Prime Lenses

Today, my guest is Reiner Holzemer, the director of Leica A Century of Vision, a documentary made last year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the production of the first serialised Leica 35 mm camera. The film is not, as you might expect, just a film about Leica the brand, but rather a celebration of photography and recognition of the momentous impact that the invention of 35 mm cameras, the industry that it spawned, and the capability that it gave photographers.
Reiner is fortunate enough to speak with some great photographers in this documentary, previous guests of the show that you may recognise, like Joel Meyerwitz, like Sarah M. Lee, and like Misan Harriman, but also people like Sir Johnny Ive, who worked with Marc Newson to design a one of one M camera, as well as legends in the field like Evelyn Jane Atwood, Ralph Gibson, Steve McCurry, and of course the late great Sebastião Salgado.
I was lucky enough to see the film last year at a screening as part of the 100th anniversary event held in Wetzlar in Germany, and it's fair to say that a room full of people who’d just had dinner and were looking forward to Jamie Cullum coming on stage did not particularly want to watch a movie for 90 minutes. However, within minutes you could hear a pin drop in that room and the early appearance of Salgado on screen in a room filled with people who had known and worked with him was a very big moment that I won't forget.
Leica: A Century of Vision, with Reiner Holzemer
The director on making a documentary about 100 years of 35mm photography, and why it isn’t a film about a brand.
Guest: Reiner Holzemer, director of Leica – A Century of Vision
In this episode
A short, special episode. Reiner Holzemer made Leica – A Century of Vision to mark 100 years since the first series-produced Leica, but it is a celebration of photography far more than it is a brand film. I saw it last year at the centenary screening and the room went quiet within minutes. Reiner tells me how it started with a friend who ran Leica, why he insisted on making it as an independent documentary, and how the photographers came on board once they knew his earlier films. We talk about the Wetzlar archive footage, the books Ragnar Axelsson sent him, how Andy Summers ended up co-writing the score, and the film’s opening in German cinemas on 12 November.
Highlights
Early: Reiner explains how a friendship with Leica’s then CEO led to a meeting with the owning family, and permission to make the film.
Early: He had no interest in a commercial piece. He wanted a homage to 35mm photography, made the way he makes all his documentaries.
About a third in: Why the photographers said yes. Several told him they already knew his earlier films, so he never had to introduce himself.
About a third in: Ragnar Axelsson sent ten of his books straight after their first call. Reiner admits he hadn’t known the work.
Around the middle: The Berlin screening at Kino International, a near-sold-out Sunday morning, and Leica employees who didn’t know how important the company’s invention was.
Around the middle: Asked in Berlin why the film omits Leica’s history during the Third Reich, Reiner says he has no knowledge of it, that it’s an important subject, and that his film focuses on photography.
Two thirds in: Fear of failing as a motivator, with a nod to a Thom Yorke interview, and why Reiner prefers humble perfectionists.
Late: How Andy Summers came to write six or seven pieces for the score, with composer Ben Brunema writing the rest.
Close: The release plan: Germany from 12 November on 100 copies, Austria in December, and the rest hoped for next year.
Chapters (approximate positions, no timestamps in the source)
Start Intro, and a clip from the trailer
~11% How it began: a friend at Leica, and the Kaufmann family
~22% A film about photography, not a brand film
~26% Choosing the photographers, and Ragnar Axelsson’s books
~34% Working independently, and the archive footage
~39% Wetzlar, and what the film adds to the museum
~52% German release and plans for other countries
~56% Did it turn out as planned? Audience reactions
~81% Andy Summers and the score
~97% Release dates and wrap-up
Mentioned in this episode
The film
Leica – A Century of Vision — official page | leica-camera.com
Reiner Holzemer Film — director’s page for the film | reinerholzemer.com
German cinema listing — release 12 November 2026 | city-kinos.de
People in the film
Andy Summers — guitarist, photographer and co-composer of the score | andysummers.com
Ragnar Axelsson (RAX) — Icelandic photographer | rax.is
Sarah M. Lee — Guardian and Observer photographer | sarahmlee.com
Joel Meyerowitz — photographer | joelmeyerowitz.com
Ralph Gibson — photographer and guitar player | ralphgibson.com
Steve McCurry — photographer | stevemccurry.com
Sebastião Salgado (1944–2025) — photographer | contactpressimages.com
Jane Evelyn Atwood — photographer | agencevu.com
Quotes
“I’m only interested in good photography.”
— Reiner Holzemer, Early
“This was done like a real documentary.”
— Reiner Holzemer, About a third in
Mentioned but not linked
• Jony Ive and Marc Newson’s one-of-one Leica camera (intro)
• Greg Williams, and the Leica contact Stefan Keil
• Oscar Barnack and the original Leica I
• Reiner’s earlier portrait films on Henri Cartier-Bresson, René Burri, William Eggleston, Anton Corbijn, Jürgen Teller and August Sander
• The Ernst Leitz Museum and archive in Wetzlar
• Kino International, Berlin
• Composer Ben Brunema
• Reiner’s new fashion documentary, released in Belgium this week
• The earlier Prime Lenses episode with the makers of the Joel and Maggie film
Credits
Host: Iain Farrell. Guest: Reiner Holzemer. Subscribe to Prime Lenses wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts. Sign up for emails at primelensespodcast.com.

