I am the person who is always with a camera. Yeah, that guy. I am more prone to returning to the house because I forget my keys or wallet before my camera. I have been doing it for so long that I rarely think about it.
If I were referring to the camera on a smartphone, it wouldn’t be an unusual admission. Everybody has a camera now. But I’m talking about wielding a “proper” camera, usually a Fujifilm X100F or X-Pro3. I know my smartphone has a camera, but I rarely think of it as such. It’s less about whether the device takes a photograph and more about the experience of making a photograph.
There is an intentionality behind using my camera that I don’t experience with a smartphone, as convenient as the latter may be. When something piques my visual curiosity, I grab my camera rather than my phone. The physicality of raising the camera to my eye and carefully refining the composition is natural and essential. For me, it’s the right tool for the right job.
Unlike my professional work, I never know what I will photograph for my personal photography. I know that while I am out in the world living my life, I will likely discover something that demands to be photographed.
Many images occur when I’m running errands: grocery shopping, doctor appointments, car repairs, driving home from work, or walks with the dog. When weekends are filled with life’s obligations, these brief moments give me the only time to focus on seeing and making photographs.
I envy my photographer friends who live in walking cities, where they are out in the world when they step off their front stoop. That’s impossible in car-centric Los Angeles, but I don’t focus too much on what I don’t have.
Instead, I am grateful for any opportunity to practice seeing. The challenge and the thrill are translating what I have seen within the context of the frame. There are few things more satisfying than observing the chaotic puzzle of the world and piecing something together that makes sense photographically. I am more inclined to do it with a camera rather than a phone.
I don’t take offense when people jokingly comment about me always being with a camera. Neither do I explain it or justify it. It is just as natural as me leaving the house with pants, shoes, and a shirt. I’d feel naked without it.
Excellent photograph. I really need to carry my camera around with me more. Whenever I don't have one my cameras with me, I almost always come across a scene that I would have wanted to photograph. Sometimes I will use my iPhone to take a photograph, but it isn't the same as using one of my cameras. The more photographs you take, the better your artist eye and vision becomes along with really learning about the nuances of your gear.
I love your descriptions. “Doing it ,making a photograph,out in the world,opportunity to practice seeing,observing…always so encouraging.