What changes when we stop scrolling and start looking? In this episode of Distraction Therapy, Rob Watson meets photographer Julian Sahu in the courtyard at Leicester’s LCB Depot. Their conversation begins with black-and-white photography but soon opens into something wider: attention, memory, technology and the value of making creative work that lasts.
Julian’s approach to photography is deliberately simple. He usually works with a phone, frames the image he wants and takes a single shot. There’s no cropping, filtering or extensive editing afterwards. If the photograph works, it works. If it doesn’t, he moves on.
That discipline comes partly from remembering film photography, when every exposure had a cost and each photograph had to count. Digital cameras and smartphones have removed that limitation, but they’ve also made it easy to accumulate thousands of nearly identical pictures without considering why we’re taking them.
For Julian, the important element is often the light: the contrast between brightness and shadow, particularly when translated into black and white. Buildings and other apparently immovable objects become different as the light changes. Familiar streets and structures can reveal shapes and details that even long-term residents have stopped noticing.
The advice that emerges from the conversation is wonderfully straightforward: “Always look up.”
Looking From a Different Perspective
Julian and Rob first met during Leicester’s Art House, where Julian exhibited six stark black-and-white photographs. Some visitors passed them quickly, while others stopped and responded with an intensity he hadn’t expected.
That experience raised a central question: who decides what a photograph means?
The photographer chooses the frame, but viewers bring their own memories, experiences and assumptions. An apparently simple image can provoke grief, discomfort or recognition without the photographer knowing precisely why. Adding a title or explanatory essay might direct the response, but it can also close down the viewer’s freedom to interpret what they see.
This is where photography becomes more than documentation. It becomes a conversation between the person who noticed the moment and the person encountering it later.
Beyond the Endless Scroll
The discussion also contrasts the experience of visiting an exhibition with looking at photographs on social media.
Online, even remarkable images can become part of an endless stream. We glance, react and swipe onwards. In a gallery, a photograph has more opportunity to hold our attention. We can stand in front of it, notice its details and allow our response to develop.
Julian isn’t interested in producing images simply to feed that constant demand for content. He wants to create photographs that people might remember, discuss or return to. The value isn’t necessarily commercial. It lies in making something meaningful to the photographer and, perhaps, to somebody else.
That idea connects photography with the music running through this episode. The programme moves through absence, longing and belief before entering quieter, more reflective spaces. These are songs and compositions that reward patience. Like a carefully framed photograph, they reveal more when we give them time.
Music, Memory and Finding Something Different
Julian’s musical reference points include The Durutti Column, David Sylvian, Talk Talk and the atmospheric electronic landscapes of Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan. Much of this music carries personal memories, but the conversation isn’t simply nostalgic.
It’s also about looking beyond whatever an algorithm, station or platform places in front of us. Digital services offer access to an extraordinary range of music and images, but discovery still requires curiosity. We have to step outside the familiar categories, search more deeply and make our own connections.
The episode ultimately makes a case for deliberate attention. Take one photograph rather than twenty. Look beyond the obvious subject. Listen beyond the first few seconds. Allow an image or piece of music to remain unresolved.
Most importantly, look up.
Episode Track List
- The Durutti Column — The Missing Boy
- This Mortal Coil — Song to the Siren
- Talk Talk — I Believe in You
- Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan — A Shared Sense of Purpose
- Harold Budd — The Pearl (2005 Digital Remaster)
- Alison Moyet — This House
- David Sylvian — Orpheus
Julian Sahu’s photography can be found on Instagram under @durutti_c.
Listen to this episode of Distraction Therapy for the complete conversation and musical journey.
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