Prime Lenses

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 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 tools we choose, why they can mean so much and how they make us feel.

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 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 tools we choose, why they can mean so much and how they make us feel.

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 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 tools we choose, why they can mean so much and how they make us feel.

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 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 tools we choose, why they can mean so much and how they make us feel.

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 been 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 this episode but as you’ll hear from the conversation we were already in contact and this is in no way a paid promotion, they just put us in touch ahead of the launch. Gajan and I got on great and I can’t wait to speak to him again in future about his next projects but for now please enjoy this first chat.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 tools we choose, why they can mean so much and how they make us feel.

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 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 tools we choose, why they can mean so much and how they make us feel.

My guest this week is Arun Venkatesan, a photographer, engineer and designer based in the US 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 really enjoyed 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 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 tools we choose, why they can mean so much and how they make us feel.

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 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 tools we choose, why they can mean so much and how they make us feel.

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 of course, murder mystery drama on the island.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 tools we choose, why they can mean so much and how they make us feel.

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 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 tools we choose, why they can mean so much and how they make us feel.