Keeping It Simple

My name is Cam, aka Frensh, and I live just outside the city of Melbourne in Australia. Photography is my primary hobby; however, I also produce music, I love to draw, and have an interest in Graphic Design.

My Grandfather, Edwin French, played a significant role when it came to my passion for and fascination with Photography. Growing up, I was able to play around with his collection of film cameras and the thousands of Kodachrome slides where I would sit by the projector for hours looking through all of the moments he captured. Over the years, we shared our favourite photos, discussed new camera gear, and competed over who can take the better shot. He was the best mentor I could have asked for, and I am grateful to have been a part of his life.

You would think that having that kind of experience and exposure to film cameras and vintage gear would have led me down the path of film photography but, while I appreciate that style of photography, it’s something I’ve never really been interested in pursuing. I think the biggest influence from my relationship and shared interest with my grandfather, was his appreciation of what was captured, not so much what was used to capture it. Which is why I have always felt like my journey of buying different cameras, lenses and accessories was a means to an end. I just wanted to find something that I was happy shooting with long term, which led me to the camera I’m using today – the Leica Q.

It may surprise you that the reason I ended up with the Leica was less about it being a ‘Leica’ and more the discovery of fixed lenses. In recent years, I bought a used Sony A7S II for the dynamic range and full frame sensor but grew tired of carrying multiple lenses and a bulky setup. Soon after, I purchased a Fujifilm X100F and began focussing more on street and portrait photography, and I came to the realisation that a less complicated and somewhat limited setup was exactly what I needed. Something that was relatively discreet in size and unimposing for the subject, with a flexible enough focal length that it could be used in a lot of different situations. The Leica Q as a full frame, fixed lens system is exactly that and the only thing I plan on ‘upgrading’ to is the Leica Q2 Monochrom at some point in the future.