Episode 133 - Anthony Prince Leslie

Prime Lenses Episode 136 – Colin Prior Four decades of Scottish landscapes, the camera he sold and never went back to, and thoughts on the future of photography and AI. Guest: Colin Prior — Scottish landscape photographer, best known for his panoramas · colinprior.co.uk In this episode Colin Prior has spent four decades photographing Scotland’s mountains, much of it on a Fuji 6x17 panoramic film camera, and he opens this conversation with the one thing he says to everyone: it’s not what’s in the picture, it’s where it takes you. From there we talk about the eye path, which he’d like you to think about instead of leading lines, and why he’ll take a few stray white dots out of a frame. He explains why he sold the camera that got his early work noticed and never went back, and he’s blunt about the world it left behind: magazines that no longer pay, video eating stills, and inkjet ink that costs more than a good whisky. His case for books, and for handing yours to a publisher and a designer, runs through the middle of the episode. We finish on AI, an AI-made Odyssey, and the book he’s been working on for ten years and isn’t in a hurry to finish. Highlights ~9:00 “Leading lines” is the wrong idea. Colin calls it the eye path, and he’s happy to remove a few stray white dots to protect it. ~15:00 If you have to ask yourself whether you got the picture, you didn’t. ~16:20 Why he sold the 6x17 camera behind his panoramas, and why stitching digital panoramas never tempted him. ~22:20 The brain stores a still image as a single moment. Video, he says, goes in one ear and out the other. ~24:50 Inkjet ink that costs more than a 21-year-old single malt, and the case for letting a lab do your printing. ~29:10 Why he has never self-published: you sell to the choir and the congregation never sees it. ~40:20 On his workshops: the camera stays in the bag while he walks the landscape looking for evidence. ~56:30 The book he has been making for ten years, and why he doesn’t want an end date. Chapters 0:00 Cold open: “It’s where it takes you” ~0:20 Iain’s introduction ~1:20 October light, and four winters without snow ~5:30 Why landscape? Birds came first ~9:00 The eye path, rogue highlights and what editing really is ~14:00 Self-taught, and what failures teach ~15:40 Selling the Fuji 6x17 ~21:00 Magazines, video and the brain that stores single moments ~23:50 Megapixels, prints and the inkjet problem ~27:40 Books: design, distribution and why not to self-publish ~37:20 Running workshops: critiques, and the camera that stays in the bag ~42:00 Thinking in layers ~44:40 Undisturbed places, Skye as a theme park, and Munros ~49:00 Trends, 500px and colour in print ~53:10 AI, and the AI-generated Odyssey ~56:30 The ten-year book and the underground archive ~59:50 Where it takes you, and where to find Colin ~1:01:40 Outro Mentioned in this episode People Colin Prior — the guest; Scottish landscape photographer, best known for his panoramas · colinprior.co.uk Joe Cornish — landscape photographer and a friend of both Colin and Iain · joecornish.co.uk · ~3:50 Graham Niven — Nethy Bridge photographer and an earlier guest (Prime Lenses Episode 131), whose conversation led Iain to Colin · Niven Photography & Arbor Gallery · ~6:00 Ansel Adams — Colin’s comparison for digital dodging and burning · The Ansel Adams Gallery · ~13:20 Music, film and video Behind the Lens — the Sigma video series Colin and Joe Cornish made together, which Iain mentions enjoying · Colin’s write-up · PetaPixel on the series · ~31:20 The 2.5-hour AI-generated Odyssey movie is 2.5 hours too long — the Verge review Iain read that morning, of the AI film Odysseus: The Fall · The Verge · ~53:30 The Odyssey — Christopher Nolan’s 2026 film, released around the same time · Wikipedia · ~53:30 Tools and products Fuji GX617 — the 6x17 panoramic film camera behind Colin’s panoramas, with the 90, 180 and 300mm lenses he mentions · Specifications · ~15:40 500px — the photo-sharing site Colin was once

