MAY 2025: DENNIS LINDEN
PHOTOGRAPH: GEAR
THE ASSIGNMENT BRIEF
From Dennis Linden: “I was thinking of that satirical Fujifilm t-shirt where ‘neanderthal man’ was pictured carrying heavy camera gear, morphing into a photographer carrying an X100V or something similarly lightweight. I think a lot of us have been through a process of gear expansion and contraction, and where I am now with my physical problems*, I need a small, light, but competent camera to record the documents I want to create. And I think others are in the same place.
I take photographs, coincidentally, of my gear in specific settings, or gear that I have evolved or chosen for a particular task. And so, I’d like you to take a creative picture of your gear or the minimum amount of gear that you can get away with in a setting. I'd like to see what kit other people use in anger on a regular basis.
In terms of the right kit for the right project, for my heart diary* some of it was shot with an Olympus, some on a Nikon and parts with a Ricoh. The vast majority of it was actually shot with an iPhone because you can't exactly carry a lot of camera gear around in a hospital room and get away with it.”
* Dennis Linden appeared on the Extra Mile in editions 129 and 130, talking about his extraordinary personal photo diary, featuring scenes, journaling and proceedings surrounding his heart transplant.
HOW TO ENTER. IMPORTANT NOTES ON FILE SIZE AND ENTRIES
Send your entry to stories@photowalk.show. Your picture should be 2,500 pixels wide, if possible, for online optimisation. Or send the full-resolution photo, which we will optimise. Feel free to provide text as well if you think it will help explain the location, context, etc. Please don’t add borders or watermarks, and be sure to send FULL URL links to your websites and socials so that we can link to your work on this assignment page. We’ll use a selection of photos you submit on our Photowalk Instagram to showcase your work to our community and help build connections.
Entries are shown below. Good luck!
Neale
DENNIS LINDEN
Gear includes hands, a brain, a reflection, fairy dust and a camera.
TOM CAVNESS
Here's my first assignment submission to this wonderful show. A collodion glass plate, made on the side of the road.
“To Make an Image”
As a traveling historic process photographer in Texas it goes without saying that I require a lot of gear to do the minimum. I mainly shoot the historic size of “whole plate” (6.5” x 8.5”) as well as 8” x 10” glass plates so I do carry more than others might.
I’ve been shooting collodion for around a decade now. I love its aesthetic, and the never-ending opportunities to have the title of “Problem Solver” added to your duties for the day. Although I’ve organized my rig to be able to set up and tear down as quickly as possible, the shortest amount of time that I’ve been able to make one wet plate collodion image (from the time I shut off the engine until I start it up again) is 30 minutes. But having the Photowalk on in between stops makes the travel go by fast and entertaining, not to mention greatly inspiring.
See more of Tom’s work on his website.
AMANDA WOOD
Such a hard assignment this month. I call this, “Forgotten”.
See more of Amanda’s work on her two Instagram channels: @amandalouisewood and @amandawood14
JOHN LANCASTER
A tricky one this month. I love thinking about buying gear but do have reasonable self control. I am a Fujifilm user and find the smaller XT-xx range perfect for travelling light, particularly when out hiking in the Lake District, usually attached to a 23mm prime lens. This photograph is taken on an iPhone, and it’s really nothing more than a snapshot. It was taken in April to generate some envy for my hiking buddy who couldn’t make it that day and was sat at a desk in Merseyside. I suppose in that context it’s a real photo showing a camera in its natural environment. I am never going to put the effort in to create fine art photos of equipment. Sharing the photograph with the XT-30ii is a cup of tea in my Stanley flask, and an egg roll. Just out of sight is a 23mm 1.4 lens. The background is Codale Tarn, a lovely spot just above Grasmere.
See more of John’s work on Instagram.
PAUL FRIDAY
Attached is my kit getting a bath after a hard day in the depths at South Shields diving on HMS Mollusc, an oddly-named submarine-hunter once owned by the Guinness family. And having written this, I'd really like to hear Sean Connery do the voice-over. The full story of how Wally (the camera) came to be in my bucket can be found through this link. It's the culmination of many years of drowning cameras for fun and the opposite of profit.
