In this episode of The Fine Art Photography Podcast, I’ll tell you about my day with a film crew in the humid Mississippi Delta
Full episode transcript
In this episode, How I became an Unlikely Candidate to appear in a travel show for English and Australian TV
Intro music
Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of The Fine Art Photography Podcast. In this episode, I’ll tell you how I got the opportunity to appear on a television travel show filmed for UK and Australian audiences.
To totally misquote the great Bob Seger song, Rambling Man, I ain’t good looking and I am actually quite shy, so how did an introverted photographer who specializes in photographs taken in lonely abandoned places or quiet isolated landscapes come to appear on a TV show broadcast half-way around the globe?
Well – to be honest — they asked me!
In October 2024, about a month prior to filming, I got an email from someone with Perpetual Entertainment in Sydney Australia, asking me if I might be willing to travel to Mississippi to film an episode with Griff Rhys Jones, a Welsh comedian and TV host who is quite well-known in the UK and Australia. He’s also a member of the order of the British Empire, for what that’s worth. Griff wanted to record a segment where we photographed abandoned buildings in the Mississippi Delta. The researcher’s email said, quote: “l’ve come across your portfolio online and it seems you could be the perfect person for this segment.”
Now this was an unpaid gig, although the person I spoke to said they could reimburse some travel expenses. I never claimed the expenses, but even though I really am shy and don’t see myself as having the looks or charisma for being on TV, this was right up my alley and I did view it as a great opportunity to promote my photography.
So I accepted the opportunity.
And after a few more phone calls with Sydney, the day of filming approached. My partner Teena and I loaded all the usual camera and video gear into the Toyota and drove to the Mississippi Delta — a place quite familiar to us.
In fact it was my many trips to the Mississippi Delta that helped get me this TV appearance. The researchers at Perpetual had obviously found me online from my previous trips and the photos and videos that had come from those trips.
Now, we went down the night before and stayed in a hotel in Clarksdale, which is about 30 minutes from the ghost town where we planned the filming. Honestly, I was feeling a little iffy about it all because I’d had zero communication with the film crew who were now in the country.
We had an agreed-upon location but no other details. No time to meet. No specifics about what we would actually be doing. No contact info for anyone from the Aussie film crew. Nothing.
As the morning of filming rolled into lunchtime, I was feeling a bit had — I began telling Teena that I think we have been stood up.
Finally a text came from the crew’s on-location producer asking me if we could be in Cleveland Mississippi later in the afternoon… exact time not specified. What was happening is they were filming somewhere else, and didn’t know exactly when they’d be ready for us.
Finally I was asked to bring my personal car to Cleveland, where I would meet up with the film crew. They wanted Teena to ride with them in their rented SUV with the crew and the gear, and they wanted me to drive my own vehicle alone with Griff to the filming location, so we could record a conversation on a GoPro mounted to the windshield of my car.
Now Teena was not thrilled about this idea but after some back-and-forth, they managed to talk us into having her ride with the crew. Ultimately, she was glad to have that experience.
It was a crew of four — the producer, several videographers and an audio person, all from Sydney.
When we arrived in Cleveland, we met the crew and they explained that the concept was for me to circle my car with GoPros and audio geared on board, around to the front of the hotel, where Griff would emerge and climb into the passenger seat, and we would have a conversation for the half-hour ride en route to the location.
This all commenced at about 3 PM, in November, when the days are getting shorter. Needless to say, I was concerned the light would fade before we had time to make any photos.
We arrived at the location before the two large white SUVs carrying the crew. So Griff and I waited for the crew to get the vehicles parked and gear unloaded, then we got back in my car, and let them film us rolling down the gravel road into the ghost town for the second time.
Later, we actually performed that same exercise for a third time, so the drone operator could get an aerial shot of us arriving at the location, which did actually appear in the episode. Seeing that shot was pretty cool for me because even though I had photographed this location on three separate occasions, I don’t have a drone and I had never seen it from overhead.
For the next few hours, we set up and recorded various sequences where Griff and I had discussions about various things, like the work of Walker Evans — that didn’t get into the episode — and some of the history of this location which I have researched thoroughly — that also didn’t make it into the episode.
We filmed some sequences of us together, discussing photography and looking at our photos on the backs of the cameras, and we filmed some sequences apart, where a videographer followed each of us around the location.
Even though it was November, the deep South location was still pretty warm and humid and mosquitoes tormented the crew.
In the end, the final edited and broadcast sequence came to right around two minutes and although most of it was left out, it’s a nice little package and it feels right. To my surprise, I didn’t come off looking like a bumbling idiot — part of that due to the deft editing skills of someone in Sydney.
So — was it worth it for me to give my time and travel expenses to take part? What did I get from the experience?
I think it was worth it for me. It was a fun experience, and I got some photos and behind the scenes material which I think will further support my credibility with future buyers and collectors. I heard from a few people who saw the episode, which still can’t be viewed in the US (although there is a copy available online — possibly bootlegged — if you search it).
There were a total of 6 one-hour episodes. If you live in the UK or in Australia, or if the series eventually streams in the US, you can find me in the Memphis episode. I appear right about 32 minutes in.
Ultimately, this adds to what I always tell people as one of the things I love about my life as a photographer… you never know what surprises may come next.
Well that’s all I’ve got for this episode. Thanks for listening. I’ll talk to you again real soon.