Hugo Philpott (BR 1984-89) recounts how a gap-year led him to photograph the Taliban, the Royal family, celebrities and sporting icons. 

A few weeks ago when I was asked if I’d like to write a few words about my photographic career I was full of mixed emotions. Having left King’s in 1989, it felt like a lifetime ago, but hey what’s the harm! I’d been through the whole King’s system from 1978 to 1989, following my brother Russell who left King’s in 1984. It had been a very happy time at Broughton House in St Augustine’s – leaving me with some wonderful lifetime friends. If truth be told, I was more interested in sport than academia, but I just about scraped through.

A few months after leaving King’s I travelled on my own around Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and properly got the bug for taking pictures. I never thought for a moment a career beckoned but here the seed was sown.

After I left university with a Humanities degree, I moved to Whitstable and started working in a pub in Canterbury and driving lorries with valuable contents (this didn’t end well). A long drinking session in the Neptune pub in Whitstable provided a moment of serendipity, a photography tutor who liked my travel photos, and an invitation to attend an interview at the prestigious London College of Printing. A year of learning to take pictures ended in my first published photo of OJ Simpson at the Oxford Union. The career had begun.

It was a few months later whilst sitting in a coffee shop in Whitstable that I took a call from a great friend and fellow OKS Justin Marozzi (MR 1984-89) asking if I wanted to accompany him to Afghanistan. Justin had a commission from The Financial Times to interview Mujahideen leader General Ahmad Shah Massoud, “the Lion of the Panjshir”. I obviously said yes and a couple of weeks later we found ourselves in a snowy Kabul, it was mid-October 1996. Just two weeks before our arrival the Taliban had hung the Prime Minister in the football stadium. A two day journey fraught with danger across Taliban front lines and we arrived in the Panjshir valley at Massoud’s compound. They had no idea we were coming but a letter was delivered by Justin to his spokesman and that same night we had dinner with the General, we ate mutton stew and sweet tea and delved deep into the history of Afghanistan and their struggle for democracy in the times of the Taliban.

Returning to London with 20 rolls of colour and black and white film and a large Afghan rug, I had pulled off my first foreign assignment with a happy picture editor, stories to tell and relieved parents. With newfound confidence I approached international news agencies and after capturing a protester running towards the Queen’s carriage during a Chinese State visit, I got my break and started stringing for Agence France Presse.

Over the next few years, I was freelancing for all the major wire agencies covering hard news, sporting events and fashion shows. One in particular led me into the world of luxury PR. Working under the guidance of PR maestro OKS Charlotte Thomas (née Bishop, SH 1983-85) I worked as the house photographer for Moët Hennessy: A list parties and a lot of champagne was photographed and drunk.

It was around the turn of the century that I got the call to return to King’s Canterbury to inspire the next generation of King’s leavers and join the careers team, I’m not sure anyone became a photographer off the back of my vision but they always seemed to enjoy the stories.

As my career progressed so did the technology and in 2000 I bought my first digital camera: a Canon DCS 520, a six-thousand-pound megapixel camera that enabled photographers to send their pictures on the go. This meant photographers could cover more jobs without having to process their film but had less time conversing in the pub.

In 2005 I managed to get accredited for Wimbledon and this year will be my 21st championships – a total pleasure every year and I have been fortunate to witness one of the greatest sporting rivalries ever between Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. One of my greatest sports photographs was in the 2008 Wimbledon Final capturing Nadal’s victory over Federer providing me front pages all over the world.

Over the next decade my career took me to the Cannes Film Festival, Glastonbury Festival, Ryder Cups and in 2012 the London Olympics. My agency gave me carte blanche to photograph everything I wanted from Usain Bolt’s 100m final to Chris Hoy’s final gold and Mo Farah’s Super Saturday. In the last decade I have been fortunate to photograph the 2015 Rugby World Cup, the weddings of Prince William and Kate and Prince Harry and Meghan, the Queen’s funeral and the King’s Coronation. Other highlights include trips to Africa for Comic and Sport Relief which were resoundingly satisfying in every way.

In 2024, I covered the Paris Olympics, another spectacular sports event in a fabulous city. This year, I was at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics covering the Women’s Alpine events, Bobsleigh and Skeleton.

Looking back over 30 years, I have a resounding sense of pride in what I’ve achieved but also thanks to the many great memories I have of King’s and to all the lifelong friends I still see.

This article was first published in the OKS Magazine (Spring 2026). You can find out more about Hugo's photography on his website.