Our friends at Amateur Photographer are hosting another Festival of Photography. This time around, the subject is documentary photography. Again it takes place at the Royal Geographical Society in South Kensington, London, UK. The date is 9 August 2025 – and you could win two tickets to the event worth £79.
Throughout the day you will hear from a series of world class experts in Documentary photography. They’ll give an insight into their work, how they captured some of the world’s best known documentary images and how you can too. Confirmed speakers include: Zed Nelson, Laura Pannack, Jillian Edelstein, Jon Nicholson and more. We’ve got full speaker details at the bottom of this article.
The event takes place at the Royal Geographical Society in London’s South Kensington museum district. So whether you’re an experienced photographer looking to refine your skills or a budding enthusiast eager to explore documentary photography, the day will cover a wide range of expertise and interests
Amateur Photographer magazine is the UK’s biggest-selling photography magazine. First published in October 1884, it holds the distinction of being the world’s oldest consumer photography magazine at over 140 years old. It remains the only printed weekly photo magazine.
Festival of Documentary Photography key details
Dates: Saturday 9 August 2025
Location: The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), 1 Kensington Gore, London, England – SW7 2AR
Ticket prices: £39.99 for full access or £14.99 for individual theatre talks.
Festival of Documentary Photography key speakers
ZED NELSON: Guns, Beauty and the Anthropocene
This year’s Sony World Photography Awards winner Zed Nelson takes us on a revealing journey into humankind’s increasingly illusory relationship with the natural world, and behind the scenes on three previous award-winning projects.
JON NICHOLSON: Auto Exposure
Jon takes us through his 40-year career in sports reportage, documenting the culture of everything from Formula 1 (featuring the likes of Ayrton Senna and Damon Hill) to banger racing, as well as some of his other work.
SIMON HILL & JOHN BULMER: The North Revisited
John Bulmer’s colour images of northern England taken in the 1960s and ’70s remain a cornerstone of British documentary photography. Simon Hill recently revisited those communities and they discuss their two bodies of work.
KRISHNA SHETH: Life on the Picture Desk
Recently appointed Director of Photography for The Economist, Krishna will talk about her career, which began as a picture researcher at the Express newspaper, before becoming Deputy Photography Director at The Telegraph Magazine.
JILLIAN EDELSTEIN: Sharing the Story
Jillian shares stories related to managing reconciliation in post-apartheid South Africa, personal stories linked to Ukraine and Palestine, and local stories on a range of topics. Plus, how commercial work helps to fund the personal projects.
CAROL ALLEN-STOREY: Telling Women’s Stories
Carol discusses her humanitarian documentary work photographing issues affecting women and children around the world for NGOs such as UNICEF, Save the Children and Comic Re
LAURA PANNACK: Documentary Portraiture
Laura discusses her portraiture and social documentary work, which has been extensively exhibited and published worldwide, including at the National Portrait Gallery, the Houses of Parliament, Somerset House and the Royal Festival Hall.
Terms and Conditions
- Competitions close at midday on 24/07/25 and the winners will be drawn and notified within one week of the closing date.
- If our winner fails to respond after two attempts at contact and within one week of the first contact, a new winner will be drawn.
- The draw is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
- Entry is free and open to residents of the UK aged over 18.
- Only one entry permitted per person, no bulk entries will be accepted.
- No cash alternative.
- The prize is not transferable.
- The prize from Kelsey Media Ltd, publishers of Amateur Photographer, is valid for the Festival of Photography – Documentary, taking place at the Royal Geographical Society in London on 9th August 2025.
- Entrants to the prize draw consent to Kelsey Publishing Ltd receiving their contact details in order to select a winner.
- Employees of Kelsey Media Ltd and any other persons or employees of companies associated with this Competition and members of the families and households of any such persons, are not eligible to enter this Competition. Any such entries will be invalid.