The Team
Backroom buff: Mike
General manager, Mechanical watch enthusiast, Hat wearer.
A Leodensian through-and-through, if you need any advice on your next purchase, Mike will tell you straight. He has the job of going through all our incoming stock and making sure it's all ship-shape. Essentially, he fiddles with old camera gear, all day every day - he sure does lead a tough life.
His personal equipment includes a very fancy Leica M2, a very heavily used Nikon F3, Horizon 202 and the most cursed camera you'll ever see; A Nikon with an Instax Square back jammed on it.
When he's not surrounded by boxes of stuff, Mike can be found enjoying a coffee, taking photos of dogs and skateboarding badly (his knees just aren't what they used to be). Follow @Mike_Medlock on instagram.
What Mike is listening to:
Loves old bits of wood: Adam
Stock Assessment, Large format senpai, Patterned shirt enthusiast.
Adam has the keenest eye for detail and a penchant for the weird-and-wonderful items that come our way. As such, he's adept at checking, testing and messing around with old cameras.
His personal camera collection includes his "Pocket Camera" - a huge 5x7 Soho Kershaw box reflex, an MPP Micro-Press and a modified 8x10 camera with a myriad of weird and wonderful brass and exotic lenses. It's fair to say that any questions about large format will be directed his way!
When he's not busy fiddling with bits of old firewood and glass, Adam can most likely be found petting cats and drinking Baileys (probably in a darkroom). You can find a selection of his work on Instagram, or on his Website.
Number 36 Warrior: Dan
Sales Assistant, Vinyl smuggler, Has a definitely fully functioning Volvo
Dan will probably judge you on whether you say 'Harrogate' or 'Arigat', but that's where his bias ends. He loves cameras of all shapes and sizes, formats and types - in fact, we reckon Dan takes the same approach to using cameras as A-List celebrities do to wearing outfits - he can never be seen in public with the same one twice.
The favourites in Dan's collection are the Kine Exacta, Nikon F3HP, and Ensign Ful-Vue.
When he's not dusting off his cameras shelves, Dan enjoys trying to start his Volvo V70, sneaking newly acquired vinyl records past his bank manager, and sipping fancy beer. See what he's up to on Instagram by following @d.w_phoart
Domesticated Scouser: Steve
Works From Home, Energy drink advocate, Resident scapegoat.
Despite having a Liverpudlian accent and nobody being able to understand a word he says, Steve is pretty good at all things camera. Whether it's checking, testing, fixing, cleaning or occasionally using some of the interesting stuff we get through the door, Steve has a keen eye for making sure everything is working smoothly and properly.
He usually works from home, answering emails and arranging collections and doing repairs - but he's also a veteran at working in retail and can happily sort out any questions, qualms or queries you might have.
We have to constantly veto Steve from personally buying half the stock that comes in, despite him claiming that he's definitely got the perfect setup and has absolutely no need for any more camera gear (apart from that. And that. And that...)
Find Steve's Instagram at @Steve.Boylin.
Slay Queen: Emmie
Dispatch, Manchester City enjoyer, brings the vibe.
Need a lens by yesterday? Emmie can sort it out. Her arms become a blur of tape and bubble wrap when she's at work, a symphony of labels printing and scissors cutting.
We rescued Emmie from Jessops, where she had experience with processing film and scanning negatives. After enduring several lifetime's worth of hardcore train photos, for her own sanity Emmie left and joined our team.
Emmie has used Pentax and Canon in the past, but her most recent acquisition is a Nikon F3 with 35mm f/2 - which we can all agree is a pretty spicy combo.
It's true - Emmie.Takes.Photos on Instagram.
What Emmie is listening to:
The only way is: Mabel
Stock Assessment, cat enthusiast, loses at arm wrestling.
Mabel escaped her native Essex and completed a photography degree in Leeds. She liked it here so much, she never left. A clear dedication to photography (and Yorkshire) is not the only impressive quality Mabel brings to the team - she is also a very strong competitor for being having best music taste in the shop.
Mabel currently favours her trusty Ricoh 500GX - but is looking to find a good medium format camera to partner with it.
When she's not taking photos of Roger the Sphinx cat (who has his own Instagram) - Mabel can be found hiking out to nice locations and posting them on her own @mabel.photos
What Mabel is listening to:
Caffé Hero: Louisa
Part-time Parcel-Packer & Sales Assistant, cosy jumper enjoyer.
Louisa chooses to spend her Saturdays by coming to work at the shop and packing parcels, and serving customers. Questionable decision? Perhaps. Is she the best at drawing cat faces? Perhaps. Will she take better photos than us without even trying? Certainly.
During the rest of the week, Louisa can be found hanging out with her doggos and taking pictures of them on her Olympus OM-10.
Fun fact - we've agreed that Louisa has the best taste in music of us all.
What Louisa is listening to:
Head nerd: Howard
Director, Idiot, Camera connoisseur.
Photography and cameras have been a fixture of Howard's life since age 16, and the passion has snowballed into a full time obsession. Business has traditionally run in Howard's family - from market stalls in Dewsbury to shops in Leeds - there’s almost seventy years of experience of trading to live up to. He's carrying the baton whilst helping to keep analogue photography alive.
Howard's personal camera setup has settled on a Hasselblad, Nikon F, and a Leica M3, amongst other more basic equipment such as a clunky Zenit, and a box brownie.
When he's not dodging customers, Howard can be found trying to fix this week's broken part on his old Mercedes, attempting to pet cats, or listening to Audioslave.
You can check out Howard's terrible photos at Howard-Parker.com or Instagram.
Heckin' Chonker: Phoebe
Retired camera durability tester, cat.
When she's not yelling for food, Phoebe can be found curled up somewhere working really hard to dream up ever more creative ways to knock photographic equipment off a horizontal surface.
She will not rest until every camera in the vicinity has been tested to destruction by clawing, swiping and hissing her way through a series of rigorous scientific tests.
Sadly, she no longer works for us - but she's always employee of the month in spirit.
What Phoebe is listening to: