30 SEPTEMBER 2026 | SEND TO A FRIEND
COFFEE WITH CLAIRE THOMAS
📍Claire (left) and Ben (right) chatting in Granary Square, London.
With photographers based all around the world, the chance to meet in person is often a rare one. So it was a pleasure to catch up with Claire Thomas when she was in town, over from her home in Egypt, to launch ALTAI, her book documenting the extensive time she’s spent in Mongolia.
Having photographed several features for National Geographic Traveller (UK) in recent years, including our Egypt cover feature for the October 2026 issue, Claire and I had plenty to talk about. We chatted through her varied career, from her love of animals — fittingly, as we were photobombed by a passing dog — to her experiences photographing conflict in Iraq and the travels that have shaped her work along the way.
I Ben Rowe, senior picture editor
📍Barn in front of the Grand Teton Mountain range, Wyoming, July 2011; shot on: Pentax K200D, 1/90, f5.6, ISO 100
How did you get into photography?
It was through my love of horses that I first became interested in photography. While studying at university in Bristol, I spent my summers working as a wrangler on a ranch in Wyoming, USA. I was captivated by the landscapes, horses and the culture of the American West, and began taking photographs simply because I wanted to capture what I was experiencing. I didn’t have any formal training and, at that stage, never imagined photography would become my career. But those summers sparked something in me. Photography became a way of documenting the people, places and stories that fascinated me and that curiosity has guided my work ever since.
Then, in 2015, while I was teaching English in Spain, one of my photographs from Egypt was published in National Geographic magazine. Seeing my work in a magazine that had inspired me since childhood gave me the confidence to pursue photography professionally. Shortly afterwards, I moved to the Middle East and began freelancing, producing my own photo essays and pitching them to news outlets.
📍Claire sheltering in the village of Ganus Al Ulya, south of Mosul, Iraq, December 2016; photo by Joshua McDonald
Your journey to travel photography is unconventional — at what point did you transition from photojournalism into travel?
There was a moment, and a single conversation, in northern Iraq that significantly influenced this shift. After living there for almost three years, I remember sitting at the kitchen table with my friend Vincent, talking about what might come next. I was ready for a break from documenting conflict and humanitarian crises and decided to turn my lens back to where photography began for me: communities whose lives are intertwined with horses. That decision led me to Mongolia. Since then, I’ve found a real passion for slowing down and documenting the beauty of the world and its people. I still pursue photojournalism, but today my work has a balance and diversity that feels healthier to me.
📍Mongolia, October 2025; shot on Nikon Z8, 1/250, f7.1, ISO 320
Your Mongolia photography is a huge ongoing project — what made you want to keep returning?
Horses are integral to the lives and cultural identity of the region’s nomadic herders and Kazakh eagle hunters. What was intended as a one-off trip in 2019 developed into a long-term project as I formed close relationships with the families and continued returning. Over time, watching children grow and families change became as important as the traditions I was documenting. Turning six years of work into ALTAI has been one of the most meaningful — and challenging — experiences of my career: distilling thousands of photographs into a book that reflects not only a place and culture, but the relationships built through returning.
📍Three-year-old Achbota holds a cat inside her family home in the Altai Mountains, April 2023; shot on Nikon D850, 1/250, f3.2, ISO 1600
When you’re photographing communities, how do you document their lives in a sensitive way?
The relationship always comes first. I prefer to spend time getting to know people and allowing them to get to know me before I start taking photographs. I’ve always felt remarkably at home with the families in Mongolia, perhaps because of their hospitality and generosity, but also because our shared love of horses gives us an immediate connection. Even the constant offering of tea reminds me of growing up in Wales!
Having time is a real luxury. Returning to the same families year after year allows trust and friendships to develop naturally, and the photographs become a reflection of those relationships rather than simply observations from the outside.
📍Children are delighted by the arrival of a group of clowns visiting a camp for internally displaced people in northern Iraq. National Geographic Photo of the Day, November 26, 2017; shot on Nikon D610, 1/1250, f4.0, ISO 250
Having photographed conflict and humanitarian crises in the past, does it change the way you approach your travel photography?
Absolutely — whatever the wider story, it’s the individual people within it who matter most. I think I’ve carried that into my travel photography. I’m naturally drawn to people and the details of everyday life, rather than simply photographing a destination for its beauty. My photojournalism background also taught me to observe, to be patient and not to try to control everything happening in front of the camera. I still approach travel with a documentary mindset, looking for authentic moments and human connections. The subject matter may be very different, but ultimately I’m still interested in telling stories about people and their lives.
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📍Arkalak with horse and eagle, Mongolia, October 2019; shot on Nikon D850, 1/1000, f5.6, ISO 250
Arkalak with his eagle on the cover of Claire’s book ALTAI, published by Hemeria
Do you have an image that you regard as your best or that means the most to you?
I have a few favourite images, but one that stands out and means a lot to me is a photograph of a 12-year-old Kazakh eagle hunter named Arkalak, kneeling beside his horse with his golden eagle in the Altai Mountains in October 2019. It was a completely unstaged, fleeting moment; he was simply pausing while his father trained his eagle on the mountain. The light was unusually soft under cloud cover and both Arkalak and his eagle had incredibly intense, yet completely natural expressions. Five years later, I found myself on the same mountain with Arkalak, then 17, and captured an almost mirror image of that earlier moment. Arkalak also features on the cover of my book, ALTAI, in another portrait from that first trip which is equally special to me.
MORE STORIES BY CLAIRE
What I learned on an off-grid camping trip with Egypt’s Bedouin
In the desert mountains of east Egypt, gardens have for centuries sustained the lives of the monks who run the famed St Catherine’s Monastery — but also the Jebeliya tribe who shepherd pilgrims and travellers up Mount Sinai and into their mountain homes.
The ultimate guide to Egypt in 15 experiences
Touring the pyramids and sailing down the Nile are undoubted highlights of any trip to Egypt — but what else should be on your list?
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