The Land Behind: Conversations on Photography, Perception and Place

Peter interviews the Scottish sculptor-poet Alec Finlay, whose work explores how language shapes and intensifies our experience of place. In addition to his creative practice, Finlay is the author of numerous books including Gathering: A Place Aware Guide to the Cairngorms (Hauser & Wirth, 2018) and Not Sealions but Lions by the Sea (Broken Sleep Books, 2025) . Beginning with Finlay’s upbringi...

Peter speaks to the Swedish photographer Maja Daniels, whose work explores how history, memory, landscape and archive transform the meaning of one another over time. With a particular focus on the geography of Älvdalen in central Sweden, Daniels is the author of two photo books including Elf Dalia (Mack, 2019) , nominated for the Aperture-Paris Photo First PhotoBook Award 2019. This was followed b...

Peter speaks with the Australian philosopher Jeff Malpas, emeritus distinguished professor at the University of Tasmania, whose work explores the fundamental role the appearance of place plays in understanding who and what we are. Malpas is the author of numerous books and essays including Place and Experience (Cambridge University Press, 1999) and In the Brightness of Place: Topological Thinking...

Peter speaks to the philosopher Edward S. Casey about the philosophy of place and the ecology of emotion, drawing insights from Casey’s book Turning Emotion Inside Out: Affective Life Beyond the Subject (Northwestern University Press, 2021) . Central to their discussion is the concept of eco-affectivity , the idea that emotions are deeply rooted in and shaped by our environment. Why then does plac...

Peter interviews the philosopher Erin Plunkett about the 20th-century Czech thinker Jan Patočka, exploring how his thought can help guide us through the problems of truth and beauty in the 21st century. Erin is currently Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Hertfordshire. She is a co-editor of The Selected Writings of Jan Patočka: Care for the Soul , published i...

Peter speaks to the author and researcher Kat Hill about bothies and what they can teach us about histories of dwelling and place. Kat is the author of Bothy: In Search of Simple Shelter , published in 2024 by William Collins. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thelandbehind Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandbehindpodcast Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:58) Who is Kat Hill? (04:03) Wh...

Peter speaks to the philosopher Ted Toadvine about a wide range of environmental themes and issues. Toadvine specialises in environmental ethics and contemporary European philosophy. His new book titled The Memory of the World: Deep Time, Animality, and Eschatology explores the ethical and ecological implications of deep time from a phenomenological perspective and is available now via University...

Peter speaks to the philosopher Al Lingis about what we can learn by looking and the ethics of seeing. Described as one of the most original voices alive today in American philosophy, Al is a keen photographer, and many of his essays are accompanied by his own images. During the episode Al describes the significance of photography to the development of his own philosophical thinking. Listen to the...

Peter joins the Helsinki-based photographer and researcher Harri Pälviranta at his studio to discuss the various themes behind his artistic practice, much of which has been dedicated to making visible structures of violence and issues of masculinity. His recent photobook titled Wall Tourist , published by Kult Books in 2022, contains a series of self-critical portraits exposed against the internat...

Peter speaks to the American photographer and writer Tim Carpenter about the "existential conundrum" of being a photographer, as explored in Tim's new book-length essay titled ‘To Photograph is to Learn How to Die’, published in 2023 by The Ice Plant. Their conversation is a discussion about the photographic life and how acknowledging our own mortality as human beings helps us draw d...

Peter speaks to the Japanese philosopher Takeshi Morisato about the 20th-century Kyoto School intellectual named Tanabe Hajime, whose philosophical method assimilated traditional elements of Japanese Buddhism with the perspectives of Western existentialism and Judeo-Christian theology during a period of enormous social upheaval in the history of modern Japan. Takeshi Morisato is a lecturer in Non-...

Peter joins Juuso Noronkoski at his studio in Helsinki to discuss the Finnish artist's photographic-based sculptural practice. Recognised for his ability to challenge and transform our expectations of the photographic image, Juuso's work has been exhibited worldwide in countries such as Japan and Germany. Drawing its inspiration from the phenomenon of different natural cycles, Juuso’s work...

Peter speaks to the Brighton-based British photographer Simon Roberts about his experience photographing England’s social landscape in the decade preceding Brexit. Whilst Simon’s unique large format perspectives draw their significance from a long and rich tradition of British landscape representation, they demonstrate a challenge to traditional stereotypes and idealised cliches of Britain’s visua...

Peter speaks to the Danish photographer Joakim Eskildsen about his three-decade long career and the deep connections he has forged along the way. They touch on many topics, including Joakim’s current show at the Fotografisk Center in Copenhagen as well as his experience making a book with Steidl. They also discuss the meaning of home and consider what the 19th century Danish philosopher Søren Kier...

Peter speaks with the Dartmoor-based British photographer Nicholas J. R. White about the interests and concerns that motivate his long-form, research-based and environmentally-situated large format practice. A graduate of Plymouth College of Art, Nicholas draws many of his motifs from the surrounding British landscape, and much of his photographic work can be characterised by underlying questions...

Peter speaks to the Swedish Gothenburg-based photographer Emanuel Cederqvist about his book The Margin of Error . Born in Stockholm in 1863, Axel Hamberg is remembered today as a geographer, a scientist and a cartographer. What is perhaps lesser known about this man is his talent as a photographer. At the beginning of the 20th century, Hamberg began journeying to the glaciated highlands of the Sca...

Peter speaks to the site-specific musicians and installation artists Leander Knust and A. P. Bergeron in conversation on the other side of the North Atlantic Ocean. For two weeks, Leander and A. P. have been collaborating together at an artist's residency aboard a 19th century lighthouse off the east coast of Long Island. During their conversation, many questions are asked; Where and how do artist...

Peter speaks to Robert Darch about his new self-published photobook ' The Island'. As a self-described “artist-photographer”, Robert was born and raised in the Midlands. In the early 2000’s, he studied his BA in Photography at Newport in South Wales before falling seriously ill for a number of years. After his recovery he found himself in Devon, where in 2013 he returned to study his MFA at the Un...

Peter speaks to Richard Beaven from his home in upstate New York about his experience being a British photographer living and working in the post-9/11 landscape of the United States. During their in-depth conversation, they remember the deep and complex geological, cultural, political and colonial histories of the Hudson River Valley where Richard now has his home, and what these multi-layered nar...

Peter speaks to Siân Davey to discuss how Siân's faith in humanity continues to shape her perception as a psychotherapist-turned-photographer. With reference to her photographs, Siân considers the restorative power of gardening during times of crisis. Throughout their conversation, they touch on the relationship between trauma and hope, Sian’s life as a mother, and the ways in which Buddhism h...

Peter speaks with the London-based documentary photographer Alys Tomlinson. Motivated by anthropological considerations such as the relationship between faith, identity and place, in 2018 Alys was the winner of the Sony World Photography Awards. In 2020, she was awarded first place in the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. Having just published her new photo book Gli Isolani inspired by c...

Peter speaks to the ecological anthropologist Tim Ingold. During their in-depth discussion, they consider the nature of human-animal relationships and ecologies of perception. Meanwhile, they break down the false dichotomy between culture and nature, and consider the natural environment as the meeting place between earth and sky. With a distinguished career spanning over five decades, Tim is the a...

Peter speaks with the Glasgow-based documentary photographer and lecturer Simon Murphy. In a wide-ranging discussion, they explore the landscape of Govanhill as a crossroads between different ways of seeing, not least between photographer and subject. They also reflect on the photographer’s responsibility in representing the face of another, and consider the gift of vision itself. https://www.inst...