FEATURING PHOTOGRAPHER AND MASTER PRINTER MIKE CRAWFORD

Today, I spend time with Mike Crawford, a dynamic London photographer and master printer. For four decades he has worked with the world’s most highly regarded photographers, including Martin Parr and Brian Griffin, one of the music industry’s most prominent photographers. More recently, he was chosen to print hitherto unseen photographs for the celebrated late photographer Elliott Erwitt for his ‘Found, not Lost’ book. As a photographer, Mike Crawford’s captivating work, featuring urban landscapes and portraiture, is predominantly shot on film and crafted in the darkroom. I visit Mike on location at his company Lighthouse Darkroom, within the building that was once home to Russia’s Zenit UK operation. With the arrival of August, there’s a new assignment too, set this month by social and street photographer Emily Renier, one of Fujifilm’s newest ambassadors.

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LEARN:

MORE ABOUT names, words, THE MUSIC and places FROM TODAY’S SHOW

Mike Crawford’s Instagram grid, main website,

Mike’s Obselete and Discontinued project will be featured on today’s Extra Mile edition, number 100.

Born in Vancouver and moving to the UK in 1962, Fran May earned a master’s in photography from the Royal College of Art in 1978, with Bill Brandt as her tutor. Now residing in Bath, Fran May is working on a project about architecture, the cosmos, and photography.

Robin Bell is one of Britain's most respected black & white printers. He is one of the few professionals in the UK who continues to specialise in hand-printing black and white images to an exceptionally high standard.

Martin Parr is described as a chronicler of our age. He is a British documentary photographer known for his satirical and vividly colourful images that critique modern life and consumer culture. See also Last Resort, the work discussed within today’s interview and his foundation.

How James Abbot McNeill Whistler’s famous series of ‘Nocturnes’ changed America’s vision of itself forever.

Brian Griffin was a British photographer renowned for his portraits of 1980s pop musicians. In 1989, The Guardian named him "photographer of the decade." His work is held in the permanent collections of the Arts Council, British Council, Victoria and Albert Museum, and National Portrait Gallery, London. A tribute to Brian Griffin, recommended read.

John Myers is a British landscape and portrait photographer and painter. Between 1973 and 1981 he photographed mundane aspects of middle-class life in the centre of England.

Founded in 2012, GOST Books is an independent visual arts and photography publisher based in London.

RRB Photobooks.

Simon Norfolk is a landscape photographer whose work predominantly focuses on conflict zones and on the concept of battlefield in all his forms.

Mark Neville is a British social documentary photographer.

Alan Hranitelj is a celebrated costume designer known for his intricate, vibrant, and imaginative creations in opera, ballet, and theater across Europe, blending historical influences with contemporary flair.

Anton Corbijn is a Dutch photographer and director known for his incredible work in both film and music videos. For over thirty years, he's been the creative force behind the visual style of bands like Depeche Mode and U2, handling their main promotional materials and album cover photography.

BRIAN GRIFFIN (PRINTED BY MIKE CRAWFORD)

Above ‘A broken frame’ and below ‘Bureaucracy’ and Douglas Adams. © The Estate of Brian Griffin.

MIKE CRAWFORD, SLOVENIAN PORTRAITS (MADE IN SHOREDITCH)

From left to right (top): Alan Hranitelj, Jasmina Klančar, Rok Vevar. From left to right (lower): Aleksandra Balmazovič, Oto Rimele, Jernej Forbici.