Photographer Will Malone has spent 17 years behind a camera—but his approach to photography is anything but conventional.

In Episode 88 of Sunday Afternoon Smokes, Will joins Chris in the lounge to talk about discovering photography as a teenager, teaching himself the craft, building a career around his creative instincts, and eventually deciding that if he was going to make a living with a camera, he wanted to make work that actually felt like his own.

The conversation gets into the resurgence of old point-and-shoot cameras, why increasingly sophisticated technology can sometimes get between a photographer and the picture, Will’s fascination with overlooked and unusual subjects, turning photographs into physical objects, and his ongoing 365 photography project.

Then things get wonderfully analog.

Will explains why he still shoots Polaroid, how instant film actually works, the community keeping decades-old cameras alive, and the strange world of Polaroid enthusiasts gathering at PolaCon. He also breaks down his approach to double-exposure photography—from deliberate compositions to embracing chaos and allowing two photographs to create something neither could have produced alone.

It’s a conversation about photography, creativity, experimentation, imperfection, and learning to pay attention to things most of us simply walk past.

Will Malone:
www.willmalone.com
www.instagram.com/willmalone

Sunday Afternoon Smokes:
www.sundayafternoonsmokes.com
www.instagram.com/sundayafternoonsmokes

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0DjdZYjxUr56bYsE2JWleO?si=ec56d1e5b30c4d5c
Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sunday-afternoon-smokes/id1781284736?i=1000795252866