• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Geographical

Geographical

Official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

  • Home
  • Briefing
  • Science & Environment
  • Climate
    • Climatewatch
  • Wildlife
  • Culture
  • Geopolitics
    • Geopolitical hotspots
  • Study Geography
    • University directory
    • Masters courses
    • Course guides
      • Climate change
      • Environmental science
      • Human geography
      • Physical geography
    • University pages
      • University of Aberdeen
      • Aberystwyth University
      • Cardiff University
      • University of Chester
      • Edge Hill University
      • The University of Edinburgh
      • Oxford Brookes University
      • Queen Mary University of London
    • Geography careers
      • Charity/non-profit
      • Education & research
      • Environment
      • Finance & consulting
      • Government and Local Government
    • Applications and advice
  • Quizzes
  • Magazine
    • Issue previews
    • Subscribe
    • Manage My Subscription
    • Special Editions
    • Podcasts
    • Geographical Archive
    • Book reviews
    • Crosswords
    • Advertise with us
  • Subscribe

Travel insights from Sean Sutton: a documentary photographer

13 December 2023
3 minutes

Passport

Child soldiers in Myanmar
Child soldiers in Myanmar. Image: Sean Sutton

Documentary photographer Sean Sutton tells Bryony Cottam what he has learned from 30 years on the road

Sean Sutton

Sean’s travel insights

• Be inquisitive; the world is more complex and fascinating than we often realise
• Approach other people and cultures with humility and an open mind
• Pay attention to the mores of locals and the way they behave

Travel, says Sean Sutton, can help you find your purpose in life. Although, he adds, that very much depends on you. ‘There are lots of ways of travelling. You could go to Thailand and spend the whole time on the beach, maybe try some Thai food. But if you’re inquisitive, if you realise that the world is a lot bigger than what you see around you, it can be revelatory.’

For Sutton, it was travelling through Southeast Asia in 1988 that inspired his 30-year career as a documentary photographer. He’d been taking ‘pretty pictures’, as he calls them, of the countries’ vibrant culture and traditions. ‘In hindsight, I could sense that I was struggling to understand the point of what I was doing,’ he says. ‘It just didn’t seem meaningful.’ 

When he stumbled across a situation on the Thailand–Burma border (a wave of protests and riots had been sweeping across Burma, reaching a peak that August in what’s now known as the 8888 Uprising), he realised he had an opportunity to make a difference. ‘It was a moment where everything sort of came together.’

Sutton would go on to spend two years working in the jungle with Burmese refugees and resistance groups. ‘That was my foundation course in photojournalism,’ he says. 

Since then, his work has taken him to more than 40 countries, where he has focused on amplifying marginalised voices, particularly in areas of conflict and humanitarian crisis, often working directly with aid organisations. ‘Photography is a really powerful tool for telling stories,’ he says. ‘Collaborating with NGOs and using images to tell the story of crises and injustices is one of the most effective ways to support the organisations working on the ground.’ 

Sutton maintains that, even today, documentary photography can reveal the truth of a moment in time. ‘It’s all about how honest you are as a photographer,’ he says. ‘I’ve certainly seen scenes that have been orchestrated, and that’s fine, as long as it’s been disclosed. Photographers who are not honest really do a disservice to all of us who are out there trying to show the truth.’

To the experienced eye, it can be easy to spot a manipulated image, but sometimes it can be difficult to know what to believe when different media are sharing different views, and some issues never make the news at all. But Sutton thinks that travel can help us to fill in the gaps in our knowledge and better understand the wider world.

 ‘Take Laos,’ he says. Between 1967 and 1973, the USA dropped 260 million bombs on Laos – a covert mission that the US government tried to keep secret for years – making it the most heavily bombed country in history. ‘A lot of people travel to Laos,’ says Sutton, ‘and they inevitably find out about its recent history and are quite horrified by it. Many often feel mobilised to do something to help the organisations that are trying to solve the ongoing problems there.’ 

Sutton cautions that while tourism can benefit regions that have been affected by disasters and conflict, especially if communities have been reliant on tourists for income, visitors should think carefully about why they want to visit. There’s a lot that a traveller might not know about a new country they visit, even if they do their research before they go. 

For that reason, Sutton says it’s important to pay attention while you’re there. ‘It’s not just about written rules and often it’s not about religion – it’s about how people feel, their culture and their way of living. In a lot of places, people are very tolerant, even when tourists are behaving very badly, so you need to be sensitive to how they – and you – behave, partially because people are likely to be more accepting and that can make the whole experience more rewarding.’

Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: December 23, Passport

Protected by Copyscape

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Geographical Magazine from just £4.99

Geographical subscriptions

Sign up to our newsletter and get the best of Geographical direct to your inbox

Popular Now

June 2025 Geographical crossword

June 2025 Geographical crossword

Out now: June 2025’s Geographical Magazine

Out now: June 2025’s Geographical Magazine

Odysseus tied to the mast. Image from an ancient vase found in the Black Sea

Mapping the myth: In search of Homer’s enchanted islands

Map of Gulf of Mexico

Digital cartography on trial: Mexico sues Google for ‘Gulf of America’ label

Bottom trawling fishing boat

UK’s ‘protected’ marine areas hit by over 20,000 hours of bottom trawling…

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • TikTok
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Geographical print magazine cover

Published in the UK since 1935, Geographical is the official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).

Informative, authoritative and educational, this site’s content covers a wide range of subject areas, including geography, culture, wildlife and exploration, illustrated with superb photography.

Click Here for SUBSCRIPTION details

Want to access Geographical on your tablet or smartphone? Press the Apple, Android or PC/Mac image below to download the app for your device

Footer Apple Footer Android Footer Mac-PC

More from Geographical

  • Subscriptions
  • Get our Newsletter
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise with us
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Copyright © 2025 · Site by Syon Media