Portrait photographer Millie Pilkington joins James Fisher on the Country Life podcast.
Millie Pilkington is one of Britain’s best-known portrait photographers, with her work regularly appearing in Country Life as well as dozens of other publications.
We were truly delighted that she joined James Fisher on the Country Life podcast to talk about life behind the lens.
She talks about how she turned a hobby in to a dream career, one in which she has dealt with everything from incorrigible dogs to taking private family pictures for the Prince and Princess of Wales.
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The secret of a good photograph, she explains, isn’t just technical — it’s emotional. ‘Yes, you want to have nice light, you want to have a nice composition, you want to think about how all of this marries together, how it’s going to draw people in,’ she says.
The artist, broadcaster, lecturer, ‘transvestite and worshipper of teddy bears’ Grayson Perry CBE RA featured on the Frontispiece in 2020 and was captured by Millie. Credit: Millie Pilkington for Country Life
‘But actually the real thing that takes a photograph to a different level is this mood, this emotion, this spirit. And if you can connect with whoever you’re photographing, you might not have the perfect crop, or the perfect light, or the perfect something. But that photograph, if it talks to you in some way, if it brings an emotion to you, then you’ve got some hope of someone else feeling that too.’
Millie Pilkington tells the tale of capturing this picture, which happened in a moment of pure spontaneity after she’d packed up her gear at the end of the shoot. Credit: Millie Pilkington for Country Life
As well as being one of Country Life’s finest photographers, she’s also recently been in the news after publishing a photo of The King and Queen last week, alongside an encouraging update on His Majesty’s health. What a lot of people don’t know or, at least, didn’t know, was that Millie also took the private pictures for the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding back in 2011.
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A private image from that day was shared by Millie on Monday, to mark the now Prince and Princess of Wales’s 13th wedding anniversary.
Filmmaker Guy Ritchie (and dogs Ruby and Coco) posed for Millie in 2023. Credit: Millie Pilkington for Country Life
When asked about her work with the Royal Family, she described it as ‘amazing, absolutely amazing’. ‘It was most definitely a career highlight. Both [taking photographs of the Wales’s children] and the wedding are hard to beat as career highlights.’ However, she adds that Country Life has given her a few career highlights too, ‘so I can’t complain’.
The late Paul O’Grady, whose work with Battersea Cats and Dogs home meant that he was chosen to feature in the then Duchess of Cornwall’s guest edit of the magazine in 2022. Credit: Millie Pilkington for Country Life
Whether it’s taking pictures of the late Paul O’Grady for The Queen’s Guest Edit of Country Life in 2022, or Dame Judi Dench in 2018, Millie has seen, met and photographed so many important contributors to the countryside, the arts, and beyond. On her time with Dame Judi, she describes how once the shoot was completed, ‘we spent the next hour and a half or something sitting in her kitchen, drinking champagne, putting the world right. She’s every bit as wonderful — in fact, that’s a lie, she’s even more wonderful in real life than you imagine her to be’.
You can see more of Millie’s work on Instagram and at her website, milliepilkington.co.uk.
Episode credits
Host: James Fisher
Guest: Millie Pilkington
Producer and Editor: Toby Keel
Music: JuliusH via Pixabay
Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn
