Unemployed

I’ve been unemployed for 48 hours. It’s a new feeling knowing that I can now focus all of my attention on family and growing Prime Lenses. I’ve been fortunate enough not to have this experience for about 20 years and am grateful to have chosen it rather than have it thrust upon me.

In the run up to this moment, last week I was in Wetzlar for Leica’s 100th anniversary celebration. A truly once in a lifetime event. It was of a scale far more vast than I had expected and it was initially quite overwhelming, but fairly quickly you adapt. For the time you’re there, Ralph Gibson, Steve McCurry, Jane Evelyn Atwood and others are your colleagues. You’re going to see them around, don’t worry, your chance to have a chat with them during a heavy downpour or over a coffee will come.

Over my three days there, I met many a friend of the show and more importantly was able to spend time with listeners and their family. I had assumed I’d rock up to this thing as a complete unknown, but was delighted to learn that a lot of people knew the show already and that previous guests were doing a fabulous job of recommending it to other potential guests. For this support I am forever grateful. It means so much, I’ve only been doing this just over a year!? 🤯
In particular, thank you to Brandon Ruffin and Gajan Balan who were definitely paving the way.

In addition to the various events and panels I requested formal interviews with Peter Karbe, Inas Fayed, Mark Shipard, Dr Andreas Kaufmann and Sarah M Lee. My flight out was delayed by three hours meaning I missed my slot with Joel Meyerowitz, thank you to the wonderful folks at Leica for immediately reassuring we could probably work something out as I stared at a faulty plane on the Dutch tarmac. He was my first scheduled interview and I was heartbroken to miss it. I also went on a factory tour, attended a panel chaired by Dominic Nahr, saw the launch of the 100th anniversary cameras and was in the room when a 100 year old camera sold at auction.

In conversation with Dr Andreas Kaufmann

So what’s to come from all this? Well, my plan is to make four twenty-five minute episodes, a hundred minutes for a hundred year celebration, and drop those mid week in amongst the usual episodes over the next few weeks. If I can, I’ll get the first one out on the 9th July but I’ll keep you all up-to-date via Patreon.

The most unexpected and optimistic thing I came across was in conversation with Alan Shaller. He has since announced publicly that he’s making a new social network, publisher and magazine dedicated to great photography. It’s called Irys. He’s frustrated by the way that he and peers are treated by publications and wants to provide a better way. I LOVE this and can’t wait to hopefully speak to him about it in more detail on the show.

I went into the event thinking I’d need to milk everything I could from every moment. By the end I was viewing it more as a step on the journey. I’ll be back. I’ll see these folks again. I’m brimming with ideas. Stay tuned.

Going Solo