Tom May

Tom May

Tom May is a freelance writer and editor specializing in art, photography, design and travel. He has been editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine. He has also worked for a wide range of mainstream titles including The Sun, Radio Times, NME, T3, Heat, Company and Bella.

Latest articles by Tom May

The silhouettes of an adult and a child stand before a vast black-and-white projection of Nelson Mandela's portrait at FRAMELESS London, with floating abstract symbols scattered across the image.
The one photo of Nelson Mandela the world needed: why Jillian Edelstein went against the grain to shoot this portrait of the South African icon

By Tom May Published

The story behind the Mandela portrait that defied expectation, now brought to life at a new immersive London experience

Portrait Photography
The Birdfy Nest Duo feeder on a stone wall
The best bird box cameras

By Lauren Scott Last updated

Updated Capture images and video of nesting birds you couldn't get by yourself, with the best bird box cameras

Updated
Left: A close-up self-portrait of Richard Avedon grinning broadly, both hands pressed against his temples, the image slightly soft-focused and full of manic energy. Right: A young man in black sits casually across two ornate chairs before a white studio backdrop marked with a large red painted X.
Ron Howard's new documentary movie, Avedon, reminds us why the greatest photographer of the 20th century didn't care what camera he used

By Tom May Published

Premiering at Cannes this week, the film shows us how the greatest images come from reading people, not mastering f-stops

Portrait Photography
Triptych showing a nude figure bathing in two contemporary photographs flanking a classical painting of a crouched bather
Nan Goldin turns her camera onto art history, and the results are an inspiration for any photographer wishing to reinvent themselves

By Tom May Published

After five decades documenting lived experience, the American photographer is now shooting marble, myths and mortality

Fine Art Photography
A close-up, high-angle view of a densely packed group of koi fish with various orange, white, black, and speckled patterns swimming in murky water, with a single small pink flower floating near the center-left.
Oscar-nominated filmmaker is reinventing nature and landscape photography and this beautiful free ebook highlights how

By Tom May Last updated

News The writer and producer behind Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves has swapped the big screen for impressionist images of nature

News
Address label being printed by DYMO LabelWriter 4XL thermal printer, on office desk in front of packages
The best thermal printers for printing labels, addresses and more in 2026

By Tom May Last updated

buying guide You don't need ink to print address labels, tickets and labels: just use the best thermal printers!

buying guide
Group of young people in office gathered around one of the best iPad alternatives
The best iPad alternatives in 2026

By Mike Harris Last updated

Buying guide Forget Apple: these iPad alternatives from Samsung, Microsoft, Amazon, and Lenovo provide better value and great specs

Buying guide
Black and white photograph of a group of children
Edith Tudor-Hart was one of Britain's best documentary photographers and a soviet spy - so why have most people never heard of her?

By Tom May Published

History Bauhaus-trained and politically fearless, Edith Tudor-Hart was one of Britain's finest documentary photographers. She was also a Soviet secret agent. Now, a new book tells her astonishing story

History
A dreamlike night landscape featuring a gravel path leading toward blooming cherry blossoms, obscured by ethereal blue and green light flares and motion blur.
How do you photograph history that people would rather forget, or grief that has no shape? Two Japanese photographers give very different answers

By Tom May Published

News From postwar Hiroshima to pandemic-era Tōhoku, a landmark exhibition pairs two Japanese photographers who've spent careers turning trauma into art

News
A woman rests her head on a man's shoulder on a Washington Square Park bench, eyes closed, while he gazes away into the middle distance with a book in his lap.
John Baer grabbed a Leica from a captured German soldier in 1945. Nearly 50 years later, his son found the negatives – which were some of the best postwar street photographs ever

By Tom May Published

NEWS Meet the untrained amateur who shot postwar Europe and New York City like a Magnum master, then locked it all in a box

NEWS
Left: A black and white, slightly grainy photograph of a shirtless young man with tousled hair kneeling on a bed, holding a glass and wearing patterned trousers with a large decorative belt. Right: A black and white full-body shot of a woman with short, dark hair standing by a canal, wearing a dark, long-sleeved mini dress with a white collar and patterned tights.
One of the world's most private photographers is finally showing his work

By Tom May Published

Discover what Steven Meisel saw in London in 1993, and why every photographer should pay attention

Fashion Photography
A woman wearing a fur coat and a black headscarf adorned with mussels and a starfish lies on a sandy beach behind a pile of seashells.
Annie Leibovitz launched a new prize for emerging photographers, and it's already producing remarkable work

By Tom May Published

News Only in its second year, the Saltzman-Leibovitz Photography Prize is shaping up to be one of the most interesting awards in the field

News
This famous photo of New York workers eating lunch on a steel girder has been seen by billions, but the daredevil story of how it was photographed can only now be told

By Tom May Published

History A new book unpacks the untold story behind Lunch on a Beam, the 1932 publicity photo that became a 20th-century icon

