The Sunday interview: 5 questions for Neil Milton

Today I will present Neil Milton, the author of Photos, mostly. Neil is a Scottish street photographer, photography teacher, writer and critic based in Warsaw, Poland but before anything else Neil is the guy who started to build the photographic community here on Substack.

1.     Why photography?

Leaving my career in music behind, a new challenge and creative process was essential. I don't paint, I can't sculpt, and I certainly won't dance. Photography, particularly my own little niche of street photography, appealed to my introverted, curious, people-watching nature. Stepping out onto the street, anonymous and unseen amongst the throng, I can disappear into my own little world among theirs and just notice. In street photography, well good street photography, anyway, there is far more failure than success which for me makes photographing a perfect cocktail of serendipity, creativity, and challenge. I love it.

2.     What is your favourite gear? (camera, lens)

Early on, despite the cost, I decided to choose Leica rangefinders as my tool of choice. I began with the digital M8, then after a break returned with film models, the M6 and M3. For a long time, my camera of choice was the M3 with a Summicron 50mm f2. Earlier this year, I began working for an agency that requires immediate filing of digital images - there wasn't time for developing, scanning, processing etc. Selling the M6 (and an abundance of music gear), I turned back towards digital and the astonishing M11-P. For work (and, let's face it, play) I bought a spread of lenses - 28mm, 75mm, 90mm, and 135mm, with the Summicron 35mm f2 becoming my daily carry, relegating the 50mm to the subs bench.

3.     What are your favourite subjects to photograph?

People. That may read as trite, but it's true. Though I photograph an array of things now, street photography is where my heart lies and I'm no happier than when I'm walking around searching for glimpses of gesture, expression, juxtaposition, and moments of wry humour. Set aside from that, of late, I've been following the Varsovian student encampment and protests against the genocide occurring in Gaza. This is the more grave side of my work, but there have been moments of catharsis, joy, and love among those of frustration, anger and heartbreak. It's been a privilege to witness.

4.     Can you name a few of your favourite photographers?

I probably don't need to qualify why these are my choices, so I'll just list them. Richard Kalvar, Robert Frank, and Garry Winogrand. There are, of course, so many more but these are my favourites.

5.     What can Substack community expect from you/your publication in the future?

Anyone even glancing at Photos, mostly (my publication) will see I've been silent since March. Work, life, school - everything became hectic all at once leaving me with little to no time to meet the high expectations I'd set for myself (and hopefully you'll read in my back issues). I opted to take a short hiatus that - since beginning work for the agency and a couple of personal projects - has turned into a much longer one. I had planned to return at the end of June but alas tragedy struck when we lost our beloved dog to cancer. All that is to preface, of course, that I plan to return to Photos, mostly in the 2nd half of this year, beginning again with a collection of my favourite photos from January through June. After that, as soon as I can sit down to write, I will return to my master list of essays. I will be back, though, so if readers like what they read, please sign up.

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