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The Symbiotic Relationship Between Photographers and Their Equipment

By Wayne Cosshall 

Now that Photokina 2008 has come to close and lots of great new gear and software have been announced, I was reflecting on the relationship between photographers and their equipment.

Photography is one of the most technologically oriented and demanding art forms. This isn’t just a product of the digital revolution. It was just as true of a Nikon F or an 8x10 view camera and the related darkroom processes as it is of the new Nikon D3, HP Designjet Z3200, and Adobe Photoshop CS4. (You can see my lengthy review of Photoshop CS4 on DIMi). Yet the nature of the relationship between photographers and their equipment is often misunderstood.

Better camera gear, printers or software will not automatically make your photography better.  An old axiom states that cameras don’t make photographs, photographers do. And this is certainly true. The best gear in the hands of an inept person will not make their photography any better at all.

On the other hand, our gear can place limits on what we can do. It is impossible to shoot macro without gear that lets you get up close and personal. Shooting birds can be very tough if you don’t have a long lens. And shooting panoramas can be hard without the right software to help with stitching.

So the truth lies somewhere within these two positions. Changing gear will not make your photography better by itself, but will open up new vistas for you to exploit.  Photography is a technological art form and so new developments open up many new ways of doing things.

Over the history of photography, there are many examples of how new advances have opened up new ways of shooting.  For instance, the development of sufficiently sensitive plates and films meant cameras could be handheld.  That progress has continued with in-lens or in-body image stabilization, which pushes spontaneity and low- light shooting to new levels. Incorporating HD video capability in DSLRs continues the progress that began with the incorporation of fast shutters and high-speed flash. All these advances have given photographers various ways to control how they capture images and work with time.

It is this symbiotic relationship between photographers and their gear that explains why photographers have such as strong concern for equipment. Strangely, sometimes this concern takes the form of a deliberately low-tech approach, such as the popularity of the Holga. But it is still a focus on equipment, even if the focus is on simplicity. At the other end of the spectrum, (but with the same concern for the appropriate equipment) are the people who embracing computational photography for things such as panoramas, HDR images and more.

That key phrase here is appropriate equipment. Most photographers aren’t concerned simply with new equipment, but with having appropriate equipment. Part of every photographer’s challenge is to discover for themselves just what equipment is appropriate for their personal form of photography.

No two photographers see the world the same way. No two choose equipment with the same priorities and no two use their gear the same way, even when they have identical gear.

We all have unique vision and we all strive to create a unique style in our photography. The gear we use and how we use it is just one part (albeit a core part) of finding this personal voice.
Posted 09-30-2008 6:26 PM by Eileen Fritsch
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