This week my guest is Ethan Swope . He’s a photojournalist and documentary filmmaker in Los Angeles covering local and international news including the war in Ukraine, immigration in Mexico and Lebanon, wildfires in California, and civil unrest in the United States and the Middle East. I spoke to him to get an understanding of his work around the recent wildfires in California. If you’d like to donate and help out you can find out more here . More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spe...
Feb 16, 2025•59 min•Season 1Ep. 49
This week my guest is Alex Taylor of Pennine Heritage , a group who are caring for and celebrating the work of Alice Longstaff . Alice was a photographer who lived in the north of England and made photographs throughout her life. They’ve just released their first book titled End of the Roll . More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about their first camera or a small fast prime that they had in their ...
Feb 09, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 48
George Holden is a Street Photographer and YouTuber who has been a regular poster since 2018. Based in Manchester he shoots digital and film and has as of 2025 decided to simplify his kit down to 2 cameras. For now. This was one camera adjacent enough for me to want to get him on the show, he said yes, and here we are :) More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about their first camera or a small fast ...
Feb 02, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 47
James Tocchio is the founder of Casual Photophile . For over a decade he has reviewed lenses and cameras and is a staple of photography on the internet. In addition to his love of lenses and photography he also enjoys videogames and motorcycles so if you’re a petrolhead you’ll likely get something out of this episode. More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about their first camera or a small fast pri...
Jan 26, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 46
My guest today is Gajan Balan, a photographer and director who has made a name for himself producing films for clients around the world as well as regular viewers like us on YouTube. Gajan and I were able to speak ahead of his unveiling as the worldwide brand ambassador for the Leica SL3-S that was announced earlier this week. He’s be en able to travel the world as part of this project and produce a really wonderful film to promote the new camera . Full disclosure, Leica suggested the timing of ...
Jan 19, 2025•1 hr 23 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Gabrielle Motola is one of the most complete photographers I’ve ever spoken to. That was the word that popped into my head repeatedly as we were speaking just before Christmas. She is thoughtful, makes thought provoking work and knows Photography is noticing, bringing connection to all her work whether it’s travel, portrait or behind the scenes with a world famous band. I loved our conversation and hope you do too. More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photogra...
Jan 12, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 44
My guest this week is Arun Venkatesan , a photographer, engineer and designer based in the U S who writes a really interesting blog about design and occasionally photos and image making. He has recently written about Leica’s font and a friend passed this on to me. I r eally enjoye d his writing and decided to see if I could get him on the show. He said yes and I’m delighted to share this conversation with you all. More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photograp...
Jan 05, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Stephen K Schuster is a New York based photographer who co-hosts the brilliant Emulsions podcast with friend Hollis Monk Thayer . When the pair appeared on the show a couple of weeks ago I asked he’d be up for coming back to talk about his long running project City Kids. He agreed and here we are! We forego lenses in favour of a conversation about image making, terrible ideas, good ideas and we open with a Prime Lenses favourite, A Question of Color . More about this show: A camera is just a too...
Dec 29, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Declan Friel is a photographer based near the Isle of Skye. His day job has him working on the Isle of Skye as a postman which sometimes affords him the opportunity to capture one of the most beautiful locations in the world while he’s at work. That’s something I’ll bet a lot of us wish we could do so when Declan was made famous earlier this year by the BBC News Website I thought I’d reach out and see if we could have a chat about his history with photography, printing images big and small and o...
Dec 22, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 41
For 10 years Hugh Brownstone has made photography videos on YouTube. His striking monochrome aesthetic and thoughtful delivery made him popular with fans of photography, especially those with a tendency towards cameras made in Germany with a little red dot. I’ve admired his work for years so it was a delight to sit down with him and have a wide ranging conversation about image making. More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go mi...
Dec 15, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Hollis Monk Thayer and Stephen K. Schuster are two friends who host the Emulsions Podcast about film photography. They agreed to come onto the podcast to talk about what it’s like making a podcast, whether they benefit from having a co-host and the kinds of images they like to make. It was a good conversation, I hope you like it too :) More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about their first camera o...
Dec 08, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Andy Dunn is a UK based filmmaker whose work I discovered via a film he made about Harold Feinstein called Last Stop Coney Island. This brilliant documentary introduced me to the world of an artist I knew nothing about and I loved it. Andy was kind enough to take some time out of a Friday night to come and chat cameras, Harold and making stuff. More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about their first...
Dec 01, 2024•1 hr 34 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Becca Farsace is an Emmy award winning Photographer, videographer and life long learner. I’ve enjoyed her videos for years and have been lucky to chat with her on and off about cameras but when starting to plan for this show I knew she was one of the people I’d want to speak to. She recently went independent, able for the first time to make whatever she wants on her own terms. You can find her on YouTube now where she’s taking tech outdoors and her approach is clearly resonating because she’s at...
Nov 24, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Kaj O’Connell is a wonderful photographer whose work I discovered through the One Month 2 cameras YouTube channel. His work made initially using old point and shoot digicams was inspiring, he’s doing more than just shooting with them for the vibes. He champions ways of making work, printing it and living with it that I really admire, shoots film like a pro and I was so excited when he agreed to come on the show. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Kaj. More about this show: A camera is just a ...
Nov 17, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Rick DeMint is the man behind Portroids , a photo project where he snaps celebrities and asks them to sign the picture which is then posted to his website. It’s a great project 21 years and over 6000 images later is still going strong. The combination of long running consistency and Polaroid cameras of many types made him an ideal guest, I loved speaking to him and in particular enjoyed his final lens choice, but you’ll have to stick around for that! More about this show: A camera is just a tool...
