Camera and Photography

In past six months, photography has transformed from a hobby to a passion for me. It started with the photography class I took last summer. The lure of darkroom and the world of artistic creativity using light dragged me to this world where I see everything through a 2D frame. I post the results in approximately every way possible including this blog, a separate photoblog, facebook album, orkut album and e-mailing them. In return, the most frequent question I have been asked in these six months is:

'Which camera do you have?'

Somehow photography has not been accepted as a form of art. Its as if the camera does the clicking itself. The same way as some people think that a result from computer can never be wrong. They have never heard of the concept of 'garbage in garbage out'. They don't understand that computer does exactly what you, as a user, tell it to do. If you give wrong instructions, the results will be erroneous too. It doesn't matter how fast your computer is or what processor it has. Same goes with the photography. As Ernst Haas puts it best:

The camera doesn't make a bit of difference. All of them can record what you are seeing. But, you have to SEE.

Thats the point. You have to see and not just look. I don't claim to be an expert in photography. When I see something interesting, I try to evaluate the thing that attracts me most towards that scene and how can I capture that feature best. Rest everything falls in place. I can point out at least 5 mistakes in most of my shots afterwards but thats how I learn. I try to remember all those points and try to correct them next time I am shooting similar scene. I also learn by seeing how other people have captured the similar shots. But my camera don't teach me anything regarding those shots.

Camera is just a piece of equipment that facilitate my efforts to capture a composition that I find beautiful. SLRs are amazing that way as they give me a lot of freedom to capture those composition but again they don't click themselves. Its true that you need to learn how to operate those cameras in order to click but being expert in camera doesn't necessarily makes you a good photographer.

What makes a good photographer (again, I am no expert)? As Ernst Haas puts it:

A picture is the expression of an impression.

Style has no formula, but it has a secret key. It is the extension of your personality. The summation of this indefinable net of your feeling, knowledge and experience.

In sum, Photography is all about you. Its a way to express yourself, just like any art form. And like in any art form no one is born expert in the technique. We all learn gradually from our mistakes. But don't make the mistake of making the means (the equipments, the technique) the end result. To end I want to once again quote Ernst Hass (believe me, I was just researching for this post when I stumbled upon these quotes and not the other way round):

Best wide-angle lens? Two steps backward. Look for the 'ah-ha'.

P.S: I just realized this post is the result of one of those irritating questions that sets off my trigger. I am creating a new label 'Questions' to put all those posts together.