137. The World’s Best Visa Ron Timehin on trumpets, fog, Vogue, burnout, and why a body of work outlives a post. Guest: Ron Timehin — London photographer and director, Sony European imaging ambassador · https://www.rontimehin.com · https://www.instagram.com/rontimehin In this episode Ron Timehin started as a trumpet-playing teenager, was made an Instagram suggested user before his pictures were good enough, and chose to get good rather than hide. Sixteen years on he has shot on the team behind British Vogue’s September 2020 issue, directed a Dove film about hair discrimination in schools, and this year has work at Somerset House and heading for the National Portrait Gallery. We talk about practice as scales rather than volume, why he won’t pick up the camera until a sitter has been given a chair and some music, the Canon-to-Sony story that ended with a 35mm f/2.8 Zeiss on an A7CR, the burnout that followed his first solo show, and why work built as a series lives longer than a post. It closes on The Black Rainbow, the project he is a third of the way through, and a practical plea to back up your hard drives. Highlights No audio timestamps were in the transcript. Positions below are approximate: how far through the transcript the moment falls. ≈12% He studied the business of music as a compromise with his parents, skipped lectures to photograph instead, then got a two-week Instagram feature that jumped his following by around 25,000 while he thought his photos weren’t very good. ≈16% Practice as scales: why targeted practice beats random practice, and how classical trumpet fundamentals carried into jazz and then into lighting and composition. ≈25% How a shoot starts long before the camera: emails, research, music playing, a team who are warm, and hair and makeup before a single frame. ≈38% After his first solo exhibition he couldn’t do anything for a month. Burnout, rent, and why personal projects keep leading to commissions. ≈41% Vogue found him through a photo essay on the George Floyd protests in London, which is how he ended up on the September 2020 team. ≈52% Iain’s airport story: socially engineered into buying a 35mm f/2.8 Zeiss. Ron’s version of that lens lives on his A7CR as his daily carry. ≈71% The foggy afternoon at Tower Bridge when he spotted a young Black trumpeter in an air cadet band and the portrait work began. ≈82% Photography as the world’s best visa: it gets you into rooms, and out of conversations with weird Uncle Ted. ≈86% What’s next: the National Portrait Gallery show, and The Black Rainbow. Chapters Positional only (no timestamps in the source). Swap in real HH:MM:SS from the edit if you want podcast-host chapter markers. ≈0% Opening banter and sound check ≈1% The studio, Tom Oldham, and how Iain and Ron met ≈4% Paying it forward: trumpet, mentors, planting seeds ≈9% Parents, expectations, and building a creative circle ≈12% Music business degree, Instagram, and getting serious ≈16% Practice, scales, and fundamentals ≈21% Why people: belonging, and preparing the room ≈27% The playlist (Coltrane, Cleo Sol) ≈30% A big year: Vogue, Dove, Portrait of Britain, Somerset House, NPG ≈38% Burnout, personal projects, and Misan ≈46% First cameras: point-and-shoot, Canon, then Sony ≈52% The 35mm f/2.8 Zeiss, the A7CR, and the workhorse ≈59% Play, small cameras, and other creative outlets ≈65% London Fog, books, zines, and rapid iteration ≈71% The air cadet trumpeter and the shift to portraits ≈78% From hero shots to bodies of work; Favela Brass ≈82% The world’s best visa ≈86% What’s next: NPG, Soho House, The Black Rainbow ≈91% Andrew Scott and "openly gay" ≈96% Where to find Ron, backups, and NAS prices Mentioned in this episode People Ron Timehin — guest; photographer, director, Sony European imaging ambassador · https://www.rontimehin.com Tom Oldham — portrait photographer; shares the London studio Ron is calling from, and has been on the show · https://worldphoto.org/node/4839 · ≈1% Misan Harriman — lead photographer of the Vogue September 2020 cover; now chair of the Southbank Centre · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misan_Harriman · ≈32% Adwoa Aboah and Marcus Rashford — the two cover subjects of that issue · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adwoa_Aboah · ≈31% Alan Schaller — black-and-white street photographer, a former musician and past guest · https://teneues.com/en/authors-photographers/alan-schaller · ≈15% Judah Passow — photojournalist and past guest, mentioned for access in conflict zones · https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/judah-passow/ · ≈83% Tom Ashe — British trumpeter who founded Favela Brass in Rio · https://favelabrass.org/about · ≈78% Books and reading London Fog — Ron’s first book, published by Trope Publishing in 2019 · https://photobite.uk/the-word/trope-publishing-announce-london-photobooks-pop-up-exhibition-featuring-emerging-photographers/ · ≈65% "I’ve been exploring what it means to be queer with African heritage" — 1854 Photography interview with Ron about The Black Rainbow · https://www.1854.photography/?p=76394 · ≈87% Tools and products Sony Alpha 7CR — 61MP compact full-frame body Ron carries daily · https://community.sony.es/t5/discover-sony/two-new-alpha-7c-series-cameras-have-launched/ba-p/3924123 · ≈54% Sony Alpha 7R VI — the successor to the A7R V that Ron uses for jobs; announced May 2026 · https://sony.mediaroom.com/2026-05-13-Sony-Electronics-Accelerates-High-Resolution-Photography-with-the-Alpha-7R-VI · ≈55% Companies and institutions Sony Alpha Universe: Ron Timehin — Sony ambassador profile · https://www.sony.co.uk/alphauniverse/ambassadors/ron-timehin Dove: Reclaiming School Picture Day — the hair-discrimination film Ron directed · https://www.lovethework.com/work-awards/campaigns/reclaiming-school-picture-day-1525417 · ≈33% Vogue, September 2020 — Misan Harriman on the issue · https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/misan-harriman-on-his-historic-vogue-cover/ · ≈31% Favela Brass — free music school in Rio de Janeiro · https://favelabrass.org/about · ≈78% Places and events Winston Taylor Photo Portrait Prize 2026 (formerly Taylor Wessing) — National Portrait Gallery, London, 5 November 2026 – 17 January 2027 · https://npg.org.uk/PhotoPrize · ≈35% Sony World Photography Awards 2026 — Professional competition; exhibition at Somerset House · https://www.sony.eu/presscentre/sony-world-photography-awards-professional-competition-finalists--shortlists-okswt7 · ≈29% Quotes “Photography gives you the world’s best visa, because it allows you into spaces and places you would not be allowed otherwise.” — Ron Timehin, ≈82% “As much as you are planting seeds in your garden, make sure you’re planting seeds in others as well. So you can watch them flourish.” — Ron Timehin, passing on a line from Chadwick Boseman, ≈5% “It was like my two worlds colliding.” — Ron Timehin, on the air cadet trumpeter, ≈72% Mentioned but not linked Portrait of Britain — Ron’s image shown on screens across the UK this year · ≈33% The Labadi Community — likely the Ghana series shortlisted at Sony World Photography Awards 2026; not confirmed from a primary source · ≈34% The Black Rainbow — Ron’s current project; no project page found · ≈87% Andrew Scott clip on "openly gay" — couldn’t find the clip · ≈91% Brandon Talbot — YouTuber and a friend of Iain’s, mentioned as an athlete who knows about putting in the reps; no channel link confirmed · ≈16% Tobishinobi — close friend Ron shot with every day, who gave him a spare Sony A7 and started his switch to Sony; no profile link confirmed · ≈48% "Sam" — mutual acquaintance who vouched for the first A7 · ≈50% Photography Show / London video and photography event — where they first met; exact event unconfirmed · ≈2% 28 Sunbury — the studio location; unconfirmed · ≈1% Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 — the lens; model not confirmed · ≈50% Misan’s Soho House workshop — end of October; details not confirmed · ≈87% Cleo Sol, John Coltrane — on Ron’s studio playlist (Iain also mentions Superfly) · ≈27% Credits Hosted by Iain Farrell. Guest: Ron Timehin. Prime Lenses is an audio-only photography podcast, new episodes every Sunday.