GLENN SOWERBY
Here's my entry for the Gear assignment as set by Dennis Linden. I appreciate what Dennis said about the gear we currently use, and as the image was taken with my Canon R7 mirrorless, which I switched to for its weight reduction, compact size, and enhanced image stabilisation, I hope it still counts.
My entry weaves together my journey into photography, which began with cameras gifted by my parents at different points during my teenage years in the 80s. As neither of my parents had an interest in photography, it was definitely a learn-on-the-fly experience without guidance but certainly appreciative of the camera gear I had received.
My first "proper" camera was the Zenit EM, but before that, I started out with the obligatory Polaroid. In my mind, the narrative of the image comes full circle. The Polaroid captures my dad, in a familiar pose, trying to tune in the radio for the local football commentary, while the other camera is the Zenit EM and the image taken with the R7.
In all honesty, I didn't use the Zenit as much as I should have, and over time, I put it down and drifted away from photography for a long while. My uncle was given the gear, and it was long forgotten until the "Zenit with an h" debate trended on the Photowalk. This conversation piece resurfaced over 40 years after I had passed the camera on. To my surprise, when I raised the question with him about Zenit/Zenith he said "give me a minute and I will find out" - he still had the camera in the garage!
Fast forward a few weeks, and the camera was back with me in its original brown leather case, complete with the two additional lenses, flash gun, and original paperwork. It has now become a cherished ornament, a tangible link to times gone by, as my dad has long since passed. Since getting it back I'm a bit wary of getting back out in the field with it, but I'm sure that day will come.
See more of Glenn’s work on his Instagram.
VICTORIA ROBB
For this one on 'gear' I thought I'd share a photo of a page of entries of the 365 I completed in March this year, with a Fuji Instax Mini Evo (originally inspired by a Tatiana Hopper You Tube short). It is a great piece of gear for taking the perfect out of photography and allowed me to relax and have fun taking the images for it. As well as having a physical set of pictures of memories over that year. This page with days I'd spent with my parents, my godmother and friends.
EWAN MCNEILL
ONDU 6x9 rise pinhole camera: this has three pin holes in the front so I can just level the camera using the built-in BubbleLevel and then open over the top, bottom or middle pinhole, depending on if I want to look up or down.
I'm just using a tripod plate with no head (Berlebach quick-release coupling 130) on a Gorilla Pod, or sometimes a Dinkum Systems ActionPod PRO. No big tripod. I have a small filter case which lets me carry red, yellow and orange Cokin filters. Metering is using a smartphone app or a small Fuji Finepix camera with the Cokin filter held over the camera lens.
I have not yet perfected digitising my film, but here's a link to some rough versions of my first couple of films. A much more mindful process, not only is there no chimping, but no viewfinder either, just approximate viewing angles carved into the edge of the wooden camera.
I was lucky to get one of the penultimate batches of ONDU pinhole cameras. Their last batch of cameras is selling out.
DENVER MILLER
So this photo was not meant to be my submission for the month. I took other photos over the last 30 days that were all contenders to be submitted for the topic of Gear, but unfortunately/fortunately, a spontaneous photo I took at 2 AM while cleaning my sensor took the cake. As I was cleaning the sensor of my X-T5, I used my phone flashlight to shine on it just to make sure I got all the smudges and such. In doing so, I noticed the light reflecting on the sensor in such a magical way. To be honest, it reminded me of the scene in A24’s Uncut Gems, where Adam Sandler’s character was looking into a gem. The way the light bounced around, reflecting blue, green, and red, my 2 AM brain thought it was just the coolest thing ever. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the photo, and also, take some time to appreciate your equipment during its next, probably well-needed and deserved, cleaning.
See more of Denver’s work on his website.
JOHAN RISPLING
This is my gear. Leica MP 240, Leica Monochrome, two old but lovely lenses. 50mm Summilux, 35mm Summilux. Photos in background are from when my wife and I went to Italy last year.