138. Simon King
He made a feature film about 27 London street photographers on a camcorder, and now he isn't sure who his next one is for.
Guest: Simon King, a London documentary photographer and teacher, and the director of Everything Happens All the Time · Instagram · Blog · 35mmc author page
In this episode
Simon King spent about four months shooting Everything Happens All the Time, a free, feature-length film of 27 London street photographers talking to him and, in the edit, to each other. I'd watched it before we sat down and loved it, so this conversation started early and wandered: why the film lets photographers talk about whatever they like, what a photography community looks like when nobody is lurking in a doorway with a long lens, and why cheap kit isn't the barrier it's made out to be. Then it gets harder. What do you become once the thing is finished? Simon is candid about the slump that follows a project, about not caring whether anyone sees his work, and about why he thinks the making has to be the part you enjoy. There's also a very good story about a portrait that ended up on somebody's mum's fridge.
Highlights
Positions are approximate (percentage of the way through the conversation) until real timestamps are added.
• [~7%] Why the film shows photographers as people hanging out, not noir detectives with long lenses
• [~11%] The production company that bought the cheapest CCTV tape going so marginalised communities could see themselves on TV
• [~12%] Why the easiest film to make on a phone tends to be an aggro one, and the £3 karaoke-toy microphone going to India instead
• [~25%] Around 35 interviews shot, 27 kept, and why street photography is a niche of a niche that most people only meet through controversy
• [~42%] "So I'm making it for no one": the problem with a second film
• [~47%] The slump after finishing, and why he doesn't buy the romantic version of it
• [~64%] Why leaving your work behind sounds to him like litter, and the print that ended up on a fridge
• [~72%] The electrician on a film set, and why the process has to be the enjoyable bit
Chapters
Approximate positions, not timestamps. Replace with real times from the edit before pasting into a host that reads chapter markers.
~0% Warm-up: swearing, Scotland and first reactions to the film
~3% The film lets photographers talk about what they want to talk about
~6% Community, loneliness and "go outside"
~9% Is cheap kit a barrier? Camcorders, phones and the CCTV-tape story
~12% Why accessible filmmaking drifts to aggro, a £3 microphone and a trip to India
~16% Krishnamurti, dissatisfaction and the problem with gear talk
~19% The mock sign-off ("a great 17 minutes")
~20% The proper start: why make a film about this group of people
~24% 27 interviews kept, around 35 shot
~25% Street photography's image problem and Tatsuo Suzuki
~29% One voice, many versions of themselves
~32% Joey, and London as an overlooked photographic city
~35% Photographer first, filmmaker second
~42% "So I'm making it for no one"
~47% The sense of defeat after finishing
~55% Not arting well, and step counts versus frames
~61% Why make and share work at all
~64% Legacy, litter and Vivian Maier
~67% A portrait on a fridge, and a footballer who nailed it first take
~72% Enjoying the process: the electrician on a film set
~76% One-person production, books and the zine that fell flat
~84% Finding the right medium: video versus audio, and experimenting
~92% How the film was made: Nipon's one take and a gallery opening
~97% Where to watch it
Mentioned in this episode
People
• Simon King, the guest. His D.C. Exclusion Zone series, on the Biden inauguration, is likely the DC project we mention · [~3%]
• Daniel Milnor, photographer, Blurb creative ambassador and a past Prime Lenses guest; his Shifter post on the film is likely the blog piece mentioned · [~3%]
• Tatsuo Suzuki, the Tokyo street photographer at the centre of the 2020 Fujifilm X100V advert row · Wikipedia · PetaPixel on the controversy · [~25%]
• Joshua K. Jackson, street photographer in the film (Simon calls him "Josh") · Street Life podcast episode · [~20%]
• Joey Nutkins, the cinematographer Simon wants me to have on, working in anamorphic and making a short-film series about photographers · [~32%]
• Also in the film and named in the episode: Mike Chudley, Tim Jamieson, Cal Holland, Nicole Louw, Trisha Lyon-O'Neill and Nipon Ravel. Full cast is in the film's YouTube description.
Books and reading
• Think on These Things by J. Krishnamurti (1964, HarperOne edition), the book a friend recommended to me, with a chapter on creativity and constant dissatisfaction · Krishnamurti Foundation Trust · [~16%]
Music, film and video
• Everything Happens All the Time (2026), Simon's film · Watch on YouTube · IMDb · Letterboxd · [~0%]
• How the film was shot, in Simon's words: British Cinematographer · PetaPixel · Digital Camera World
Watch and listen
The film is free and runs 1 hour 45 minutes. It plays well as audio, which we also talk about.
Everything Happens All the Time (2026), full documentary
Quotes
It's easy to get a response from someone if you're being aggro. And so that's where you get so much fight content just filmed.
— Simon King, ~12%
I get nothing from the knowledge that out there somewhere someone has enjoyed something I made that's not connected to me. The enjoyment is from the making of the work and then the mutual enjoyment with others in either making or experiencing that work.
— Simon King, ~64%
The process of making something is not the process of looking at that thing. So if you're an electrician on a film set, if you only enjoy watching films and you don't enjoy being an electrician, you're not going to enjoy what you're actually doing.
— Simon King, ~72%
Mentioned but not linked
• "When I die, burn my negatives" [~64%]: Simon's blog article on legacy. Couldn't find the post; probably on his blog above.
• Simon's DC book [~3%]: Daniel Milnor "loved your book". I found the project but couldn't confirm the book's title or a page for it.
• Matty's book on Gaza [~5%]: my guest, who also photographed in Ukraine. Couldn't pin down who.
• The CCTV-tape production company [~11%]: Simon half-remembers it as "the people's production company", filming marginalised communities in the 70s and 80s. Nothing confirmable.
• Saga [~39%]: photographer and filmmaker who made a video for Ilford with his own drumming as the soundtrack. Not found.
• AP Leslie [~84%]: my recent video episode about his film. Link your own episode page.
• Still in Street, at the Photobook Café [~95%]: the gallery opening where Simon grabbed last interviews. Couldn't confirm the exhibition or host.
• The film on Dailymotion and the Internet Archive [~97%]: Simon says it's on both, as well as YouTube. Couldn't find either copy.
• Name-checked in passing: David Lynch and Eraserhead, Werner Herzog, Vivian Maier, Harmony Korine, Taika Waititi.
Credits
Hosted and produced by Iain Farrell. primelensespodcast.com

137. The World’s Best Visa

Ron Timehin on trumpets, fog, Vogue, burnout, and why a body of work outlives a post.

Guest: Ron Timehin — London photographer and director, Sony European imaging ambassador · https://www.rontimehin.com · https://www.instagram.com/rontimehin

In this episode
Ron Timehin started as a trumpet-playing teenager, was made an Instagram suggested user before his pictures were good enough, and chose to get good rather than hide. Sixteen years on he has shot on the team behind British Vogue’s September 2020 issue, directed a Dove film about hair discrimination in schools, and this year has work at Somerset House and heading for the National Portrait Gallery. We talk about practice as scales rather than volume, why he won’t pick up the camera until a sitter has been given a chair and some music, the Canon-to-Sony story that ended with a 35mm f/2.8 Zeiss on an A7CR, the burnout that followed his first solo show, and why work built as a series lives longer than a post. It closes on The Black Rainbow, the project he is a third of the way through, and a practical plea to back up your hard drives.

Highlights
No audio timestamps were in the transcript. Positions below are approximate: how far through the transcript the moment falls.

≈12% He studied the business of music as a compromise with his parents, skipped lectures to photograph instead, then got a two-week Instagram feature that jumped his following by around 25,000 while he thought his photos weren’t very good.
≈16% Practice as scales: why targeted practice beats random practice, and how classical trumpet fundamentals carried into jazz and then into lighting and composition.
≈25% How a shoot starts long before the camera: emails, research, music playing, a team who are warm, and hair and makeup before a single frame.
≈38% After his first solo exhibition he couldn’t do anything for a month. Burnout, rent, and why personal projects keep leading to commissions.
≈41% Vogue found him through a photo essay on the George Floyd protests in London, which is how he ended up on the September 2020 team.
≈52% Iain’s airport story: socially engineered into buying a 35mm f/2.8 Zeiss. Ron’s version of that lens lives on his A7CR as his daily carry.
≈71% The foggy afternoon at Tower Bridge when he spotted a young Black trumpeter in an air cadet band and the portrait work began.
≈82% Photography as the world’s best visa: it gets you into rooms, and out of conversations with weird Uncle Ted.
≈86% What’s next: the National Portrait Gallery show, and The Black Rainbow.

Chapters
Positional only (no timestamps in the source). Swap in real HH:MM:SS from the edit if you want podcast-host chapter markers.

≈0% Opening banter and sound check
≈1% The studio, Tom Oldham, and how Iain and Ron met
≈4% Paying it forward: trumpet, mentors, planting seeds
≈9% Parents, expectations, and building a creative circle
≈12% Music business degree, Instagram, and getting serious
≈16% Practice, scales, and fundamentals
≈21% Why people: belonging, and preparing the room
≈27% The playlist (Coltrane, Cleo Sol)
≈30% A big year: Vogue, Dove, Portrait of Britain, Somerset House, NPG
≈38% Burnout, personal projects, and Misan
≈46% First cameras: point-and-shoot, Canon, then Sony
≈52% The 35mm f/2.8 Zeiss, the A7CR, and the workhorse
≈59% Play, small cameras, and other creative outlets
≈65% London Fog, books, zines, and rapid iteration
≈71% The air cadet trumpeter and the shift to portraits
≈78% From hero shots to bodies of work; Favela Brass
≈82% The world’s best visa
≈86% What’s next: NPG, Soho House, The Black Rainbow
≈91% Andrew Scott and "openly gay"
≈96% Where to find Ron, backups, and NAS prices

