Yesterday, I had the privilege of holding Louis Armstrong's trumpet. Just because I was holding Louis Armstrong's trumpet, it doesn't mean I know how to play it. And even if I'm a great trumpet player, it doesn't mean I can play it like Louis Armstrong.
Like an 8x10 camera, it's just a tool.
And to go back from jazz music to photography, while an 8x10 camera is just a tool, some tools are nicer than others. While I'm only a mediocre guitar player, and a guitar is basically a stringed box for making music, I would still prefer a Martin D-28. A car is merely a device for getting from point A to point B, but a Porsche or Ferrari might be more fun than a Toyota Corolla. And yes, while any view camera, or any camera, is merely a tool for making images, most would agree that Mr. Kapoor's new-to-him Linhof may well be more fun to own than a non-descript view camera. If the criteria for owning the cameras we do is that we make images of the standard of Weston or Adams or Karsh or Penn, 99% of us need to find other hobbies.
Thanks Peter!
What I can't understand is how many times this thread has been hijacked by dudes with banal epigrams. I came to this forum to be educated, not lectured. You're not saying anything new by the usual "it's the photographer, not the tool that counts." I went to art school, I get it.
With that said, a little anecdote: Alec Soth studied at Sarah Lawrence and finally got to take a class with Joel Sternfeld. Soth loved Sternfeld and was often compared to him early in his career. Soth embarked on his first road trip while still in college, eventually completing his first major project "Sleeping by the Mississippi." He used a Philips 8x10 shooting color. Guess which camera Sternfeld used when making "American Prospects."
To everyone else that has offered useful advice pertaining to the discussion in this thread, thank you also.
Basically my professor put it this way... sack up and buy the best possible rig you can get it. Buy the best lenses.
Not because they make better work for you but it's just one more variable you can store away and leave as an afterthought.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I had the privilege of meeting Alec some years ago. He was a lovely guy and his considered and honest critique and personal narrative really motivated me to keep working to find my own way of doing things. Thanks for posting the links to the interviews.
You must become Soth and you cannot.
Your challenge is not technical. Camera movements are the least of concerns.
What you need is the strength to walk hundreds of miles with a vision, an open mind, infinite patience and an engaging and empathetic personality; the later virtues missing from the spirit of your query and your responses.
You need a lecture. Trying to direct responses is a sure indication of the ineducable.What I can't understand is how many times this thread has been hijacked by dudes with banal epigrams. I came to this forum to be educated, not lectured.
Bookmarks