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

Man in beanie hat using an Apple MacBook Pro outside in a grassy area
Adobe student discount: save 71% or more on your Creative Cloud apps if you are in education!

By Tom May last updated

Buying Guide If you're a student, teacher or work in education, you can save hundreds in a single year

Buying Guide
An individual wearing a blue jacket and white pants climbs horizontally across a large, weathered red sculpture with peeling paint against a clear blue sky.
From Japanese parks to German playgrounds, Kerstin Weiser uses harsh flash lighting and color-matched costumes to fuse humans with concrete structures

By Tom May Published

NEWS Kerstin Weiser's award-winning series turns willing volunteers into living extensions of concrete scales and painted slides

NEWS
Femal eteach presenting bargraph data on a digital whiteboard in a classroom
The best digital whiteboard in 2026: interactive presentations and classroom displays

By Adam Juniper last updated

Buying Guide Present to colleagues, collaborate with clients or get students involved in classes, with the best interactive whiteboards

Buying Guide
Black and white portrait of two elderly women in headscarves and heavy coats standing on stone steps before a tall wooden church spire, framed by bare tree branches
When Oliver Klink photographed rural Europe's disappearing communities, many of them looked straight down the lens. Some might see that as a problem for documentary work, but I'd argue it's actually a sign of success

By Tom May Published

NEWS The award-winning Swiss photographer's online exhibition has a lot of eye contact, and that's the thing I love most

NEWS
An overhead, high-angle shot captures a fisherman in a conical hat standing on a small wooden boat, surrounded by a massive, glowing golden fishing net stretched across the water, which features two distinct, circular clearing
I've honestly never seen a photo like this: How one aerial photographer turned a fishing scene into a work of fine art

By Tom May Published

NEWS A split-second shot from overhead transforms an everyday fishing net into something close to a gallery painting

NEWS
A minimalist, wide-angle seascape showing two dark rocks sitting in the middle of a perfectly still, turquoise ocean under an overcast sky.
Darren Almond photographed the world's most famous landscapes at night for 25 years – but they look like they were shot in broad daylight, thanks to this simple exposure trick

By Tom May Published

NEWS A new, expanded TASCHEN edition of Fullmoon highlights a clever technique you can use in your own night photography.

NEWS
Two of Sayuri Ichida's monochrome photographs of her sister
Sayuri Ichida spent years photographing her sister after their mother died. Then she refused to let a computer anywhere near the results, hand-printing every image using a 150-year-old etching process instead

By Tom May Published

The Japanese artist's new show highlights how the slowest, most stubborn part of photography sometimes says more than the camera ever could.

Galleries and Exhibitions
A man wearing a bright orange sweater and cap walks down a cobblestone sidewalk carrying a red box past a row of vibrant, colorful storefronts.
The world is turning beige, but this street photographer fought back, spending 15 years hunting down Britain's brightest, boldest spots for his new photobook – and the results are sublime!

By Tom May Published

News A new book of street photography doubles as a masterclass in finding, framing and trusting saturated color

News
A shirtless man and a woman in a dark robe sit back to back on a bed in warm, low light, both looking downward and lost in thought.
She was Kodak's "Turn Around" girl before she ever picked up a camera. Now Judy Glickman Lauder's collection of Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, Diane Arbus & Nan Goldin photos is going on tour, and there's a lot photographers can learn from it

By Tom May Published

NEWS Long before she became one of photography's great collectors, Judy Glickman Lauder was the subject of her father's lens. That history now shapes an exhibition worth paying attention to.

NEWS
Google Pixel 9 Pro android phone held in a hand
The best Android phone for photography in 2026: smartphones that give Apple a run for its money

By Gareth Bevan last updated

BUYING GUIDE They rival even the latest iPhones, so check out the best Android phones for photography

BUYING GUIDE
Martin Parr leans over a village hall table laden with prize vegetables and flowers, ring flash mounted on his camera, with his walking frame parked beside him.
Walking frame, ring flash & braces: the last photos of Martin Parr at work

By Tom May Published

News New behind-the-scenes images show how the much-loved streeet photographer kept shooting almost to the very end

News
A stark black-and-white studio portrait of Schwarzenegger performing a front double bicep pose, his symmetrical physique filling the wide frame against a plain black background.
Arnold Schwarzenegger on low-angle photography: "They always shoot up, so the camera is right there in front of you… you will always look like a stud"

By Tom May last updated

NEWS A new Taschen book collects seven decades of Schwarzenegger photography, shot by some of the greatest names in the business.

