"Photography has nothin to do with cameras"

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Enjoy!
https://petapixel.com/2014/05/29/70-inspirational-quotes-photographers/

 

[etn]

Great, thanks!
Like you I love this one:

(If it had, we would all be shooting digital I guess )

 

[Sirius Glass]

Great, thanks!
Like you I love this one:
View attachment 233405

(If it had, we would all be shooting digital I guess )

I wonder it Lucas Gentry violated Kodak's trade mark with that.


That said or posted, an interesting collection of quotations.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Yey, another peta
The title is stupid. Half way . Well known names have specific cameras chosen, but family pictures could be taken with anything. In fact, no camera might be needed, if low resolution pictures, small pictures are ok. Phone will do it all.

 

[Luckless]

At the heart of things, photography is as much about cameras and Computer Science is about computers, and Astronomy is about telescopes...

As for the link, that seems like a pretty low bar 'article', even by PetaPixel standards.

 

[Maris]

In terms of photographic material I've consumed in order to make show-able pictures almost none of it has been anywhere near a camera. It is photographic paper of course. The stuff that has been in a camera, the film negatives, is a tiny fraction, by weight and cost, of the picture making effort. And I've never formally exhibited that camera-original material.

 

[removed account4]

couldn't agree more with the quote
it has nothing to do with cameras but
with the eyeballs and brain of the person
operating the time machine ..

 

[Berkeley Mike]

Fundamentally, photography is about a light sensitive medium that can capture and retain light for production. The rest is technical and aesthetic.

 

[jtk]

couldn't agree more with the quote
it has nothing to do with cameras but
with the eyeballs and brain of the person
operating the time machine ..

Yes...and sometimes without "machine"... The old jnanian seemed to know that.

 

[pentaxuser]

Interesting advert. I have concluded that in the 1950s photography had a lot to do with Doris Day or maybe other wholesome look-alikes. There were a lot of them about. All dedicated to keeping anything and everything fresh and clean especially your teeth.

pentaxuser

 

[Berkeley Mike]

Is this from when Americas was great?

 

[markjwyatt]

Is this from when Americas was great?

I don't know, but cameras were sure great then.

 

[markjwyatt]

I like this one:

“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.”
— Dorothea Lange

I would add
"Thermal imagers are instruments that teach people to see beyond their vision"

I have worked with some, and thermography like photography, changed the way I see things.

 

[John51]

Pedant mode on:

If the word 'little' was used, or even 'not much', that is an opinion. The word 'nothing' is an absolute and it makes the statement false as the camera used does have an influence on the photographs taken. Less influence for some than others but an influence all the same.

Pedant mode off:

 

[Vaughn]

Photography has everything to do with the camera...unless it is camera-less photography, but then it has everything to do with the lack of a camera.

The original quote is like saying one's lungs have nothing to do with breathing. But what we are lacking is the rest of the conversation that might provide some context and truth to the quote.

YMMD

 

[blockend]

The role of the camera in great photography is the same as the pen in great literature.

 

[foc]

I wonder if I have passed that mark yet?

 

[Vaughn]

The role of the camera in great photography is the same as the pen in great literature.

I'll have to disagree with that -- the qualities of the pen are rarely reflected in the finished piece, whereas the camera, lens and film all leave their mark on the process. Choice of camera, lens and film (and then the process in which the print is to be made) are all artistic decisions that are made in the creation of the print. So I guess one could say that the camera itself does not matter, but the choice of camera does.

 

[blockend]

I'll have to disagree with that -- the qualities of the pen are rarely reflected in the finished piece, whereas the camera, lens and film all leave their mark on the process. Choice of camera, lens and film (and then the process in which the print is to be made) are all artistic decisions that are made in the creation of the print. So I guess one could say that the camera itself does not matter, but the choice of camera does.

It's important to separate descriptive photography from creative photography. In the first instance, the camera certainly matters because different cameras have different technical capabilities to describe. For creative photography the only thing that matters is the use of a camera of some kind, because the power of the image is in the imagination of the photographer, not intrinsic to the gear. In the 1930s Bill Brandt went out with a box camera to dispel the popular belief that a "good" photograph was the result of a good camera.

It's difficult to think of any camera that would eliminate artistic expression, if the user is themselves artistic.

 

[StepheKoontz]

For creative photography the only thing that matters is the use of a camera of some kind, because the power of the image is in the imagination of the photographer, not intrinsic to the gear.

I have to disagree here. The gear can have an influence on creative photography, for example: Someone going out shooting with a holga is going to be creating something (and likely thinking about their subject matter) very different than someone out shooting with a Rollei, even if they both are using the same 120 film. And I know sometimes I pick VERY specific gear for an image I want to create. Even very basic things about gear like the focal length chosen is part of the creative process and can rule out certain gear, for example if I know the image I want to creat needs the compression only a long lens can provide, rules out my rolleiflex.

 

[Vaughn]

... In the 1930s Bill Brandt went out with a box camera to dispel the popular belief that a "good" photograph was the result of a good camera. It's difficult to think of any camera that would eliminate artistic expression, if the user is themselves artistic.

True, but that has nothing to do with the role of the camera in making art. The artist and their tools are inseparatable. The tool can be a box camera or a Leica (or as I mentioned earlier, camera-less)...which to use depends on the artist and how wish they create.

 

[winger]

"You miss all the shots you don't take." Wayne Gretzky (presumably said about hockey, but it applies to photography as well)

 

[MurrayMinchin]

• “I never have taken a picture I’ve intended. They’re always better or worse.”
  — Diane Arbus

This one resonated most with me, tending towards not solidifying in photographic form what was felt internally. Has led me down many paths for over 40 years.

 

[removed account4]

Hi Vaughn
I agree with you and the quote
It is too bad the person quoted didn't finish what he was saying
its kind of like
and blockend i also agree with you, gear is over rated and too many people
don't realize even with the nicest most beautiful most exquisite most expensive camera
one can take photographs that aren't ... sometimes simple or none works as well ...
but then again sometimes just the opposite

 

[Daniel-J]

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