Interviews

Interviews with photographers and photojournalists working at the forefront of their fields across a wide range of genres, from fine art to documentary to street to travel, and everything in between. PetaPixel allows photographers to share their experience, opinions, and insights to inform and inspire the global photography community.
Split image: Left side shows a backyard pool with an American flag hanging on the wall, surrounded by trees and patio furniture. Right side shows a house at dusk with a porch light on and silhouettes of trees.

15-Year Photo Series Showcases American Flags From Around the Country

Award-winning photographer and filmmaker Jason Lindsey's latest project, UNFINISHED, is a "film for America's 250th" anniversary. In the short four-minute film, Lindsey shows dozens of photos captured across America that have one big thing in common: they all feature the American flag in one form or another.

The image is split: on the left, a desert landscape with mountains, rocks, and cacti under a colorful sunset sky; on the right, an illuminated path with lanterns leads to a white church at night under swirling star trails.

What Photographing Every Texas State Park Taught a Landscape Photographer

At 1:45 a.m., photographer Maegan Lanham left camp and drove 54 miles down a backcountry road. She then hiked three and a half miles into a dark canyon, before gaining more than 1,300 feet to reach a ridge she had never stood on, for a sunrise that lasted minutes. She had no guarantee it would be worth the effort. That kind of dedication follows her everywhere, including a goal few photographers would think to chase, let alone finish: photographing every state park in Texas.

A lighthouse with attached buildings stands on rocky cliffs by the ocean under a cloudy sky. In a closer view, people walk near the lighthouse and a red-roofed brick building, with waves crashing on rocks below.

This Photographer Got So Tired of Compression He Built a Photo-Sharing Website Without It

As camera megapixel counts keep rising, the limitations of online photo sharing only become more apparent. Most photographers share photos online via platforms that use heavy-duty compression, making images look noticeably worse. While this isn't always a big deal, it can be, especially when trying to share with clients. To solve this issue, a Japanese developer built HiRezGo, an online sharing service that promises to show photos in full quality.

A collage of three landscapes: a rugged coastline with turquoise water, a river winding through autumn forests and snowy mountains, and misty forested rock formations rising from blue-green water.

Photographer Jake Guzman Captures America’s Almost-Alien Landscapes

Travel and nature photographer Jake Guzman has spent the past two years creating Otherworldly America, a new 256-page photography book that features hundreds of photos Guzman has captured all across America, from Alaska and Hawai'i all the way to New England. It is a beautiful look at what makes the United States such a special place for landscape photographers, and a rich well of photo opportunities that can never truly be exhausted.

A split image shows a humpback whale breaching in the ocean on the left, and a jellyfish drifting near the surface of clear blue water by rocky cliffs on the right.

‘Ocean’ Doc Captures the Horrors of Seabed Trawling for the First Time

Sir David Attenborough turned 100 last month, and much of his incredible life's mission has been celebrating and showcasing the natural world. Billions of people on Earth have heard Attenborough's voice, heard his words, and seen his work. Arguably, nothing on Earth impacts life as much as the oceans, and that's the focus of "Ocean with David Attenborough," streaming now online and on National Geographic, Disney+, and Hulu.

Three-panel image: Left, people hike up a snowy slope; center, a person stands in a glowing ice cave; right, close-up view of blue ice with deep crevices and textures.

Nat Geo’s New Documentary, ‘Time and Water,’ Tells a Story You’re Still Writing

National Geographic's new documentary film, "Time and Water," grapples with a challenging, profound question: How do you say goodbye to what you never thought you could lose? Through archival footage, photos, art, and science, Academy Award-nominated director Sara Dosa follows acclaimed Icelandic writer and poet Andri Snær Magnason as he confronts the death of his country's glaciers, the loss of his grandparents, and the kind of world he hopes future generations can experience. The story's next chapters are being written at this very second.

A Sony RX1R camera with a Zeiss lens is shown centered against a dark background with white specks resembling falling snow or stars.

Why 2025 Was the Right Time for the Sony RX1R III’s Long-Awaited Arrival

Last July, Sony surprised the photography world by unveiling the RX1R III, arriving so many years after the RX1R II that many RX1R fans had all but given up hope of a new model ever coming. Sony even released two more A-mount DSLRs after the RX1R II, to put the wait into perspective. So what took so long? Sony told PetaPixel that it needed to develop the right technology to make a new RX1R camera worth it, and that tech took time.

Left: A yellow spacecraft module sits on a platform inside a large industrial facility. Right: Interior view looking up into a cylindrical structure with a circular pattern and metallic panels.

Architectural Photographer Captures the Machines Behind Artemis II

Professional architectural photographer Mike Kelley has achieved extensive commercial success but has remained dedicated to personal artistic projects as well. These personal projects have often been the ones to lead to Kelley's "craziest opportunities," including one that took him to NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility to photograph the Orion crew capsule and SLS rocket that just last week carried four brave Artemis II astronauts into space to orbit the Moon.

Close-up of rocket engines firing with bright flames and smoke on the left; wide view of a rocket launching, rising above a launch pad with clouds of smoke and blue sky on the right.

How a Photographer Captured the Artemis II Launch With 14 Cameras

Photographer Steven Madow has been photographing rocket launches for over a decade, but arguably no rocket launch he has photographed has been as big of a deal as the Artemis II launch on Wednesday, April 1. Madow set up 14 different Panasonic Lumix cameras to cover the monumental event, including seven remote cameras at the launch site. His outstanding photos are the result of years of practice and planning.

A collage of three close-up images: honey bees on honeycomb, a bee drinking from a yellow flower, and a bumblebee hanging upside down from a white blossom.

