The Soul of the Camera

The Pursuit of Mastery

THERE IS A CULTURE THAT SURROUNDS PHOTOGRAPHY that has nothing to do with the making of photographs. It is the cult of the camera, and it assumes that getting really good at using a camera is the same thing as getting really good at making photographs. It assumes that mastering the camera is the same as mastering the medium, and that is not so. For years, camera makers have helped us ignore this difference (I believe therapists call this enabling). They do it to sell cameras and it works because what they have on offer, aside from something new and shiny, is hope. Hope that there is a shortcut to mastery. Hope that there is an easier path. If that path exists and it can be purchased from the camera store, I’ve yet to find ...