Ben McKechnie

14/01/2026

A girl looks up at a row of dried llama and alpaca foetuses of varying stages of development at La Paz’s Witches’ Market (Mercado de las Brujas), where indigenous Aymara vendors sell items for use in traditional potions, spells, and rituals — Bolivia, January 2026

13/08/2025

Down by the Thames Barrier, one of the largest movable flood barriers in the world, in operation since 1982 (used a total of 221 times) and a popular place to spot planes landing into London City Airport — London, August 2025

09/08/2025

Images from the large pro-Palestine protest held at Parliament Square in Westminster today (Saturday 9th), where I witnessed many people, most of them pensioners, being arrested and carried off by police for sitting silently holding signs in support of the proscribed group Palestine Action — Central London, August 2025

05/02/2025

Monk Jang Jeok, a senior Buddhist priest, stands outside a temple named Ilseonsa with his dog in Bukhansan National Park. Ilseona sits near the top of a mountain overlooking downtown Seoul, and when I hiked up to interview Jang Jeok for an article I was writing, he greeted me warmly before insisting that I first meditate to rid my mind of ‘city noise’. He previously served as not only the head of South Korea’s Buddhist Broadcasting Bureau but also the planning director for the Jogye Order, the country’s largest Buddhist sect. He left the latter position to much media attention after publicly criticising the Jogye Order for being more concerned with money and profit than with the nation’s spirituality. He appeared genuinely relieved when he realised that my request to speak to him about Seoul’s lesser known and most unique Buddhist temples was not simply a pretense to grill him about the other matters — Seoul, South Korea, March 2023

30/05/2024

In February, I found myself in the town of Parapat on the shores of Lake Toba in Northern Sumatra. While I’d gone to find the local market, I was attracted to the nearby grounds of a house where hundreds of people from the local Batak tribe were gathered for a noisy celebration — at first I thought it was a wedding due to the live music, dancing, and laughter; however, I then saw an open casket and a body and realised it was a funeral, which I learned are joyous occasions in traditional Batak culture. Next to the dancers were the dismembered parts of a freshly slaughtered buffalo next to six bottles of Bintang beer.

29/05/2024

Taliban troupe in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 2023. Behind a crumbling red brick building on Wazir Akbar Khan hill, I broke away from my group and walked off alone to take photos of the cityscape and snowcapped peaks. Out the corner of my eye, I saw these Talibs spot me and slowly walk over. They formed a circle around me and the apparent leader (flicking the “V” sign in the image) introduced himself in English. They were visiting Kabul “on a work trip from Jalalabad” and, upon learning I was from the United Kingdom, invited me for tea and Kabuli pulao, the national dish of Afghanistan. I turned down their offer but instead asked them to line up for a photo, to which they obliged.

27/04/2024

Tibetan Buddhist monks practise a synchronised dance in the grounds of Hemis Monastery (alt. 12,000 ft / 3,650 m) — Union Territory of Ladakh, India, April 2024

17/04/2024

Friends enjoying the afternoon despite Mumbai’s intense heatwave, which has made headlines the last few days — Maharashtra, India, April 2024

15/02/2024

Happy Lunar New Year! May the Year of the Dragon bring you good luck, prosperity, and happiness 🐲

20/12/2023

Read my first of three brand new articles set in Seoul for the BBC Travel series "The SpeciaList", with my original photos:

From Jogyesa to Gilsanga, these are the must-visit temples every traveller should see, according to an acclaimed local Buddhist priest.