Interview with Stephen Dowling from Kosmo Foto

After waiting so long I thought it would be wise to put an interview with Stephen Dowling from Kosmo foto together.  After writing for his blog last year (link) and watching his website grow from the Zorki days has been impressive.  Obviously some of you know Stephen from his film, some know him from the BBC and some from his NME days, never mind his travels around the world. After meeting Stephen back in March 2019 at the photography show (with the rest of the crew too) it was clear he's got bags of experience and intelligence too.  I love talking to people like Stephen about the many years he has been a journalist, but mainly his passion for the analogue world of cameras. I decided to make this an extra-length special to cover 2 weeks, as I'm still unsure if I can commit to a weekly podcast anymore (it takes up time editing etc).   Obviously I will never be short of interesting people to find, it's just finding mutual times to fit this in. So, let's break the interview down since its an extra-length special. We talk about some of the characters out there like Jeremy (Japan Camera Hunter), Hamish Gill from 35mmc, EM from Emulsive, Steve at Chroma, Sam at Solarcan and Paul from Analogue Wonderland.    Obviously Stephen knows many people, but he's not name dropping, far from it, he's actively complimenting and talking about people who are making the film community a better place for all. So in this one we discuss: working from home spiders & red rooms important BBC story from last year photo walks Selling during Covid Blogging since 2012 Shooting cats 1st time developing film street portraiture Belarus film collective Zorki & Fed cameras David Collyer + Guardian Random questions Find out why we discuss tear gas! A scoop on Dyson's next invention and why Stephen is the ultimate nosey parker! Photographers Stephen recommends a few important people he has come across with unique skills, so please do check out: Clement Marion - https://kosmofoto.com/2019/02/paris-protests-minolta-film-clement-marion/ Nandakumar Narasimhan - https://kosmofoto.com/2019/04/the-indian-himalayas-on-medium-format/ David Collyer - https://kosmofoto.com/2020/05/photographs-hospital-coronavirus-film/ David Collyer (interview by Phlogger) - https://phlogger.co.uk/interview-with-father-and-son-film-shooters/ Pay it forward Stephen recommended Rob Andrews from the London Camera Project - https://www.instagram.com/londoncameraproject/?hl=en Links Kosmo website - https://kosmofoto.com/ Kosmo film shop - https://kosmofoto.com/shop/ Instagram - https://kosmofoto.com/shop/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/kosmofoto.blog/ Friends of the show For all your analogue film developing, check out - https://filmdev.co.uk If you like zines, you will love Static Age's work - https://www.staticage.co.uk/