Robin Schimko: Street Photography, YouTube & the Algorithm Problem

Robin Schimko, also known as The Real Sir Robin, joins Eyeshot 50mm for a direct conversation on street photography, YouTube, algorithms, AI, flash, gear culture, and what happens when social media starts shaping the way photographers see. In this episode, Robin reflects on the difference between being a street photographer and playing the YouTube game, questioning how algorithms reward repetition, imitation, silhouettes, POV videos, gear obsession, and easily consumable images. He also discusses why good street photography is not about perfection, why AI may push photography toward a dangerous idea of the “perfect image,” and why the real value of the medium still lies in instinct, presence, failure, and visual identity.He talks about a decade with the same Leica Q and 28mm lens, gear as costume, photographing around the shock at Thailand's Vegetarian Festival, the biggest beginner mistake he sees in workshops, what it takes to make a living without diluting the work, and why in the age of AI a flawed real photograph matters more than a perfect generated one.