Prime Lenses

Mattia Bidoli is photographer and magician who has worked in some of the most dangerous places on the planet. His photography from places experiencing conflict like Ukraine and Gaza are sadly in demand in 2026. I met him at the Raw Photo Festival in May and he was kind enough to talk to me while we were there and give me a copy of his book which I devoured on the journey home. He’s a wonderful human being, great photographer and has very strong opinions about pizza.

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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.

Benj Haisch is part of a proud tradition of guests who are musicians turned photographers/ YouTubers which nicely reinforces my personal biases when it comes to what genuinely constitutes creativity. Cutting his teeth photographing everything, with everything he’s a voice I trust in the photography space. He’s a warm, fun photographer and was a joy to speak with so I’ll get out of the way and let you enjoy our chat.

Sign up to the Prime Lenses newsletter for a mid-week treat.

Support the show on Patreon.

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.

Justin Sorensen is a sports photographer based in New York. He has a book out about the effect of sports on the human body. I wanted to speak to him about how he came to make the book and what’s next. You can pick up a copy of the book 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.

Lydia Winters is a former game developer turned photographer/ story teller for hire. She and I have worked on Minecraft in the past but never got to work together. All that changes now as we go deep into our nerdy love for cameras and just a little bit of fun with watches.

Sign up to the Prime Lenses newsletter for a mid-week treat.

Support the show on Patreon.

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.

Johany Jutras is a Canadian photographer specialising in making images of Athletes. I found her because she was posting on Substack about finding a new perspective with a fixed lens compact camera, the Leica Q. I found this to be fascinating, taking something that is absolutely not designed with that use case in mind, would require getting up close and would only offer one perspective. As you’ll hear, Johany is not one for taking the easy route. Her story is an amazing one so I hope you enjoy this conversation.

Sign up to the Prime Lenses newsletter for a mid-week treat.

Support the show on Patreon.

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.

Cal Holland is a UK based street photographer who exclusively shoots film and not on a Leica. I felt like I had to know more and found him to be a great guest. I mention in the show that I was logging photos I was taking using a shortcut. You can download it yourself here, there are instructions for using it in the shortcut. There is a bit of setup needed. I also talk about Lenstagger which is a great Lightroom plugin.

Lastly, we talked about developing film at home with the AGO Film Processor. You can find out more on the 35MMC review.

Sign up to the Prime Lenses newsletter for a mid-week treat.

Support the show on Patreon.

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.

Mark Mann is a portrait photographer based in the US but originally from Scotland and with a Leica connection so that was more than enough excuse for me to invite him onto the show. We get into cameras he enjoys, the changes he sees coming with AI and how you handle running up someone else’s phone bill in the 90s.

Sign up to the Prime Lenses newsletter for a mid-week treat.

Support the show on Patreon.

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.

Tim Paton is Irys Photos Global Partnerships Manager, and has worked in and around photos a photography his entire career. We spoke recently and he offered to come onto the show to talk about the commercial realities of photography today. This is a great conversation for anyone who wants to make photography their job.

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.

Jorge Delgado-Ureña is half of The RAW Society. Long time listeners will remember my conversation with Christelle, his partner in life and photography from episode 19. Jorge has a long career as a photographer behind him, but members of the RAW Society can also attest to his skill as an educator. We speak as preparations are under way for the first RAW Photo Fest, a 4 day celebration of photography that will take place on the island of Menorca in May.

Sign up to the Prime Lenses newsletter for a mid-week treat.

Support the show on Patreon.

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.

Welcome back to another midweek episode. This week I spoke to Rob Taylor of Leica about the Leitz Phone launch, how Leica think about a collaboration like this and what they wanted to achieve. I hope you enjoy it!

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.