Peter Walmsley: The Story Behind The Travel Photographer of The Year (Colours of Life 2020) Winner

Discover Peter Walmsley's 'Flower Power': Travel Photographer of The Year (Colours of Life) Winner 2020

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As lovers of culture, we can be thankful that artists such as Peter Walmsley exist.

Peter, a British travel photographer, who is also a civil servant helping to deliver aid to developing countries, travels the world and gives us insight into the cultural diversities that we are otherwise so detached from.

After many years of communicating powerful messages from developing countries through art and photography, Peter has been awarded the prestigious Travel Photographer of The Year Award for his piece, Flower Power.

As described by Peter, winning a Travel Photographer of The Year award is "...the pinnacle of my chosen type of photography".

We had a chance to discuss the story behind this award-winning photograph which is available on our website here, as well as Peter's interesting background in travel photography.

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Congratulations on Flower Power winning Colours of Life Travel Photographer of The Year! Can you tell us a bit more about this award, and what it means to you for this photograph to win?

Many thanks Dan. I’m still rather in shock that I won. When you start to get serious as an amateur photographer, in the early days you wonder how good your images really are. Then you get some feedback, maybe join a camera club, enter competitions and eventually it starts to fall into place. For me, the Travel Photographer of the Year competition is the pinnacle of my chosen type of photography.

Before we dive into the photograph, tell us more about the Krishna Rajendra Market In Bangalore!

Street markets are very common in India. The Krishna Rajendra Market In Bangalore is more established that a street market though as it occupies a purpose-built 3-storey concrete building constructed in the 1990s. The market was actually established in 1928 and is named after the King of that particular area (Mysore) who ruled from 1894 – 1940. A number of commodities are offered for sale but it is best known for its flowers, which occupy the lower ground floor and is considered to be one of the largest flower markets in Asia.

How could you put into words the atmosphere of such a place when you walk in?

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During the market’s busy times in the morning, it is absolutely chaotic. Traders line relatively narrow corridors which are laid out in a grid and the volume of customers means that there is a high level of background noise and you generally get swept along with the flow. Taking pictures in those conditions is always a challenge: you either have to be very quick or accept that you’re going to get in someone’s way once you’ve identified the shot.

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Inspiration can often come from what you are experiencing in the moment. With this shot, was there a pre-meditated goal in mind or did you find inspiration when you arrived?

I find that good travel photography is actually a combination of research and taking best advantage of the moment. One of the features of travel photography is that you usually have relatively limited time in each location, although I try to arrange my schedule so that there is spare time to re-visit a location for a second or sometimes even a third attempt if the first attempt does not produce the results. So yes, in the main, my pictures are pre-meditated. My research had indicated that there was a high viewpoint from which the baskets of coiled marigolds presented a colourful pattern and my guide helped me to find it.

How did you manage to navigate the chaos of the flower market in order to capture this shot? And did you use the organised chaos to your creative advantage?

My high viewpoint was 3 floors above the flower market in the basement and almost deserted so I was able to walk around the whole scene and experiment with different locations without interruption. A good photographer always tries to tell a story though and having been part of the melee earlier, there were 2 features of this scene which I wanted to capture: the colourful flower patterns and the volume of customers.

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It struck me at the time (so this element wasn’t pre-meditated) that if I chose a slow shutter speed, I could convey the movement of the customers through blur and so I made quite a few test shots before I got the amount of blur correct. Too much blur made the customers unrecognisable as people. Too little and there wasn’t enough sense of motion.

How do you feel this photograph portrays street life culture in India?

There are a lot of people in India. 1.3bn to be specific. And it is such a colourful, vibrant country. Compared with the west, it’s still developing so agricultural products traded in street markets are very much a part of daily life. And capturing the culture of a location is the job of the photographer.

Discover Peter's award winning Travel Photographer of the Year Photograph here:

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No one goes to India and leaves with one photograph - can you tell me more about any of your other notable experiences during this trip?

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Discover more wall art from Peter Walmsley's travels around the wonderful country in his Indian Landscapes and Cityscapes collection.

I’ve been very lucky to spend a lot more time in an interesting country than I would have been able to do on a short holiday trip. That has enabled me to understand a lot more about the culture and the geography and therefore to better capture it in camera.

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Each area has it’s own culture, so for example the hill towns in the foothills of the Himalayas in the north contrasting with the backwaters of Kerala in the south. As well as capturing the street life, I also tried to photograph these dramatic differences in Indian geography and you can see examples of these in my landscapes and cityscapes collection on Photo4me.  

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How important is travel in your life? Can you share what you have learned from visiting such places?

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Looking back, travel was something I was doing for its own sake: to see new places and cultures from a British perspective, but the more I’ve travelled the more I’ve appreciated observing and understanding the perspective of local people, wherever that is in the world. For example, in western economies, goods tend to be relatively cheap but services are expensive.  In many developing countries, it’s the other way around and that has a profound effect on the way the culture works.

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I understand you are a civil servant that helps to deliver aid to developing countries. Are you able to share more about this and how this affects your pursuits in photography?

Yes, I’m lucky to have an interesting job, part of which is to understand how developing economies work and how interventions can help. Photography is a powerful visual medium which can really support the messages we need to convey to a variety of audiences with an interest in overseas development but although the insights from working in the sector are useful, I don’t normally get the chance to use my hobby at work so the subjects are not really connected.

What can we expect to see next from? Do you have any notable travels lined up in the future?

Well, what‘s the function of a travel photographer who can’t travel? Over the last year, when rules allowed, some people said to me that I should start doing more UK photography. But it’s a funny thing: travel photographers are motivated by seeing something new and shooting on your home turf doesn’t ignite the same passion. It’s too familiar, so, I’m waiting for restrictions to lift.

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I have a trip along the western end of the Silk Route all mapped out which will cover Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan but we’ll just have to see when all the borders open up again. In the meantime, I am putting together my first book covering my travels in India. This is part travelogue on India culture and part instruction manual on street photography so I hope it will appeal to both the travel curious and keen travel photographers.

Thanks to Peter Walmsley for taking the time to discuss his stunning wall art. Bring award winning wall art into your home, in the finish of your choice.

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