There’s an age-old debate in photography and filmmaking regarding the role of gear in the creative process. Will better equipment make you a better photographer? No. But also yes.
This video from the guys at Mango Street digs into this thorny topic and offers some interesting insights. Being visual media, both photography and filmmaking can be emotional, thought-provoking and forensic. Equally, it can be superficial, gratuitous, and sometimes exploitative. Within the division set out by Inskeep and Gulotta in this video, I’d make a further generalization: that the more technically-driven, gear-obsessed creators tend to end up in this second category. And while it’s easy to be sniffy, it’s the interplay between these different categories that makes photography and filmmaking such powerful media.
Without diving too far down that rabbit hole, there’s a lot to be said for how gear shapes the creative process — and not necessarily as a restriction. Having grown up playing video games on Spectrum and Amstrad computers in the 1980s, I have a love of 8-bit art. Looking back, the darkly abstract design (Dizzy, anyone?) often deployed by designers was shaped by the limitations imposed by the medium, but I’d argue that this was something that worked to fuel people’s creativity rather than stifling it.
Does gear shape your creative process? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
What will define if gear matters or not is above anything preparation and planning. Gear need will vary most depending if it is a self assignment like for a portfolio or an assignment with the client or specific deadlines. With plenty of free time you can get away with a lot but when the time to achieve the goal is pre determined, you want to maximize your chances to success and more gear options can be your friend.
I own a specific camera and lens for my street photography. It only matters in that it is a helps me to enjoy what I am doing - my last camera almost made me want to give up photography as I grew to dislike it. The reason I only own one camera and lens is so I can concentrate on the photography without being distracted by the gear or by new gear I think I may want. There is no photography gear that will help me to improve in my technical ability and there are a large number of cameras and lenses that would get me just as good results as my current gear. Technique is the main area for improvement and that can only be achieved by taking plenty of photographs and learning along the way.
Love this.. I fell into this back in the day. Thats why I love the famous quote by Sam Haskins.. "A photographer went to a socialite party in New York. As he entered the front door, the host said 'I love your pictures - they're wonderful; you must have a fantastic camera.' He said nothing until dinner was finished, then: 'That was a wonderful dinner; you must have a terrific stove" Creativity will outshine your shiny equipment any day.
The only thing that stifles my 'get out and shoot' urge is happening right now; it's -36C here in Winterpeg. :-) I love photography but.....
Gear is important in the sense that better gear makes the whole process easier. I'd love to chase the latest and greatest, but I have a budget and that keeps me at an even keel. I have pretty good stuff, but yes, I'd like to have more and better, but this has no bearing on what and how I shoot. I'm a gizmo oriented person and heaven knows, photography is a gizmo lover's nirvana!
The level of the video meets his hat and her glasses.
If you already have good technique and composition skills, better gear can make all the difference. People noticed a jump in my image quality almost overnight when I made the jump from amateur level ASP-C gear to a professional full frame camera and the holy trinity of f/2.8 zoom lenses.