Passion Prevails
The five power words of Photography are light, shape, form, texture, and color—all combine to create the vision of the artist rendered in a tangible expression called The Image, and when it’s ready to perform, it moves to The Print.
Did you notice what was not included in the five power words? Gear. Photography is dualistic; part nerd, part cool kid. Put another way: part science, part art. Some go absolutely nuts about new camera body models, lenses, filters, and gadgets. Admittedly, I, too, geek out on variable ND filters and the latest and greatest in camera accessories, all of which make some type of claim to make one’s work stand out from the rest.
A simple search on YouTube or Google will show you just how gear and equipment can seem paramount to everything else it takes to be an artist who uses photography as the medium for creating. Reviews in magazines and online forums give a type of credibility to the idea that to be truly artistic you need the latest advancement in photography gear. But is this actually true? Especially for those like me when I began my photography journey in 2008, for all this gear cost money - money that isn’t just lying around.
Fortunately, photography and art, in general, are based on passion.
Passion, to me, carries an intrinsic vibration. It’s not quantifiable. It’s innate. It ignites that sense of urgency that drives all artists to finish what they start. Passion is transcendent. It is the thing that allows the viewer to relate to the work, to feel the emotion of the work.
At bottom, passion prevails, for without it you may have the fanciest gear—camera, lens, flash, etc.—but where’s the substance? It’s like having a beautiful crystal glass with no water in it. I suppose you get a tiny bit of satisfaction from the beauty of the glass but what about the fact that there’s nothing in it, no substance to quench your thirst? Such is the case when gear and equipment are placed before passion.
I used to think that the gear gave me a better shot of rising above the fray. That was until I studied the work of artists that influence me til this hour. Deana Lawson uses a large format film camera. No fancy add-ons. Peter Lindbergh puts emphasis on the notion that his work is really just about the connection between himself and his subject, the camera is secondary. Gordon Parks was driven, not by his gear, but by his desire to tell the stories of the social climate in which he worked. If I’m being honest, there isn’t one photographer that I’ve come across who mentions their gear unless asked, “What camera do you use?”
Indeed, have a dependable camera, a lens that matches your personality and how you see the world, and a tripod for pro-level sharpness, but never become a prisoner to all the fluff. Don’t sacrifice the creative process because you’ve gotten bogged down by unnecessary distractions of wanting more stuff to add to your camera bag.
Without passion, which produces vision, ambition, and resilience, the gear becomes useless, anyway. What’s a canvas until the painter puts paint on it?
Intent, storytelling, relating, and connecting—these are the intangibles that can’t be bought at your local camera shop or online. Passion prevails over gear every time because of this fact: No one has ever gone to the art gallery, seen a compelling piece, and wondered what gear was used. Gear does not compel, but passion does.