A Closer Look at the Beautiful Macro Cinematography in ‘Secrets of the Bees’


As its name suggests, National Geographic's new two-part documentary series, "Secrets of the Bees," turns the lens toward one of Earth's most important inhabitants: bees. The series is fascinating, full of interesting information and science about bees, but also replete with exceptional cinematography. The miniseries has many fantastic close-up shots of bees, unlike anything captured before.

Close-up of a black Nikkor S camera lens, showing detailed texture, focal length markings (135, 200), and two customizable L-Fn buttons on the lens barrel against a dark background.

Nikon Explains How It Makes Lenses Smaller While Somehow Making Them Better

Nikon's original Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S and Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S lenses were already superb when they were released in 2019 and 2020, delivering great optical performance and dependable autofocus inside a well-designed chassis. However, much has changed in lens design in the years since, and Nikon's even better, significantly lighter 24-70mm f/2.8 S II and 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II zooms reflect multifaceted technological advancements.

Two Lumix cameras are shown side by side on a blue abstract background, with a third camera silhouette on the right featuring a large question mark in the center.

What Is Panasonic’s Path to Success in Micro Four Thirds?

Photographers would be forgiven for thinking that Panasonic is no longer committed or interested in developing new Micro Four Thirds products, but as the company told PetaPixel at CP+ 2026 in Japan, it is still very much interested in developing new MFT products that capitalize on the format's core strengths.

A Canon EOS R1 camera body without a lens is shown against a blue background with interconnected digital network lines and circles.

How AI Changes Canon’s Approach to Camera Tech and Performance

Photographers often feel like certain camera technology has plateaued. Sure, sensors get a little better, autofocus improves with each generation, and cameras are faster than ever. However, camera tech rarely improves by leaps and bounds like it once did. Canon believes AI may fuel many of the biggest camera tech breakthroughs in the coming years.

The logo for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award features a large red semi-circle with a white "L" and red "B" inside, alongside the text "LEICA OSKAR BARNACK AWARD" in black, all on a white background.

How Leica’s New LOBA Women Grant Supports Female Photographers

Leica Camera AG announced a significant expansion of its flagship Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA) this year, introducing the LOBA Women Grant, a new initiative to fund and elevate the work of female photographers worldwide. It is part of the company's broader focus on amplifying important voices in photography.

Close-up of a digital camera body showing the lens mount and exposed image sensor, with textured grip and control buttons visible on the left side.

How Canon’s RF Mount Design Enables Innovative New Lens Designs

When Canon unveiled its first mirrorless full-frame camera, the EOS R, in 2018, the company touted its new EOS RF lens mount. While it has the same 54-millimeter diameter as the DSLR EF mount, the RF mount's flange distance is significantly shorter, shrinking from 44 millimeters to just 20. Canon promised that this would enable bold new lens designs, and the company's latest lenses show that as well as any of Canon's 60-plus RF lenses.

A smiling man holds up a silver Fujifilm camera outdoors, with greenery and water blurred in the background.

Fujifilm Believes Fun Cameras Will Keep Photography Alive

Looking at Fujifilm's releases in 2025, the company did a little bit of everything, and released some very surprising, strange cameras. It is easy to think that Fujifilm is just a company keen to experiment and take risks, but the company tells PetaPixel that hard research data drives its product decisions. That said, fun matters, too.

A Fujifilm digital camera with a black textured body and prominent lens is shown on a dark, reflective surface against a dark background.

How Fujifilm Will Fix its Video Autofocus Woes

Fujifilm's X Series cameras do a lot right. They are extremely capable, performant APS-C mirrorless cameras with many passionate supporters. However, for as good as they are, autofocus performance remains an oft-discussed shortcoming, especially for video applications. Fujifilm says it hears the complaints and is working hard to address the feedback.

Three images side by side: a skier performing a flip on a snowy mountain, a thermal view of an Olympic hockey game, and an overhead view of people playing curling on an ice rink.

Three Photographers Captured the Winter Olympics Like Never Before

Many exceptional photographers captured jaw-dropping photos of world-class athletes performing incredible feats at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. In most cases, these photographers used the expected equipment, the latest full-frame mirrorless cameras and telephoto lenses. However, a select group of Getty Images photographers took a very different approach, and documented the Winter Olympics with thermal, infrared, and vintage film cameras, and using unique processing techniques.

Left: A football player in a white jersey, number 10, throws a pass while being blocked by a defender in a dark uniform. Right: A hand holds up a shiny football trophy amid flying confetti in a stadium.

How Seattle Seahawks Photographer Rod Mar Captured Super Bowl LX

Earlier this month, the Seattle Seahawks bested the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. It is one of the biggest sporting events in the world, and the Seahawks' team photographer, Rod Mar, was there to capture all the action, and ultimately, the Seahawks' elation.

A collage of three images: a house engulfed in flames, a red sun in a smoky sky above homes, and two people wearing masks sifting through rubble in a burned area.

Filmmaker Uses His Camera to Preserve Life, Loss, and Love

From intimate family stories to documentary and vérité filmmaking that captures life in motion, Myles Matsuno has spent decades turning everyday moments into unforgettable narratives. The photographer discusses the influences that shape his creative vision, the flow states that bring an image to life, and the deeply personal projects that preserve memory and history for generations.

A smiling young man in a gray shirt holds a folded white drone attached to a black handheld stabilizer and points at it, standing indoors against a white door and light-colored wall.

Aerospace Student Invents Mount That Turns a Drone Into a Handheld Camera

Alongside being an aerospace engineering student, Tyler Staub and his brother, Calvin, also started a drone service company to capture aerial media for local businesses. Now you can add "inventor" to Tyler's list of accomplishments, as he has built a new adapter, the aptly named Dronebal, to turn a DJI Mini 4 Pro drone into an easy-to-use, high-quality handheld camera.