Photographer Daniel Anguiano (AMC) from Mexico City works across advertising, music videos, and feature films. His experiences growing up in both Mexico and Europe have given him a cross-cultural visual aesthetic that balances between precision and improvisation. Despite often working in highly controlled environments in his professional work, his personal creations remain rooted in observation and street photography.

In this interview, Daniel shares his creative philosophy, his connection with wide-angle lenses, and his experience using the Thypoch Simera 21mm for both dynamic imaging and still photography.

Daniel Anguiano was born in Mexico City and grew up in Paris, France, Mexico City, and northern Mexico. After completing his undergraduate and master's studies in Paris, he returned to Mexico City in 2012. Since 2016, he has been working as a professional photographer full-time, participating in advertising, music video, short film, and feature film shoots. In June 2025, he became an active member of the Mexican Society of Cinematographers (AMC).

While working in professional movie sets, Daniel pursues complete control: every element within the frame—from lighting, camera movement, performance to rhythm—is meticulously designed. The creation of a single image often requires a large team and complex technical coordination.

In contrast, personal shoots away from the professional set make him feel free. Without a team or limitations, he becomes the sole creator of the images. Street photography becomes his main form of expression, allowing him to capture real-life moments while still pursuing cinematic composition and lighting.

First Encounter with Thypoch

Daniel first encountered Thypoch while searching for new lenses to experiment with. What truly attracted him was the Simera 21mm—this lens was initially only available with the Leica M Mount, which was precisely the system he used for static photography. This convinced him that this lens warranted serious attention.

Simultaneously, Thypoch also released a cinema version with the same optical design, which resonated with his integrated approach to both photography and filmmaking, further deepening his interest.

Uniqueness of the 21mm Perspective

For Daniel, the 21mm focal length holds a unique place in film creation: it lies between 18mm and 24mm, offering a wide view without excessive distortion. It is especially suitable for establishing shots and filming in confined spaces, allowing closeness to the subject while maintaining the complete spatial relationship.

In static photography, the 21mm can capture expansive environments and attempt extreme close-up portraits. Although wide-angle portraits can sometimes seem out of the ordinary or even slightly overwhelming, Daniel believes this is a characteristic that needs to be understood and actively utilized rather than deliberately avoided.

Visual Characteristics and Composition

Compared to his commonly used 28mm lens, the Simera 21mm provides a noticeably wider view, accommodating more information in a single frame, making the images more complete and narratively rich. He notes that although the 21mm is extremely versatile, it remains a relatively underused focal length.

Using a Leica M camera also presents a unique compositional challenge: the optical viewfinder only displays 28mm frame lines, requiring estimation, an external viewfinder, or reliance on the digital body’s rear screen to compose with the 21mm. For Daniel, this process is part of the creation journey. The uncertainty in framing, along with the awareness of space extending beyond the frame, brings anticipation and excitement.

The Simera 21mm has a minimum focusing distance of 0.23 meters, but his Leica MP's minimum focusing distance is only 0.7 meters. Therefore, he believes that close-range wide-angle photography is better suited to cameras with electronic viewfinders to facilitate precise composition up close.

Optical Performance on Film

Over the past year, Daniel has only been using his Leica MP for shooting on film. He especially enjoys pairing aspherical lenses with film: the precise optical performance in contrast with the natural graininess of film results in a beautiful contrast.

The Simera 21mm delivers sharp and clear images, with excellent distortion control even in close-up shots. In his photos, the film grain becomes the main texture, presenting clear yet not harsh or cold images.

A Creative Tool

As a creative tool, Daniel describes the Simera 21mm as familiar yet full of possibilities. The lens’s craftsmanship and handling feel intuitive, while practical features like the depth of field scale are very user-friendly for hyperfocal shooting at apertures like F11; the stepless aperture ring also makes it ready for video shooting.

From a pricing perspective, he believes the Simera 21mm is an extremely cost-effective choice. Its imaging style is very similar to his Leica lenses, with differences that are scarcely noticeable. More importantly, this lens encourages him to get closer to his subject and engage more directly with the space, opening up new creative possibilities for him.