See more of Johan’s work on his Instagram.
ANDREW CLARK
This was my set up and my “carry on” for the plane journey on my recent trip to Australia. I wanted to take a film camera with me but as we were flying out of Heathrow where they are renowned for not wanting to hand check photographic film as well as Dubai where they insist on everything going through the x-ray machine yet again, I decided to just take a digital set up.
In my favourite messenger camera bag I took my Leica SL2 with L and M mount lenses to cover 21-400mm in a 28-70mm, 100mm macro and 100-400mm lenses in L mount and a M to L mount adapter. My Leica M10R with 21mm, 28mm, 50mm and 90mm lenses, my pocketable D-Lux8 with its 24-75mm equivalent lens and my trusty GMT travel watch.
My trusty travel companion, the watch lets me keep track of three time zones at the same time as well as being able to adjust the hour hand independently to local time once at your destination, without stopping the watch. It has been on my wrist for all my travels for the last 15 years…. I wouldn’t be without it.
See more of Andrew’s work on Instagram.
CHRIS SMITH
So, with the May assignment being something that I wanted to try and take part in, it got me trying to get my brain into gear to send a picture to take part in the challenge (yes pun intended & yes, I know its a bad one).
My picture is of my notebook & pen that travels with me in my camera bag. Its maybe not something that people would call gear when they think of photography but for me, I find it as important as any other item such a lens or memory card...... (the list goes on) Over the course of the past 12 months, its been covered it in stickers to personalise it, these being sometimes from places I've been , places I volunteer with, some purchased that make me smile, ones my daughter has given me to help hide a space on the cover and even the odd motivational one that I will glance at when I grab it from my bag in the hope that it might promote a positive thought.
I use it while I'm out and about to jot down things I see or notice, to make notes of things, take down details of people I need to contact and even to record my thoughts and feelings when my brain starts to spin. It's even been known to be used when listening to yourself to check out specific things on the show page when I'm listening to the podcast over a bacon butty. It's also storage for the obligatory post it notes of things to do, phone numbers, and a growing collection of business cards from people I meet . Its a record of my camera chaos, thoughts, ideas, things to do and things I should do be doing.
Its become part of my camera bag check list alongside an extra SD card and biscuits (sorry no garibaldi's) so I am classing it as part of my gear!!!
See more of Chris’ work on his website.
DAVID POTTINGER
These are the two cameras that launched my photographic journey: the Kodak Instamatic 50, with its unforgettable 'exploding' cube flash, was my first. I began using it around the age of 12, capturing candid moments of family and school friends, along with my first attempts at landscapes—Blenheim Palace and Churchill’s headstone in Oxfordshire among them. Those early images remain cherished mementoes of a distant, formative time.
In the 1970s, I was introduced to the world of interchangeable lenses, f-stops, ISO, and shutter speeds through the Zenit B. It opened up a whole new creative dimension, and remarkably, I purchased a replacement Zenit B 53 years later—for the same price of £50. Later, the Pentax MX became my go-to companion, faithfully documenting the years my children were growing up. It even accompanied me to a wedding shoot in the grounds of Windsor Castle—though I should clarify, not as the official photographer!
As I approached retirement, I was finally able to afford a camera I had long dreamed of owning: a Nikon. Starting with the D300 and later upgrading to the D810, these cameras have served me well, and the D810 continues to be used for digitising my old slides and negatives, preserving memories from both past and present.
Retirement brought not only time but a generous farewell gift from work colleagues, which allowed me to purchase a camera that truly reignited my passion for photography—the Fuji X100F. It has since been replaced by the X100V, and although it doesn’t meet every photographic need, when paired with my Fuji X-T5 and the 150–600mm lens, I’ve found what feels like my ideal setup.
KEITH JOHNSON
Here is the gear I currently use and some of my previously used gear most of which now lives in a wardrobe. each camera has a picture attached that was used to take it. They are not creative or technically good pictures but they are memories acquired over the years.
