Cameras by Max the Interview

Max of Cameras by Max has recently set up an online camera store! Max studied photography at UAL and set up their online shop in the first lockdown. It is a wonderful website, educational website and also a great place to shop for all your camera needs! Max’s social media presence is also brilliant, my favourite recent content being their ‘rating celebrities film cameras’ tiktoks. Cameras by Max is an LGBTQ+ owned store, so it is great to know that you’re supporting the community too.

My favourite CamerasbyMax Tiktok, rating celebrities based on their film cameras!

Pre-Covid, I was a live music and film set photographer. Whether I will ever go back to it or not, I don’t know! But I love documenting people. When I was at university, all I wanted to do was be in the studio with my queer friends and I had so many shoots booked when we went into the first lockdown.

I have a couple of pieces of advice. Mainly that the devil is in the details. The one thing you forget to do will be the thing that ruins your day. And get into a routine. You won’t get anything done without being strict with yourself and working out the best way to do things, so they are done to the highest standard in the shortest amount of time.

Social media is so powerful. If one of your videos goes viral on TikTok or Reels, you suddenly get this huge influx of new customers and questions and it’s a bit crazy! That makes it really fun to do though. I love making content on any social media to be honest. If I can teach someone something or if seeing one of our videos is their first introduction to film photography, that is incredible to me.

My crazy brain. And I try to think of the things that seem really obvious to me but other people may not know! Photographers love gatekeeping and keeping their techniques a secret from beginners, but I hate that! We all start somewhere and being kind to other photographers makes it so much easier for everyone.

The trolls haven’t found me yet *touches a piece of wood*! Everyone has been super supportive of the shop and what we’re trying to do. I broadcast that we are an LGBTQ+ business because I want people to know where our values are. We want our business to feel like a safe space and that we are creating a space in the film photography community that hasn’t existed before.

Everyone knows the film photography community is heavily dominated by cisgender, heterosexual men. Since lockdown, I think everyone is a bit more socially aware of the space they take up in the world. As a result, we’ve seen a huge increase in female photographer spaces, particularly curated Instagram profiles compiling these great photographers. There is a lot of misogyny and other issues in the film community, but seeing the community come together to tackle them is really refreshing. Of course, there is a lot still to do and I have plans in the future to expand what Cameras By Max is in terms of an online presence.

Running a business is so rewarding. Packing orders is my most favourite thing to do. It is just so satisfying to me to get a broken camera come onto my desk, get fixed and cleaned up, listed on the site and then sold to anywhere in the world. That’s amazing to me! I get excited everyday knowing that today may be the day that we introduce someone to film photography or they get the new camera they have wanted for ages.

Getting our first order for our t-shirts was a definitely a highlight. It was the first piece of “merch” that we created and I was thinking, “oh my gosh, no one is going to buy one, they are only here for cameras” and then we sold out in 48 hours.

This probably goes for a lot of people, but I really want to try a Contax T2. Midway through doing this interview, I bought one, so I guess you’ll be seeing me going nuts with it on Instagram at some point. I get so excited by any new cameras I get though. Each one feels so different even if they are the same model. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it always feels like no two film cameras are ever the same. My photographic goal in general is just to be able to do portrait shoots again!

Recently we had a Yashica Samurai half-frame camera and it was the most fun I have ever had with a film camera. They’re not amazing in terms of quality, but you hold it the same way you would hold a vintage camcorder and there’s something about that I just loved. I felt badass using it. It’s in New Jersey now and the person who bought it tagged me in a video of her opening it and she was so excited, so that makes me feel better!

Get a camera that excites you and just do it! If you’re excited to use your camera, you’ll want to go out and use it all the time. Just getting out there and starting to take images is the only way you’ll learn what you like, what you don’t like, how it works, and everything else will eventually fall into place.

We’ve been open for almost a year and we’ve already changed so much! We started off wrapping cameras in tissue paper and selling on Depop, but now we have our own website and branded packaging and lots of really lovely customers!

Short-term, I would love to have a space dedicated to the business, like an office where I can paint the walls in our colours and maybe get one of those custom neon signs (and play Justin Bieber too loud).

Long-term, I have this crazy vision of a huge space with wooden floors and white walls where we sell cameras, but there is also a darkroom in the back and a working studio and communal workspaces and everyone wears beanie hats and drinks soya milk and listens to The 1975 and [insert more film photographer stereotypes here]. Haha! But for now, I am just happy going with the flow. Oh, and I also really want to hire someone one day, and annoy the hell out of them, AND get them to do all the jobs I don’t want to do. That sounds great. Who wants to apply?

It was so great to chat to Max, they are doing amazing work in keeping film photography going by refurbishing unwanted film cameras, all while representing the LGBTQ+ community. I love the ethos behind their store, the passion for sustainability and general enthusiasm for film. Max has created not only an amazing shop, but also a great platform for anyone wanting to learn more about film photography. We look forward to seeing the future of Cameras By Max!

You can find Max on instagram here @camerasbymax or on their website here https://www.camerasbymax.co.uk/