Author: David

From the outside, Peter Anderson’s studio looks modest. A garage door on a quiet street in Maze Hill gives little away. Peter meets me there and opens it. The space begins to reveal itself. Inside, a narrow corridor lined with large prints draws you forward. Faces line the walls, large prints, forming a quiet procession of decades past. You walk its length, pull back a curtain, and the space opens suddenly into something far larger than the exterior suggests. A studio unfolds. Additional rooms branch off. The front of the space feels organised and deliberate. Deeper in, the darkroom carries…

I went to London to photograph art galleries. That was the plan, at least. The forecast was dreadful. Sheets of rain. The sort that makes sensible people stand under doorways pretending they meant to check their phone. I’d told myself that if it was bucketing down I’d retreat indoors – Tate, National Gallery, somewhere civilised. Instead, I got off the train, looked at the sky, and decided to lean into it. This was largely the fault of a Banksy book and far too many late-night documentaries about Banksy, King Robbo and London’s long-running wall wars. I’d filled my head with…

Guest OM Story – words and photographs by Laurie Vaughan. I was in Liverpool for a conference and took the Olympus SP with me. It was a completely new city to me. It was a camera I had never used, and the intention was simply to learn the SP’s ability in a new place. First Impressions of the Olympus SP When I first handled the SP, it felt very much like an OM-1 but with a fixed lens. It immediately came across as a quality camera, one with a strong reputation that clearly precedes it. Using the rangefinder required a…

Sharpness problems explained simply, and how to fix them with Olympus OM cameras. If you are new to film, you have probably had this moment already. You get your scans back.You look at the photos.You zoom in, even though you should not.And suddenly everything looks… soft. Before you blame the lens, the lab, the camera, or the universe, here are the five real reasons film photos look soft for beginners, and how to fix each one quickly. Missed Focus (The Number One Cause) Manual focus takes practice.Film focusing screens are small.The split prism is fast, but unforgiving. When focus is…

Film is a living, ageing thing. Even when it’s sitting quietly in a box, it’s still changing. Heat, time, and humidity all have a say in how your negatives will look in the future. Store film well and it stays predictable, clean, and flexible. Store it badly and you invite fog, colour shifts, loss of contrast, and that vague sense of “why does this look a bit off?” This isn’t about being precious or obsessive. It’s about control. Good storage buys you time and consistency, whether you shoot fresh stock every week or hoard film like it might be discontinued…

Some photographers build reputations.Patrick Lichfield was born into one, and then surpassed it. Aristocrat, charmer, fashion photographer, Royal Family insider, Lichfield was one of those rare figures who made photography feel effortless. But beneath the glamour and social ease was a working photographer with a simple truth: the camera only mattered if it served the moment. That is why the Olympus OM system suited him so well.Light. Fast. Elegant. Unobtrusive.A camera for someone who photographed people who did not have time to be photographed. Yet what made him special was not access. It was connection.And connection is the core of…

I didn’t buy this Olympus OM-10 because I needed another OM body. I bought it because I spotted a 50mm f/1.4 clinging to a badly written eBay listing and recognised the familiar danger: something valuable hiding in plain sight. Forty-two pounds and fifty pence later, a box arrived containing fungus, dead light seals, a Quartz Data Back nobody likes to admit owning, and a camera that had clearly been left alone for a very long time. After cleaning it properly and replacing what time had reduced to sticky foam, there was only one honest thing left to do. Load a…

The Zuikography truth-detection challenge The Olympus OM system has been around long enough that rumours, half-truths, pub legends and pure photographic nonsense have fused into one big ball of “I think I read this somewhere”. But can you tell what’s real and what’s absolute waffle? Time to play Fact or Myth. 1. The OM-1 was originally called the “M-1”, and Leica complained. Reveal answer Answer: Fact Leica had already used “M” for their rangefinders and politely suggested Olympus reconsider. Olympus changed it. Leica went back to being Leica. 2. Maitani designed the OM-1’s shutter sound to mimic a samurai sword…

A focused, experience-led insight into 35mm landscape photography – built on movement, light, and being present in the wild. In this quietly powerful Kodak-produced film, legendary wilderness photographer Galen Rowell reflects on his approach to photographing remote landscapes, mountains, and fleeting natural light. Rather than presenting landscape photography as a technical exercise, Rowell frames it as something physical and experiential – rooted in walking, waiting, and responding. Rowell was an exceptional advocate for 35mm photography in environments where larger formats were impractical. A climber and adventurer as much as a photographer, he needed equipment that could move with him. His work demonstrates…

There’s a special kind of optimism reserved for people who buy “untested” camera bundles on eBay.It’s the same optimism that makes us believe we’ll get fit on Monday, or that the weather will magically hold until we get home. A kind of gentle, delusional hope we choose to carry because life is simply more fun that way. And so, one evening, against my better judgement, I found myself staring at a £42.50 Olympus OM-10 bundle that appeared – depending on the angle – either: Naturally, I bought it immediately. The listing photos were… let’s call them ambiguous.The sort of images…