Greg Premru Discusses Film and Digital Photography

Over the years photographer Greg Premru has shot many of our finished projects. Having him in the Boiler Room for a conversation allowed us to get to know not just Greg’s origin story as a photographer but the story of architectural photoshoots during the time of film, where it could easily take over thirty minutes of prep work to line up one shot. Being a quick adapter to digital cameras, Greg not only had to work hard to convince clients about the new medium but to also find financing for the nearly $60,000 cost of the equipment. Darkrooms and AI came up, along with an unexpected musical element: both Kevin and Greg had something to say about music to listen to while in a darkroom; Kevin grew up with a dark room, spending hours with his dad and brother developing photos. Greg’s solution to the uninspired playlists generated by algorithms—independent radio stations. Greg’s Mixtape Story was all over the place, starting with Simon and Garfunkel to playing in a Cars tribute band. He told us of random Silly Wizard tapes turning up in his car, a Chrysler LaBarron station wagon with simulated wood paneling that had the words “Tuna Boat” detailed on the back. WUMB, a local station out of MIT, KRCL out of Salt Lake, KEXP out of Seattle, and WMUY out of the Vineyard came up, with Kevin chiming in about the great morning and noon lineup on Santa Monica’s KCRW. Live music venues in Somerville also played a central role in Greg’s love for anything “live, raw, and unprocessed.”