Blog 5: To Infinity

In my time taking photos, there’s one piece of advice that I’ve heard a gazillion times:

“Photography is not about the gear.”

When I was a younger photographer, I disagreed. The photos I took with superior gear were obviously better than the ones I shot with entry-level equipment. The photos on my phone? Just memories, not art. Gosh, I had so many hot takes.

But with time, and maybe a little maturity, I’ve started to come around. There are far more advanced and exponentially more expensive cameras I’ve never even touched, but I now believe photography really isn’t about the gear.

Photography is about capturing time in pixels. It’s about freezing the essence of a moment written by light. And that moment is defined by many variables: the weather conditions, your location, the position of every element in the frame, your mood, your attention to the scene, the instant you press the shutter, and the camera settings you’ve chosen.

Each of these dimensions can take on infinite values. Your photo is a unique combination of them. No matter what gear a photographer uses, the image they create will differ depending on how these dimensions align.

Yes, better gear can help because it can more faithfully capture some of the elements that define the moment. But that is secondary to being present and recognizing what truly matters in that instant. The essence of photography lies in capturing the most essential element with whatever gear you have at hand.

As Rick Rubin says in The Creative Act:

"As artists, we aim to live in a way in which we see the extraordinary hidden in the seemingly mundane. Then challenge ourselves to share what we see in a way that allows others a glimpse of this remarkable beauty."

That’s the heart of it. And that’s why photography isn’t about the gear.