Gear Doesn't Matter - Just Start Creating

Disclaimer: This is just my opinion. It’s highly subjective.

I'm sure you can find a gazillion videos on YouTube covering gear. Any gear. Half of them argue that gear does matter, and the other half claims it doesn’t. I'm not here to add another brick to the enormous wall of time-wasting with this article. I just want to share my personal approach to the 'gear' topic and the goals that guide my choices. My approach is very personal and subjective, and I’m not claiming it's the only right one. I don't believe in a 'one-size-fits-all' solution.

I'm not a pro photographer, whether in documentary, reportage, landscape, street photography or any other genre. Funny enough, I don't even consider myself a photographer. I use cameras to create, just as I use my charcoal pencils or ink pens. So this so-called "gear" is just another set of tools in my "shed"… or bag... or box, if you prefer.

I  get asked, "What paper do you use?" or "What pencil or pen do you use?" If it's not about a specific work or result, my answer is "It doesn't matter." It doesn't matter what paper, pencil, or eraser (yes, I even got asked about the eraser I used) you use. As long as it works for you and your project, that's what matters. However, there are situations when you need to use a specific tool. For example, if you use vine charcoal, you'd need to choose the right paper. A glossy or super smooth one won’t work for this task, though you can still experiment. So, you have to do your best to match different tools to enable you to create what you want.

I like my cameras. All of them. And they all matter to me. Not only in the context of 'gear', but also as objects. They are incredibly beautiful and functional objects. Would they matter to me if they were only beautiful? Yes, provided they had no functional side to them. Don’t forget, I am also an architect and a firm believer in "form follows function."

I absolutely love beautiful things. I eat beautiful things… with my eyes, ears, fingers… I love holding these things, looking at them. Tactility is very important to me. I try to surround myself with beautiful things. Everything I lay my eyes on in my personal space has to be beautiful. All my pens are beautiful. I've been using cheap but extremely reliable and good Platinum fountain pens (heck… they don't make them anymore). So, to make them beautiful and matter to me even more, I replaced their plastic barrels with wooden ones (which I made myself, to suit my taste). Now I have beautiful, one-of-a-kind, and functional tools. That’s all I need. Would I still keep these pens with the same wooden barrels if they didn't perform as expected? Not a chance. No. But I’d keep the barrels though.

Bear with me, we are getting to cameras now.

All my cameras are beautiful and functional. Fully functional. Two of them I fixed myself. This took some courage and a bit of Irish Whiskey. The rest of my old cameras travelled to the real pros who have them CLA'd for me. I am not digital—I shoot on film.

My everyday camera is a Rolleicord Va-II. Love it. Love the experience it offers. The experience is very important to me. I love the sound of opening and closing the viewing hood, the feeling of winding the film, opening its back, and the time it takes to load another roll of film. I love looking down into the viewing glass. Man! I love every single second of using or simply holding this camera. Using it is like a real-life performance.

In this regard, "gear" does matter to me. The unique experience it offers matters… but only if the functional side is fully functional. You know, form and function is like two sides of a coin. One cannot exist without the other. Do not panic. Do not pass out. Stay with me. I am not talking about art works here. I’m referring strictly to things that embody both form and function (like cars, boats, flower pots… or cameras)

I do pre-visualise my finished work. I also know my cameras. I know how to use them to get the negative I need. But the negative is not the final product or goal. The print is. When I marry myself with the camera and the film, I kinda know what the print will look like… If I’m lucky, of course, and don't screw up something in between. But that’s another story.

I know my tools. I know how to use them. It’s the joy of using them that adds up to the joy of creating. I get such a powerful kick from using the tools I love and feel attached to. For the work I do, I can use either my Hasselblad 500CM or Rolleicord Va… or ArtDeco. And you know what—I still get the results I want. If you know at least a little bit about those cameras / systems, you'd probably know that they and their lenses are light years apart. No, not in a bad sense. They are equally good, but so different. Razor-sharp Carl Zeiss on a modular heavy Hasselblad and soft, like a summer breeze, Schneider-Kreuznach Xenar on a portable Rolleicord V.

Would I shoot reportage with them? No. Hell no! I’d take my sexy Olympus M1 for this purpose. Because this would be the right tool for the job, for a multitude of reasons (But that’s, again, another story). Would I use an Olympus M1 for the work I do on an everyday basis? No. Not a chance! I have Rolleicords or Hasselblad for that. Besides, I am not a 35 mm guy, though I do love my Olympus. It’s such a sexy beauty!

So, my camera choice depends on the goal I want to achieve. I don't spend a second… a millisecond on debates about lens sharpness, coating, zoom, numbers, length, brand, menus, latest edition, latest feature, latest addition to the latest feature of latest update, billion frames per nano-micro-milli-second, and million other things that get in the way between me and the print.

I get that. There are instances when you need certain characteristics in place. Otherwise, the job won't get done. Especially if you are a pro. I mean a real pro. Not a YouTube couch potato. And by the way, I did meet quite a few real pros over the years - photographers, artists, musicians. Guess what—they didn’t speak about the gear. And when they did they didn’t speak that much. Not in that youtube sense. Often not at all. They simply reached for the right tool for the job. Full stop.

You can have the latest lenses, cameras, best software, trendiest camera bags… best and up-to-date everything - but you will still suck. Why? Simple. Because you lack skills. Because as the saying goes, the camera doesn’t take pictures—the photographer does. Same, if you can’t paint (just like me), no amount of super-duper latest edition brushes with hand picked bristles, the most expensive oil paints and the finest canvas stretched specifically for you - will not transform you… me into a painter. You get me?

From my experience—the more people talk (or watch) about gear, tools, papers, brushes, and all this kind of stuff, the less they get done.

It’s not the gear that matters, but what you use it for and how you use it.

So, turn off YouTube, get off the couch, and start creating.