NEWS
Woman in pool with swimming cap and woman reading magazine with painted nails
These unseen color photos by master photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue make the past look like it happened yesterday

By Tom May Published

News A new exhibition reveals decades of hidden color work by the French master that borders on intoxicating.

News
A curly-haired woman in a white shirt frames her own face with her fingers in a mock viewfinder gesture.
Shot by winner of "worst photographer" contest, these travel pictures actually prove is that good photography isn't the same as technical skill

By Tom May Published

Opinion Blanche Mortemard's blurry, lens-flared shots of Iceland reveal a fundamental truth about photography.

Opinion
The Samsung Galaxy XR lets you move in 3D inside your 2D images: what could this mean for photography, long term?

By Tom May Published

The mixed-reality headset can take a flat photograph and turn it into an immersive 3D space

Extended Reality
Four children in homemade superhero costumes with box-like masked heads and trailing fringes stand on rubble in a roofless brick ruin overgrown with plants.
Saltwater, gold leaf and 19th-century chemistry: the world's longest-running photography exhibition is back, and it's more technically adventurous than ever

By Tom May Published

Awards From decayed Polaroids to gold-leafed botanicals, IPE 167 proves photography remains a powerful tool for confronting the world.

Awards
Zebra spider close-up
A tiny jumping spider with a brain the size of a poppy seed holds the secret to a revolutionary new 3D camera

By Tom May Published

News A new ultra-efficient 3D camera inspired by jumping spiders could reshape how drones, robots and wearables see.

News
Kaia Gerber wearing Snap Specs
Snap's new AR camera glasses look incredible – but will people actually use them?

By Tom May Published

News Specs are packing some seriously impressive, er, specs. Can they finally bring augmented reality into the mainstream?

News
Marilyn Monroe
The day a 25-year-old photographer convinced Marilyn Monroe to go nude in a swimming pool: Lawrence Schiller's remarkable memoir of a movie icon

By Tom May Published

Book Re-released to mark what would have been Monroe's 100th birthday, Marilyn & Me is one of the most fascinating books about magazine photography ever written.

Book
Defying the Myth: Carol Allen-Storey's decade-long documentary project is one of the most powerful photography books of the year

By Tom May Published

Books Spending more than 10 years embedded with three single mothers, raising children with severe disabilities, has resulted in a beautiful and technically assured piece of work

Books
British painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer David Hockney, poolside in Los Angeles, with polaroids of David Stoltz & Ian Falconer, circa 1978. (Photo by Michael Childers/Corbis via Getty Images)
RIP David Hockney: the famous artist who also pushed forward photography, with a little help from Picasso

By Tom May last updated

Obituary The celebrated painter translated the approach of Picasso into the world of the Polaroid collage.

Obituary
Three photobooth photographs taken by Keaton in the late 1970s sold for $23,040, more than 57 times estimate.
Diane Keaton's photobooth strips match Abraham Lincoln's assassination hat at auction: here's what that tells us about the actress's photographic eye

By Tom May Published

News When the late actor's estate went up for sale, her photographic work raised far more than anyone expected

News
Duane Michals in 1992. (Photo by Marc GANTIER/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
"To photograph reality is to photograph nothing": Duane Michals rejected the idea of the 'decisive moment' and did something wildly different

By Tom May Published

Obituary The American artist, who died this month aged 94, spent six decades proving that photography could tell stories and ask questions, not just record what was there

Obituary
Person in studded blue suit and wide-brim hat leaning against a textured stone wall with their reflection in a nearby glass window
The Art of Street Photography: why Joshua K. Jackson and Sean Tucker's book wants you to stop chasing the shot with your camera

By Tom May Published

NEWS The authors argue that street photography isn't about technique or gear: it's about artistic vision

NEWS
Best audiobooks for photographers in 2026

By Tom May last updated

Features Moving memoirs and brilliant biographies, from some of the world's leading photographers, straight into your ears

Features
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Archives

Other versions of this page are available with specific content for the following regions: