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50 years of Billingham Bags: the story (Interview from Amateur Photographer Magazine)

As Billingham marks its 50th anniversary this year, Nigel Atherton delved into the company's history during an exclusive interview with our founders, Ros and Martin Billingham. We are grateful to Amateur Photographer Magazine for generously allowing us to share this interview with you.

Ivor Cooper – Running a Camera Store in London

Our interview with Ivor Cooper, co-founder of 'Red Dot Cameras' in London. Read about his beginnings in the photographic industry, his experiences running a camera shop in London and the special bags we have made for Red Dot's anniversary.

Mark Harwood - My Billingham Story

The fourth and final of our 50th anniversary story winners, Mark Harwood, is a highly experienced commercial and studio photographer who now focuses on documentary and charity projects. We are delighted to share the story of how he started out in photography and his enduring use of Billingham bags over the last few decades.

Ishkhan Ghazarian - Every photographer needs a Billingham

Ishkhan Ghazarian is a professional portrait and commercial photographer, based in Toronto, Canada. In this article for our 50th anniversary he tells the story of a trip he made to Mexico with his camera bag following the aftermath of a hurricane - proving that everyone needs a Billingham bag.

Jason Regent - From Customer to Retailer

Jason Regent is a customer who became a retailer - opening his own Men's fashion store in Salisbury, England. We were delighted when he sent us his story to celebrate our 50th anniversary.

Gary Etheridge - The Luckiest Bag in the World

We are pleased to announce the second of our Billingham 50th competition winners, Gary Etheridge. He tells us about his Hadley Pro, 'the luckiest bag in the World'.

Back to Nature - Nick Baker Interview

Nick Baker is radio broadcaster, TV presenter, ecologist, author and professional naturalist. When we spotted that Nick is a keen photographer and a Billingham owner, we were compelled to find out more about his fascinating career.

Rob Degreef: My Billingham Story

Rob Degreef is the former managing director of our Dutch distributor, Degreef & Partner. Before taking that roll he worked at the Billingham factory itself. We are grateful to him for sharing his story for our 50th anniversary.

Dan Baker - Life Adventures with my Billingham Bag

We recently ran a competition asking for the best customer stories in celebration of Billingham's 50th anniversary. We are pleased today to announce the first of our winners, Dan Baker, telling the story of a life changing trip that he made with his Billingham.

Fifty Golden Years of Billingham – By Gray Levett

Gray Levett, founder of 'Grays of Westminster' shares his memories of Billingham to celebrate our 50th anniversary.

Liang Dong - Mini Eventer Experience

Liang Dong specialises in portrait photography. His job requires him to move from city to city and carry equipment for long periods of time. We sent him our Mini Eventer bag to get his thoughts on it.

Eddie Ogura - A Life In The Photography Business

Eddie Ogura is the founder of 'Oriental Hobbies', a camera accessory shop in Okinawa, Japan. We were delighted to talk to Eddie more about his background, interests and how he came to know and love Billingham.

Yang Dong - I Want To Photograph all of The Great Wall

Yang Dong, has travelled the length of the Great Wall taking many phenomenal pictures. We spoke to him about his travels and how he came to specialise in this subject.

Emma Drabble - A life in photography

Emma Drabble is a commercial and commissioned documentary photographer working in the UK. As well as being a Lumix Ambassador she does a fascinating variety of work for corporate and government clients. She also undertakes her own projects that take her all around the country. We were delighted to interview her about her wide ranging work that includes portraits of other notable British photographers.

Yang Dong - 35 Rucksack Experience

Yang Dong is famous for photographing the Great Wall. We sent him our 35 Rucksack to get his views on the bag and see how it might work for him on his travels as a photographer.

Camera in hand: talking Tokyo Camera Style with John Sypal

Our interview with the creator of TokyoCameraStyle and Zuisha.

Capturing the planet: an interview with Alastair Fothergill

Recognised most recently for his work on the outstanding Netflix series, Our Planet, Alastair Fothergill has been at the forefront of natural history programming for more than 30 years. Read our interview with him here.

Liang Dong: I'm Just An Art Worker

Our interview with Chinese photographer Liang Dong. In terms of photography techniques, he attaches great importance to re-composition and light to pursue a sense of mood, cinematography and diversified styles. We were delighted to catch up with him and speak about his career.

Billingham moves towards a greener future

We are removing drawstring bags from our products and from sale. Over the past two years Billingham have been examining areas where we as a business can become more environmentally friendly. 

Steven Hall - From 'War & Peace' to 'Tom & Jerry'

Our interview with UK-based DOP Steven Hall. His work includes films such as Star Wars, Dr Who, Gladiator, The Imitation Game, War & Peace, The BFG, War Horse, Yesterday, Dumbo, Peaky Blinders and Tom & Jerry.

Marianne Q - 25 Rucksack Review

Professional photographer and judge for the Unlike Photo Awards, Marianne Q creates visual stories that radiate the passion of the entrepreneur. In this article, Marianne reviews the Billingham 25 Rucksack.

Lachlan Milne: A Cinematic Perspective

Multi-award-winning cinematographer Lachlan Milne gives us the inside track on his thrilling career and reveals some behind-the-scenes scoops on his recent work on Stranger Things, Love and Monsters and Minari.

Billingham Backstage - UI Numbers

Ever wondered about the 2D barcode on your bag? We explain the history of our 'UI' serial number system and how it helps us to maintain quality and prevent counterfeits.

Chris Johnson - Skateboarding and Beyond

Chris Johnson is the former Senior Photographer at Sidewalk Magazine, Britain’s longest running Skateboard publication. Since then his work has broadened to include a wide range of portraiture, documentary, commercial and wedding work. We caught up with him recently to discuss how he got started and to find out about his interesting career.

Luke David Kellett: Portraits of Newcastle During COVID-19

Born in England and later moving to Australia, Luke has worked in a variety of fields including music photography for major labels and founding his own advertising agency. We interviewed him following the completion of his project 'Isolation'.

BREXIT: The UK has left the EU 

The UK officially left the European Union on 31 December 2020. What does that mean for you as a customer? We explain in this article.

Behind the scenes with Sarah Lee

Guardian photographer Sarah Lee gives us a peek into her creative world and her spectacular backstage work with BAFTA.

Joseph Hall (Joe Shutter) - All eyes on Iceland

Joe Shutter, landscape and adventure photographer, speaks to Billingham about his career and the significance of photography in documenting the climate change crisis.

The Uniqueness of a Billingham

We recently sent two of our new Navy Canvas bags to Robert-Paul Jansen to get his opinion on the bags and to see the beautiful results he could create.

Paddy Dowling - A Portrait of the World

Photojournalist Paddy Dowling talks to Billingham about his vital work capturing images from some of the most marginalised people in the world’s most harrowing and hostile environments.

Interview with Oggi Tomic - Success in Motion

Award-winning director and filmmaker Oggi Tomic gives us an insight into his intriguing journey from tragic beginnings to earning his double BAFTA Scotland accolades.

Rena Pearl - Reflecting on real life. Professional photographer Rena Pearl discusses her extensive career and portfolio.

For more than 35 years, Rena Pearl has been capturing people, whether in street photography studies, documentary projects, formal portraits or at live events. Now based in Liverpool for five years, she has won many accolades, including a Long Service Award from the BIPP. Her work can be found in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, the Jewish Museum, the British Library in London and in several private collections.

Travelling Light - Mehrdad Samak-Abedi

Our interview with Mehrdad Samak-Abedi from Qimago.

A unique perspective - Martin Parr talks to Billingham about his extraordinary career and his forthcoming projects

Our interview with legendary British photographer Martin Parr.

Mark Gilligan: A love of landscape – an interview with the award-winning outdoor photographer

Our interview with award-winning photographer and writer Mark Gilligan.

Alfred George Bailey: The music of my life. An interview with the renowned photographer and cinematographer

Alfred George Bailey is a celebrated British film director, cinematographer and photographer specialising in documentary, music, dance, portraiture, reportage and fine art photography. We spoke with Alfred about his fascinating work and discovered how his Billingham bag brought him luck with a very recent project!

Work-life balance. An interview with Mandy Charlton

Mandy Charlton is an award-winning wedding and portrait photographer based in Newcastle. She expertly juggles her work with an extremely busy family life, and is founder and CEO of the Inspire Network, a group of entrepreneurial business women with more than 11,500 members. Read our Interview with her here.

Life through an urban lens: introducing David Lindo, The Urban Birder

Our interview with David Lindo - The Urban Birder.

An Interview with Lee Osborne from Sartorialee

Editor of the fashion, travel and lifestyle blog, Satorialee, Lee Osborne has had an extraordinary career spanning publishing, creative direction, photography and content creation. We interviewed him to find out more about his life and passions, both professionally and outside of work.

An interview with Russ Malkin & Charley Speed - 'Adventure or Luxury'

We interviewed television adventurer Russ Malkin and model Charley Speed after they filmed their new show 'Adventure or Luxury'.

Lara Platman: Photography with a passion – a Billingham exclusive interview

Lara Platman is an award winning Photographer and Author, a Journalist and Curator, specialising in historic motor sport, British manufacturing and portrait photography. She is also an Ambassador for Leica Camera, a Getty Images contributor and a long-time Billingham user. Read our interview with her here.

The Diary of a Billingham Bag

Luke Woodford at Hungry Eye wrote this diary of his travels with the new Billingham Hadley One. Read it here.

Billingham - Photographer Chaïm Bruijning Great(est) Love

Chaïm Bruijning contemplates why photographers are always buying new gear - and why he loves Billingham so much.

Old and New - The Billingham 225

Billingham has been making camera bags since 1973. We are proud that many have lasted so long, and also the little improvements we have made over the years. In this article Mich Buschman compares his old Billingham 225 to its newer counterpart.

Billingham 225 Review By Luke Holroyd

Recently we sent a Billingham 225 for Luke Holroyd to review on his blog. Read that review republished here.

The Photography Show 2017

Read about our visit to The Photography Show 2017 and the launch of several new products.