15 Comments
History
A visitor examines the cameras on display at the Bièvres international photography fair, on June 3, 1973. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
The world's greatest photography flea market returns to this small French town this June

By Tom May Published

A small town south of Paris will transform into a photographers' paradise: part flea market, part festival, part pilgrimage

Trade Shows
Left: Four young Black girls in matching gold and white sequinned majorette uniforms and tall feathered headdresses stand against a plain wall, each looking in a different direction with composed, unselfconscious expressions. Right: A chimpanzee sits alone on a concrete pyramid in a zoo enclosure, in front of a large painted mural depicting a lush tropical forest, with water trickling from an opening in the painted landscape above.
These 4 awe-inspiring photos show just what it takes to stand out amongst 10,000 images

By Tom May Published

NEWS These shortlisted images from the RPS exhibition reveal what separates good from great photography

NEWS
A smiling woman wearing glasses sits in the open window of a car, holding up a bundled infant against a wintry rural backdrop.
Revisiting Dorothea Lange's lost Californian valley: 3,200 photos from an almost-forgotten 1950s project just went free online

By Tom May Published

News A Texan rainstorm killed one of the greatest photo essays you've never seen. Now you can download every frame, including the ones Lange chose not to publish

News
A tight crop of a smiling young dancer's face and throat, her red lips and gap-toothed grin set above a spectacular orange costume collar encrusted with large iridescent crystal gems.
Britain in full color: why photographer Sophie Green refuses to make her subjects look grey

By Tom May Published

NEWS Championed by the late Martin Parr and 11 years in the making, Tangerine Dreams is a vivid love letter to overlooked communities

NEWS
A green sea turtle photographed under ultraviolet light, its shell and surrounding water illuminated with vivid neon-green fluorescent powder dye that reveals a human handprint on its back
This glowing turtle is unlike any wildlife photo you've seen before

By Tom May Published

NEWS Environmental photography's most prestigious prize goes to an image captured not in the great outdoors, but in a lab

NEWS
2NCN6G2 Civil rights activist James Meredith grimaces in pain as he pulls himself across Highway 51 after being shot in Hernando, Miss., June 6, 1966. Meredith, who defied segregation to enroll at the University of Mississippi in 1962 completed the march from Memphis, Tenn., to Jackson, Miss., after treatment of his wounds. (AP Photo/Jack Thornell)
RIP Jack Thornell: the press photographer who captured James Meredith's assassination attempt, but worried he'd be fired for not getting the photo – only to go on and win a Pulitzer

By Tom May Published

Obituary We look back at the late photojournalist's extraordinary career

Obituary
A professional Nikon mirrorless camera is surrounded by vibrant red and orange flowers atop a white and light blue cloth, with a small yellow Kodak film box tucked beside its strap.
Magnum photographer Raghu Rai was cremated with a Nikon Z8 and a roll of expired Kodak film

By Tom May Published

News At the funeral of India's greatest documentary photographer, the two objects placed on his chest told his whole story

News
Raghu Rai, Photographer of exhibition "In Light of India", Hong Kong International Photo Festival 2014 held at ArtisTree, Taikoo Place (Photo by Dickson Lee/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)
RIP Raghu Rai: India's greatest documentary photographer dies aged 83

By Tom May Published

A Magnum member handpicked by Cartier-Bresson, Raghu Rai spent 60 years documenting India with patience and courage

Photojournalism
A scarecrow dressed in a blue checked shirt and black trousers sits on a folding metal chair at the edge of a quiet, wet road lined with trees and a stone wall. Its head is a handmade fabric horse's head with a rope mane, and a stick supports it from behind.
A prize potato and a horse-headed scarecrow: Martin Parr's final photos are pure genius

By Tom May Published

News The late photographer's last commision returns him to the village where photography itself was born

News
Manfrotto E-702 PL Elements rain cover covering a camera in the rain
Best camera rain covers in 2026: keep your camera and lens dry when it's wet

By Kulsoom Middleton Last updated

Updated Don't let inclement conditions stop you! With the best rain covers, you can keep your kit safe and dry, whatever the weather

Updated
Left photo: A shirtless construction worker grins as he clings with easy confidence to a giant iron hook and pulley high above the Empire State Building construction site.Right photo: A woman leans exhausted against a bearded man in the front seat of a worn car, while two young children stare directly and blankly into the camera from the back.
A century of American photography in one afternoon: this rare exhibition will be greater than the sum of its parts

By Tom May Published

News Bringing together more than 100 images, 38 photographers and hundred years of cities in motion, Dulwich Picture Gallery's landmark show opens this July

News
An underwater photograph shows the lifeless body of a small, fluffy grey chick resting on the murky bottom of a pond, illuminated by shafts of sunlight
This underwater photo turns a murky suburban pond into a cathedral of light, and a dead chick into one of the year's most haunting close-ups

By Tom May Published

NEWS Finding beauty in the macabre, Gaël Modrak dived beneath the surface of a pond near Paris with a fisheye lens, two strobes, and an eye for the extraordinary

NEWS
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