JOHN CHARLTON
Last January, my friend Tony Armstrong took this photo of me locking onto the mallard hen in the inset photo. We had gathered with other members of the Northumberland Photography Club on the shores of Lake Ontario at the harbour in Cobourg to capture images of shore birds and ice formations. In hindsight, the most important accessories that day were my winter parka, boots and double lined mittens. The least important accessory, my tripod, did nothing but get in my way all day. I vowed to leave it at home next time, finding it just too restrictive. With my Fujifilm XT-50 and 150-600 Fujinon lens both sporting image stabilization, I got better shots on a return trip by leaving the tripod behind. I describe the effect this had on my photography in this Substack post.
ERIC DELORME
I hope you’ll indulge me in a bit of a gear selfie, dust and all. I firmly believe that dust is an integral part of our gear, whether we like it or not. It’s all around us, it’s inescapable, and getting rid of it is a losing battle. I thought putting filters on my lenses would help… but all they seem to do is attract dust! I guess it’s better on the outside of our gear than inside.
I’ve been shooting Fujifilm almost exclusively since 2014 when I got my X100S. At the present, my gear of choice is the X-T5 (with a panoply of lenses depending on need and circumstance) and the X100VI for when I want to travel lighter.
PAUL DONTSCHUK
Please see below for my entry for the May Assignment on Gear.
I chose my OMD 5 Mark 2 specifically due to its size (and retro looks). I love outdoor pursuits, so it was important to have something light and compact for walking and riding adventures.
It fits neatly in my bike bag which means it accompanies me each day on my way to work or when I head out on my bicycle. That then gives me the opportunity to capture images on my ride or in my lunch break when time permits to wander the streets of Melbourne, Australia.
DAVID HIGTON
Here's my image for the gear assignment. I thought of this image fairly quickly when it was announced, however I was waiting to see if any other opportunities arose. I was keen to show my love for small lightweight cameras and thought if I could combine my Pentax film slr with my Sony digital camera, along with lenses then this would tell the story. The Pentax MX was my second slr, replacing the previous Zenit EM mainly down to weight and size. At the time I remember choosing the MX over the K1000 down to weight and, as I was still at school studying for A levels then I could use my old Zenit lenses with an adaptor. I had a few film cameras in addition to the MX but whilst they went, the MX remained and I have plans to put a film through it soon. Fast forward to digital and once again, I now use a small camera and often with the 18-135 lens which I call my swiss army lens; it does most things but there might be better tools available. Enough gear talk, your nose bleed must be in full flow by now.
The background of the OS map is to show I take many shots out on local walks, and it even shows the nearby River Bollin which I walk up frequently and have a few scenes and trees that I've photographed in different conditions. Off the map to the right is the Peak District, a great location for landscapes and walking, and above is Manchester where I do street photography walks.
CAMERON COLEY-SMITH
Once or twice in this month's episodes, a call to 'think outside the box' has been made. So, think outside the box I have - possibly too far outside the box! Whether or not this is gear is up for debate. However, one 'thing' I always seek out and ultimately try to use in my images is energy.
JEFF SMERALDO
When I thought about the assignment, I started thinking about where I’ve been and where I am now and all the points in between with my gear. I am showing all of you the very first camera I ever used, which is the Roy Rogers model 620 film camera that was my Dad’s when he was a boy. When I was 7 or 8, my Grandfather found it at his house and passed it on to me and started the adventure. Fast forward I still use my DSLRs and mirrorless for sports and studio work and I have now started using older good point and shoots when I hit the streets (all the cameras I have bought have been used or refurbished). I am also showing prints of some of my work on the table along with some photo books of those that have inspired me. I think reviewing your own work from time to time and looking at photo books of others are invaluable gear that go along with the cameras and lenses. I appreciate that the Photowalk is not a gear-centric podcast, and I hope this one fits the bill this month.
BOB SHONKOFF
My favorite Fuji X100v, framing up my very first SLR: Nikkormat FTN, anchored with a patronizing background of some podcast telling me that I needed to make this photograph.
See more of Bob’s work on his website.
