What do you do when the best trip of your life makes every photo after it feel smaller?
Guest: Daria Zlobinski. London-based photographer, macro and nature obsessive, never without a Leica · Instagram: @dariazlb (main) and @d.zlobinski (photography)
In this episode
Daria messaged me a while back to say she was burned out and worried she was falling out of love with photography, and would I like to talk about it. That sounded like exactly the right kind of Prime Lenses conversation. We start at the beginning: windsurfing holidays, her dad's cameras, a Tumblr surf blog, and a RISD summer workshop where everyone else photographed people and she found a plant house. Then the harder part: how an Antarctica trip set a bar she isn't sure she can reach again, what Instagram rewards versus what she actually loves, and the small, silly challenges that got her shooting again, from an iPhone walk in Regent's Park to Sunday mornings at a farmer's market. Along the way: a Leica Q3 that got rained on, a salt-crusted Canon 5D Mark II with a black strip across the sensor, the sound of a Leica R9 shutter, and a pop-up show she'd love to hold in the Barbican Conservatory before it closes. And yes, we carried on talking after I said we'd finished.
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Chapters
Positions are approximate. The transcript has no timestamps.
Opening Cold open: the iPhone challenge
Opening Intro and why Daria is here
First third Windsurfing, her dad's cameras, Tumblr, and a Canon 60D
First third RISD workshop, the plant house, Henry Horenstein
First third London, consent, and carrying a Leica everywhere
First third Travelling as a different version of yourself
Middle Q3 vs D-Lux 8 in Iceland
Middle My kitchen, a Spider-Man web made of wool, and Day One
Middle 200,000 photos, iCloud panic, and stock photography
Middle Prints, books, and making something just for you
Middle Slop reels, likes, and doing it for yourself
Middle Postcards, cyanotypes, and slow mail
Second half Burnout, comparison, and the self-criticism cycle
Second half Photo walks, small challenges, and Sunday farmer's markets
Second half Scotland trip talk, spontaneity, and projects that assemble themselves
Second half Photographers who shaped her, and Dolly Parton
Second half The pop-up dream and the Barbican Conservatory
Late The 5D Mark II story
Late The R9 and its shutter, favourite cameras, retro lenses, and Osmo Pocket video
Close Where to find Daria, and the customary extra ten minutes
Mentioned in this episode
People
Henry Horenstein - photographer, RISD professor, and author of Animalia, the book that clicked for Daria · Wikipedia · [First third]
Stephen K. Schuster - New York photographer behind City Kids, a years-long project photographing teenagers · Tribeca Citizen on the exhibition · [Middle, second half]
Mike Chudley - photographer and YouTuber who made a book just for himself after his China trip · Episode 124 · [Middle]
Anthony Prince Leslie (AP) - photographer and filmmaker I'd spoken to the day before · Episode 133 · [Middle]
Books and reading
Animalia by Henry Horenstein - close, abstract photographs of animals taken out of context (Pond Press, 2008) · UMass Dartmouth exhibition page · [First third]
City Kids by Stephen K. Schuster - the self-published book of the project (2025) · Le Grand J · [Second half]
Tools and products
Leica Q3 - the full-frame compact Daria carries and that got rained on in Iceland · Leica · [Middle]
Leica D-Lux 8 - the small zoom compact that became her Iceland camera · Leica press release · [Middle]
Canon EOS 5D Mark II - her dad's well-travelled camera, used in Antarctica and Iceland · Canon USA launch release · [Late]
Leica R9 with Digital-Modul-R - a film SLR turned 10-megapixel digital camera, my recent madness · DPReview on the announcement · [Late]
DJI Osmo Pocket 3 - what I use for all my video · Launch coverage · [Late]
Day One - the journal app I use for its "On This Day" memories · dayoneapp.com · [Middle]
Foto - the photo-sharing app behind the global Foto Walks · fotoapp.co · [Second half]
Companies and institutions
RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) - where Daria took her first academic photography workshop · RISD Photography · [First third]
Places and events
Barbican Conservatory - Daria's dream place to show her work; it closes at the end of 2026 for a multi-year restoration · Barbican · The Guardian on the plant cutting giveaway · [Second half]
Foto Walks - the worldwide day of free photo walks; I host the Inverness one · Walks info · My chat with Michael Howard of Foto · [Second half]
Week of Walks - my own week of listener photo walks in July · Day one · [Second half]
Park Hyatt Tokyo - the Lost in Translation hotel, reopened after a 19-month renovation · TravelMole · [Second half]
Quotes
It's okay to stand out from other people.
Daria Zlobinski, [First third]
It has 3 million views. And for the past couple of months, it just garnered me like 300 followers or whatever.
Daria Zlobinski, [Middle]
If I make a plan, 99% it won't work out. So that's why I'm very spontaneous.
Daria Zlobinski, [Second half]
Mentioned but not linked
Daria's Instagram accounts [Close] - @dariazlb (main) and @d.zlobinski (photography). Spoken in the episode; I couldn't verify the profile URLs by search, so add the links by hand.
Brett Henriksen [First third] - Daria's RISD professor who introduced her to Horenstein; the spelling is unconfirmed.
"Lucas" [Middle] - former guest who has worked with scientists drilling ice cores; surname not given.
"Richard" [Middle] - former guest, Dutch, based in New York, who sends postcards through a small Patreon; surname not given.
"Torsten" [Late] - someone I talked to about the R9 with digital back; surname not given.
"Philip Reinhardt" [Late] - former guest who shot the Winter Olympics with a borrowed R9 and digital back; the spelling needs checking.
"The Carrier Print Club" [Middle] - my print club starting next month; the name in the transcript looks garbled.
"LSA" [First third] - the group Daria reached out to for event photography; possibly LSE.
"Kodak channel" [Middle] - the Antarctic spot Daria says she left a piece of her heart; possibly the Lemaire Channel.
Grandma's old "IXUS" camera [Late] - a 7-megapixel compact; probably a Canon IXUS.
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More about this show:
A camera is just a tool but spend enough time with photographers and you’ll see them go misty eyed when they talk about their first camera or a small fast prime that they had in their youth. Prime Lenses is a series of interviews with photographers talking about their photography by way of three lenses that mean a lot to them. These can be interchangeable, attached to a camera, integrated into a gadget, I’m interested in the sometimes complex relationship we have with the tools we choose, why they can mean so much and how they make us feel.
