A Photographic Life - 203: 'Ukraine Focus': Plus Photographer Tom Pilston

In episode 203 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed in a conversation with photographer Tom Pilston and reflecting on the need for a humanitarian approach when documenting war and conflict, the role of the photo-journalist and the importance of empathy in photography. Tom Pilston began worked in the music and fashion industry before moving to photojournalism in the late 1980s. As a staff photographer on the then newly launched Independent newspaper Tom worked across its titles specialising in photo essays from the UK and abroad, travelling to Bosnia, Burma, Sudan and Kosovo among many others. In 2007, he decided to go freelance, covering Barak Obama's first election and the war in Syria on a number of assignments. Throughout his career, Tom has worked for and with numerous charities and non-profit organisations, highlighting the work they do around the world. Tom's clients include The Sunday Times Magazine, The Guardian, the Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Newsweek and Le Point magazine. He regularly works with Save the Children, UNICEF and Christian Aid. Tom has won World Press Photo awards, a Nikon award, an Amnesty International Award and numerous others. Last week he was documenting the Ukrainian refugee crisis on the Polish boarder. www.tompilston.com Dr. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and 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). © Grant Scott 2022