135. James Popsys What if the goal isn't to make photography easy - what if the difficulty is the whole point? Guest: James Popsys. Photographer, YouTuber and author based in Snowdonia, North Wales · jamespopsys.com · YouTube and Instagram: search "James Popsys" (P-O-P-S-Y-S) In this episode James has been on my list of dream guests for ages, so I was thrilled to finally sit down with him. We start, as these things do, with lawnmowers and film scanners, before getting into the real story: a marketing job in London, weekend photo walks, a conceptual composite of the London Eye as a bicycle wheel, and a move to Sydney that somehow led to a YouTube channel he started almost by accident in New Zealand. James talks about guarding his own individuality by deliberately not watching other photographers' videos, connecting the dots backwards to find the worldview running through his work, and what it took to commit thousands of prints to paper for his book Human Nature. We get into his one-lens, one-body philosophy, why he thinks difficulty is a feature of photography rather than a bug, and why he'd still rather be surprised by an ordinary place than get the photo 3,000 other people already have. He's off to East Greenland in a few days to experiment with a more hybrid, video-forward workflow, and this conversation is a lovely primer for anyone who wants to know how he got there. Highlights [Opening] Film scanners, darkroom chemistry, and a cold open about finding surprise in unremarkable places [Opening] A very serious digression into battery-powered lawnmowers [First third] The London Eye as a bicycle wheel, and the Sydney-to-YouTube origin story [First third] "You can't connect the dots going forward" - finding the worldview that was there all along [Middle] Making Human Nature: watching the zeroes stack up on a 15-metre printer [Middle] The horses-through-the-window print, and why James is a "one body, one lens" traveller [Middle] A Leica SL3's peeling grip, and 21-year-old Leica R8 and R9 bodies that still work [Second half] Guarding individuality by not watching other people's videos [Second half] AI, disclosure scandals, and why nobody's asking for more of it [Late] Street photography, Britt Bradley's Gen-AI-vs-wet-plate test, and heading to East Greenland Chapters Positions are approximate. The transcript has no timestamps. Opening Cold open: finding surprise in unremarkable places Opening Film scanning setups and darkroom chemistry Opening Kit Young's 400-roll film habit Opening North Wales weather and the lawnmower tangent First third James's origin story: London, Sydney, and an accidental YouTube channel First third Connecting the dots backwards to find a worldview First third Guarding individuality; avoiding other photographers' and podcasters' work First third Human Nature: starting the book, and the RISD-style question of what comes after book one Middle Printing day: watching thousands of pounds turn into ink Middle The horses-through-the-window print and limited-run prints Middle A 140kg Canon PRO-2600 printer in the house Middle Exhibitions, introversion, and whether James should "try anything once" Middle Why a photo feels finished when it's printed Second half The New York school-bus photo, 40mm, and shooting at "imperfect" times of day Second half Not doing YouTube gurning thumbnails Second half Dabbling in filmmaking and switching to DaVinci Resolve Second half One body, one lens, and heading to East Greenland with Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove Second half Gear rules, a Leica SL3's peeling grip, and the Leica R8/R9 Late AI disclosure scandals and the Ricoh promotional-material controversy Late Britt Bradley's Gen-AI vs wet-plate test Late Running a business to sustain people, not to maximise returns Close Where to find James, and lawnmowers revisited Mentioned in this episode People Thomas Heaton - landscape photographer and one of the first photography YouTubers James watched early on · YouTube · [First third] Joe Allam

What do you do when the best trip of your life makes every photo after it feel smaller? Guest: Daria Zlobinski. London-based photographer, macro and nature obsessive, never without a Leica · Instagram: @dariazlb (main) and @d.zlobinski (photography) In this episode Daria messaged me a while back to say she was burned out and worried she was falling out of love with photography, and would I like to talk about it. That sounded like exactly the right kind of Prime Lenses conversation. We start at the beginning: windsurfing holidays, her dad's cameras, a Tumblr surf blog, and a RISD summer workshop where everyone else photographed people and she found a plant house. Then the harder part: how an Antarctica trip set a bar she isn't sure she can reach again, what Instagram rewards versus what she actually loves, and the small, silly challenges that got her shooting again, from an iPhone walk in Regent's Park to Sunday mornings at a farmer's market. Along the way: a Leica Q3 that got rained on, a salt-crusted Canon 5D Mark II with a black strip across the sensor, the sound of a Leica R9 shutter, and a pop-up show she'd love to hold in the Barbican Conservatory before it closes. And yes, we carried on talking after I said we'd finished. - Episode Sponsorship - BestPodcasts.co.uk is a free podcast player that works in your browser on any device. You can listen to episodes from your favourite hosts. You do not need an account, an app, or to download anything to listen to the best free podcasts. Chapters Positions are approximate. The transcript has no timestamps. Opening Cold open: the iPhone challenge Opening Intro and why Daria is here First third Windsurfing, her dad's cameras, Tumblr, and a Canon 60D First third RISD workshop, the plant house, Henry Horenstein First third London, consent, and carrying a Leica everywhere First third Travelling as a different version of yourself Middle Q3 vs D-Lux 8 in Iceland Middle My kitchen, a Spider-Man web made of wool, and Day One Middle 200,000 photos, iCloud panic, and stock photography Middle Prints, books, and making something just for you Middle Slop reels, likes, and doing it for yourself Middle Postcards, cyanotypes, and slow mail Second half Burnout, comparison, and the self-criticism cycle Second half Photo walks, small challenges, and Sunday farmer's markets Second half Scotland trip talk, spontaneity, and projects that assemble themselves Second half Photographers who shaped her, and Dolly Parton Second half The pop-up dream and the Barbican Conservatory Late The 5D Mark II story Late The R9 and its shutter, favourite cameras, retro lenses, and Osmo Pocket video Close Where to find Daria, and the customary extra ten minutes Mentioned in this episode People Henry Horenstein - photographer, RISD professor, and author of Animalia, the book that clicked for Daria · Wikipedia · [First third] Stephen K. Schuster - New York photographer behind City Kids, a years-long project photographing teenagers · Tribeca Citizen on the exhibition · [Middle, second half] Mike Chudley - photographer and YouTuber who made a book just for himself after his China trip · Episode 124 · [Middle] Anthony Prince Leslie (AP) - photographer and filmmaker I'd spoken to the day before · Episode 133 · [Middle] Books and reading Animalia by Henry Horenstein - close, abstract photographs of animals taken out of context (Pond Press, 2008) · UMass Dartmouth exhibition page · [First third] City Kids by Stephen K. Schuster - the self-published book of the project (2025) · Le Grand J · [Second half] Tools and products Leica Q3 - the full-frame compact Daria carries and that got rained on in Iceland · Leica · [Middle] Leica D-Lux 8 - the small zoom compact that became her Iceland camera · Leica press release · [Middle] Canon EOS 5D Mark II - her dad's well-travelled camera, used in Antarctica and Iceland · Canon USA launch release · [Late] Leica R9 with Digital-Modul-R - a film SLR turned 10-megapixel digital camera, my recen

A little mid-week episode to let you all know about some photo walks taking place this week in conjunction with Foto, the photo sharing app. You can join one of the many walks this weekend, 26th September, taking place all over the world. To find out more head over to their website or listen to my conversation with Michael from Foto. 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.