JADE CALEGORY
Attached is one submission for the "Gear", May 2025 theme... :)
See more of Jade’s work on Instagram.
LARS HEGAARD
Like so many others, my photographic evolution began with a Pentax K1000 – a birthday gift from my brother and the start of a wonderful hobby. Later, I upgraded to a Chinon CE-4 – my first real case of GAS.
University life didn’t leave much room for a relatively expensive hobby like photography, so I mostly stuck to the usual family snapshots for quite a few years.
I picked up photography again in the late 2000s, when my job required me to spend many nights away from home. A Lumix LX5—and later the LX7—got me out of the hotel room and onto the streets of Copenhagen. That led to my first Fujifilm camera, the X100T – which was love at first sight.
Eventually, I added an X-T3. I sold the X100T to fund an X-Pro3, and later sold the X-Pro3 and the X-T3 to get an X-T5.
At the time, I felt my talent-to-gear-investment ratio didn’t justify owning two top-tier bodies. A decision I’ve since come to regret. Not because the X-T5 is a bad camera – far from it – but because there’s just something special about a rangefinder.
The photo submitted shows my current street setup: the X-T5 with a 27mm pancake lens. Essentially, my attempt at building an X100VI – just a bit heavier :-(
As fate would have it, I’ll now work three days a week in Germany for the next few months. Who knows—maybe an X100VI will find its way into my bag.
…After all, it is smaller …and lighter …and a rangefinder …and fits right into my computer bag …and …and… and …G A S !!
All the best, Lars
PS The photo was actually taken with my Lumix LX7. By all standards, it's a digital fossil, but its brilliant Leica lens still earns it a spin now and then.
KELLY MITCHELL
I think you know me well enough that coffee is an important part of my photo gear. I found myself in a little hole in the wall coffee shop in Victoria when the assignment came on. And I thought, how perfect is that. The light in this little shop was beautiful and the background with a few folk milling around just made the image.
The Coffee was really rather good, I can see why the place was really busy spot. The good places at always the one the locals know about, isn’t it!!
MIKE MILLER
I've had this Rolleicord Camera for about 30 years. Like me, it too is a senior citizen. I don't pull it out much anymore, but I may image a roll of film on it once a year. It has its little quirks. As long as I don't shoot wide open, the camera works fine. I thought that I would do a close-up, with focus stacking, to show off its sleek, dark and very analog look. It's almost Darth Vader-like in appearance, which is probably appropriate since May is Star Wars month. (May the Fourth be with you!)
MARILYN DAVIES
The assignment this month isn't as easy as it sounds. I have taken so many shots of gear over time, but this time I wanted to submit something a little different. This is an image ("Fly Past") of my husband and two of my grandsons at an air show. I love encouraging my grandchildren with their photography.
See more of Marilyn’s work on her website.
KEVIN REEVES
Thanks for a great podcast! I love the simplicity and easy demeanour of your walk and talk with guests. I am a new listener but I look forward to learning more through your podcast.
LAUREN McCLANAHAN
(Above and below.) I am submitting two entries for this month's assignment (I hope that's okay!). Both photos were taken in 2019 on Valerie Jardin's week-long workshop in Berlin. "Gear 1" was taken when we all stopped for lunch and everyone's gear was piled on the table next to us, which I thought looked pretty interesting. "Gear 2" is a close-up of Valerie's signature sunglasses and what I believe to be her camera in the background (I can't swear to the camera, but the sunglasses are definitely hers). I hope to attend another of Valerie's workshops someday when I am retired and have the flexibility to do so!
JOSHUA SHAEVITZ
While I love my Canon setup (currently an R6ii) and the accompanying bag full of large lenses, I tend to reserve that for events and dedicated trips. For everyday use, I need something that slips into my thin briefcase and comes with me wherever I go. For that, nothing beats Fuji. Here’s my x100VI nestled in its usual resting place, ready to be pulled out at a moment’s notice.
SOJI IROKO
Attached is my gear. Camera Body: Nikon D5100. Lens: 50 mm f1.8d, 35mm f1.8G, 18-70mm f3.5-4.5