Mentioned in this episode
People
Ron Timehin — guest; photographer, director, Sony European imaging ambassador · https://www.rontimehin.com
Tom Oldham — portrait photographer; shares the London studio Ron is calling from, and has been on the show · https://worldphoto.org/node/4839 · ≈1%
Misan Harriman — lead photographer of the Vogue September 2020 cover; now chair of the Southbank Centre · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misan_Harriman · ≈32%
Adwoa Aboah and Marcus Rashford — the two cover subjects of that issue · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adwoa_Aboah · ≈31%
Alan Schaller — black-and-white street photographer, a former musician and past guest · https://teneues.com/en/authors-photographers/alan-schaller · ≈15%
Judah Passow — photojournalist and past guest, mentioned for access in conflict zones · https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/judah-passow/ · ≈83%
Tom Ashe — British trumpeter who founded Favela Brass in Rio · https://favelabrass.org/about · ≈78%
Books and reading
London Fog — Ron’s first book, published by Trope Publishing in 2019 · https://photobite.uk/the-word/trope-publishing-announce-london-photobooks-pop-up-exhibition-featuring-emerging-photographers/ · ≈65%
"I’ve been exploring what it means to be queer with African heritage" — 1854 Photography interview with Ron about The Black Rainbow · https://www.1854.photography/?p=76394 · ≈87%
Tools and products
Sony Alpha 7CR — 61MP compact full-frame body Ron carries daily · https://community.sony.es/t5/discover-sony/two-new-alpha-7c-series-cameras-have-launched/ba-p/3924123 · ≈54%
Sony Alpha 7R VI — the successor to the A7R V that Ron uses for jobs; announced May 2026 · https://sony.mediaroom.com/2026-05-13-Sony-Electronics-Accelerates-High-Resolution-Photography-with-the-Alpha-7R-VI · ≈55%
Companies and institutions
Sony Alpha Universe: Ron Timehin — Sony ambassador profile · https://www.sony.co.uk/alphauniverse/ambassadors/ron-timehin
Dove: Reclaiming School Picture Day — the hair-discrimination film Ron directed · https://www.lovethework.com/work-awards/campaigns/reclaiming-school-picture-day-1525417 · ≈33%
Vogue, September 2020 — Misan Harriman on the issue · https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/misan-harriman-on-his-historic-vogue-cover/ · ≈31%
Favela Brass — free music school in Rio de Janeiro · https://favelabrass.org/about · ≈78%
Places and events
Winston Taylor Photo Portrait Prize 2026 (formerly Taylor Wessing) — National Portrait Gallery, London, 5 November 2026 – 17 January 2027 · https://npg.org.uk/PhotoPrize · ≈35%
Sony World Photography Awards 2026 — Professional competition; exhibition at Somerset House · https://www.sony.eu/presscentre/sony-world-photography-awards-professional-competition-finalists--shortlists-okswt7 · ≈29%

Quotes
“Photography gives you the world’s best visa, because it allows you into spaces and places you would not be allowed otherwise.”
— Ron Timehin, ≈82%

“As much as you are planting seeds in your garden, make sure you’re planting seeds in others as well. So you can watch them flourish.”
— Ron Timehin, passing on a line from Chadwick Boseman, ≈5%

“It was like my two worlds colliding.”
— Ron Timehin, on the air cadet trumpeter, ≈72%

Mentioned but not linked
Portrait of Britain — Ron’s image shown on screens across the UK this year · ≈33%
The Labadi Community — likely the Ghana series shortlisted at Sony World Photography Awards 2026; not confirmed from a primary source · ≈34%
The Black Rainbow — Ron’s current project; no project page found · ≈87%
Andrew Scott clip on "openly gay" — couldn’t find the clip · ≈91%
Brandon Talbot — YouTuber and a friend of Iain’s, mentioned as an athlete who knows about putting in the reps; no channel link confirmed · ≈16%
Tobishinobi — close friend Ron shot with every day, who gave him a spare Sony A7 and started his switch to Sony; no profile link confirmed · ≈48%
"Sam" — mutual acquaintance who vouched for the first A7 · ≈50%
Photography Show / London video and photography event — where they first met; exact event unconfirmed · ≈2%
28 Sunbury — the studio location; unconfirmed · ≈1%
Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 — the lens; model not confirmed · ≈50%
Misan’s Soho House workshop — end of October; details not confirmed · ≈87%
Cleo Sol, John Coltrane — on Ron’s studio playlist (Iain also mentions Superfly) · ≈27%

Credits
Hosted by Iain Farrell. Guest: Ron Timehin. Prime Lenses is an audio-only photography podcast, new episodes every Sunday.