1 Jul 2026 07:05
285 - Sam Faulkner
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.
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
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