Nov 10, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Jannik Boysen is a game developer and photographer who created the charming Shutter Stroll for PC. I discovered the game in 2020 but the release of the game on Steam seemed like a great time to speak to Jannik about the game and their journey with photography. More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about their first camera or a small fast prime that they had in their youth. Prime Lenses is a series o...
Nov 03, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 34
More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about their first camera or a small fast prime that they had in their youth. Prime Lenses is a series of interviews with photographers talking about their photography by way of three lenses that mean a lot to them. These can be interchangeable, attached to a camera, integrated into a gadget, I’m interested in the sometimes complex relationship we have with the t...
Oct 27, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 33
This week I spoke with Stefan Daniel of Leica Camera. He’s ultimately responsible for all camera development at Leica and we spoke on the eve of the M11-D announcement about travel cameras, the Scottish Highlands and the importance of creation and creativity more than specs and technical stats. More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about their first camera or a small fast prime that they had in thei...
Oct 20, 2024•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 32
Victor Henning is the founder of Fjorden , an iOS app that pairs with a grip to give your iPhone the physical controls that make a real camera so great. His company was recently acquired by Leica and their first joint Product, Leica LUX is out now and blew me away when I tried it. At launch I reached out to Victor immediately and he was gracious enough to give me an hour, between meetings ;) More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see the...
Oct 13, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 31
This week I speak with John Piercy Holroyd & Daniel Hopkinson, authors of A Time A Place , a photography and architecture project that became a book. This first volume has been a real labour of love for the pair and it was a treat to sit down with my first panel of guests. Dan also has some excellent gear and lens choices for those of us who love just a little bit of gear chatter. More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go mi...
Oct 06, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 30
James Bareham is a creative director and photographer with a background in sports, newspapers and online media. He’s photographed everything from bombings to First Ladies. He now runs a media startup as well as freelancing. You can find out more about his work at Happicamp.com . More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about their first camera or a small fast prime that they had in their youth. Prime L...
Sep 29, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Stasia Schmidt is an award winning, fine art photographer based in Calgary, Alberta. Her landscapes and portraits show attention to simplicity and form. She is drawn to unexpected surrealism within the natural environment, and throughout the photographic process Stasia works to layer subversive femininity with stark reality. Self taught, she draws from a deep well of inspiration that includes a love of music, dance, science fiction, and adventure. The medium of photography is her chosen method o...
Sep 22, 2024•59 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Tiffany Roubert is a French analog photographer based in London (UK). After completing a Masters in Documentary Photography at the University of the Arts London she began a career shooting internationally. Her commercial and personal photography has an incredible look and feel. More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about their first camera or a small fast prime that they had in their youth. Prime Le...
Sep 15, 2024•56 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Milan is most known for is fine art portrait photography work in the burlesque and vintage styles. His work is a throwback to the memorable Hollywood glamour of the 20s and 30s, often portraying women in a daring and sexy way, but always delicately and glamourously. Sign up to the Prime Lenses newsletter for a mid week treat. More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about their first camera or a small ...
Sep 08, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Documentary photographer and director Doug Menuez once stood at the North Pole, crossed the Sahara, had tea with Stalin's daughter and held a chunk of Einstein's brain. Quitting his blues band in 1981, he began his 40+ year career freelancing for Time, LIFE, Newsweek, Fortune, USA Today, the New York Times Magazine and many other publications. He covered the AIDS crisis, homelessness in America, politics, five Super Bowls and the Olympics. His portrait assignments include Presidents Clinton and ...
Sep 01, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 25
David Imel is a technology journalist based in the US who is probably best known these days for his work on Youtube and podcasts. His work with MKBHD as well as his own films would keep anyone busy but David clearly doesn’t like to be bored. Not only is he a wonderful photographer but he is a wonderfully talented film photographer with a preferred aspect ratio that you’re not expecting. He’s good buddies with some previous guests so I was thrilled when he agreed to be on the show. Sign up to the...
Aug 25, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Sean Tucker is a photographer based in the north of the UK. He has published a number of photography books and most recently added to that with his book on creativity and art more broadly called The Meaning in the Making . He’s a really interesting creative voice who feels to me like a teacher as much as creative person I admire. Sign up to the Prime Lenses newsletter for a mid week treat. More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them ...
Aug 18, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Sissi Lu is a photographer based in New York City who specialises in shooting film. She’s created a successful YouTube channel featuring an array of fun projects and is currently working with Polaroid on a campaign. Her pursuit of filmic perfection I expected, her love of football, I did not. Sign up to the Prime Lenses newsletter for a mid week treat. More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about the...
Aug 11, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Thorsten Overgaard is a Danish photographer who’s synonymous with Leica. He’s shot with their cameras for decades, has written a book on just about every model in that time and has shot just about every lens. Talking to him about everything from the camera you just have to have to the lenses that on reflection you don’t, was a real treat. Warning, this is a long one, you may want a snack. Sign up to the Prime Lenses newsletter for a mid week treat. More about this show: A camera is just a tool b...
Aug 04, 2024•1 hr 42 min•Season 1Ep. 21
In this shorter summer vacation episode we hear from listeners and previous guests about the setup they're taking with them on their holidays. Enjoy! Sign up to the Prime Lenses newsletter for a mid week treat. More about this show: A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about their first camera or a small fast prime that they had in their youth. Prime Lenses is a series of interviews with photographers talking about thei...
Jul 28, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 20
