute, Chicken + Egg Films, the Jewish Film Institute, the California Film Institute, Jewish Story Partners, NYFA, Field of Vision, the Jerome Foundation, NYSCA, the Maine Media Workshops, the Roy W. Dean grant, the National Arts Club, IFP, and many others.  Formerly a photo editor at New York Magazine, her photography has been exhibited worldwide, including at the International Center of Photography, and she was a cameraperson on several award-winning feature documentaries. Rachel’s writing has been published by No Film School, the Sundance Institute, and Talkhouse and she is Executive Director / Co-founder of the Brooklyn Documentary Club, a NYC-based filmmaker collective with 250+ members. In episode 271, Rachel discusses, among other things: A summary of her mum’s characternature vs. nurtureHer mum’s Images of Man interviews for ICP/ScholasticWhat inspired her to make a filmHow her own story became interwined with her mum’sDiscovering a family archive of super 8 footageHow she recreated the interviews using actorsThe importance of working with good editorsThe challenge of funding and financingKey advice for anyone wanting to make a personal documentaryThe fine balance between collaboration and having the courage of your convitions as directorWriting for narration as opposed to for readingSharing her personal stories as the film evolved over a ten year period - How to balance life and art‘Selling the film’ and what that means in practiceThe Brooklyn Documentary ClubMoving to L.A.Projects she has in developmentWebsite | Instagram   Become a A Small Voice podcast member here to access exclusive additional subscriber-only content and the full archive of 200+ previous episodes for £5 per month.  Subscribe to my weekly newsletter here for everything A Small Voice related and much more besides.  Follow me on Instagram here.  Need a new website? I will build you one with Squarespace. Details here.

    1h 5m
  8. 270 - Paris Photo 2025 Special

    03/12/2025

    270 - Paris Photo 2025 Special

    Featuring: Yasuhiro OgawaMarshall ToLua RibeiraGianluca Gamberini (L'artiere books)Eleonora AgostiniPia-Paulina GuilmothAletheia CaseyBooks/Projects mentioned: Lost in Kyoto, Yasuhiro OgawaBlank Notes, Marshall To44 Irvine Street 1970-1971, Susan MeiselasAgony In The Garden, Lua RibeiraCalling The Bird Home, Cheryl St. OngeAnother England, Phil ToledanoA Study On Waitressing, Eleonora AgostiniFlowers Drink The River, Pia Paulina GuilmothFishworm, Pia Paulina Guilmoth & Jesse B. SaffireA Lost Place, Aletheia Casey   Become a A Small Voice podcast member here to access exclusive additional subscriber-only content and the full archive of 200+ previous episodes for £5 per month.  Subscribe to my weekly newsletter here for everything A Small Voice related and much more besides.  Follow me on Instagram here.  Need a new website? I will build you one with Squarespace. Details here.

    50 min
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4.9
out of 5
316 Ratings

About

Fortnightly in-depth interviews featuring a diverse range of talented, innovative, world-class photographers from established, award-winning and internationally exhibited stars to young and emerging talents discussing their lives, work and process with fellow photographer, Ben Smith. The most recent 50 episodes are on this free feed, 200+ more are in the archive! TO ACCESS THE FULL ACHIVE OF PAST EPISODES + SPECIAL EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, BECOME A MEMBER FOR £5 PER MONTH!

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