“i just bought a Nikon D300!”, said a guy who was roughly my age to his friend.
“Really? well i just bought this extremely long lens! which is just amazing! with an f/2.8 and a bla bla bla bla bla.”
9 years.
9 years i have been studying photography(and still am). and yet i have never felt such grief and anger when i pick up my camera, until now. the age when film is no more and where everyone thinks a photo thats blurred out is an art. the age of easy to use, digitalized and donkey ass cheap cameras.
don’t get me wrong here i am not trying to be a hypocrite. i have, beside me right now a Nikon D80 with all its bells and whistles with a rather hefty price tag(which in fact i still do owe a friend for these equipments). so what am i complaining about?
study the conversation above dear readers.
the conversation i heard above reminded me of me in my first years of photography.
buy, buy, buy, more, more, more.
everyone wants the best gear for there cameras. this happened when everyone was using film and is happening again in this digital age. but the difference between now and then, is the accessibility, the easiness of..well everything.
i don’t want to go all philosophical on things here but basically my main argument is that by buying more better cameras/gear/equipments/thingamajigs they think that they can get better pictures.
yes,pure stupidity(or perhaps innocence) in action.
i damn this situation. i damn them for not wanting to learn with what they have. but by learning by first buying the things they need. and buy more they shall.
the camera, from what i have learned. is not merely an equipment. it is me. it is a part of me.
it is my hands. my eyes. my mind. and my heart. to use it is to synchronize all of those into one.
but the heart.
yes, the heart, the soul, the conscience, has and will always play a major role in photography. and that can never be substituted by any type of expensive, high end cameras or equipments.
by all means, learn. not only about the camera itself but about yourself. you as the soul of the medium.
learn about yourself and you will find photography.
13 Comments
hmmm,klo kata kk yg demen foto jg,
kamera digital itu membunuh karakter.
dulu org pk roll film, dapet bgt nyawanya.
org yg blajar foto,krna emg pgn bisa,bukan karna mampu beli kamera nya ajah.
tp yaa,gw jg gk bisa moto.wkwkwkw.
loves ur photo,ben!!
Poor Ben…
But I can understand your grief, despite that I’m not a photographer whatsoever.
But hey, its digital age now! And photography is a hype! When you have a DSLR hanging on your neck and equipped with a long lens *can I just call them ‘long lens’? I dont know about all their technicalities*, your cool enough to go! Right?
But I can see that you’re not that ‘kind’ of photographers. Good for you Ben, you have these kind of thinkings…I can see it from the photograph…
Afterall, its all about the ’soul’, right?
fotografi itu yang terpenting..
“orang di belakangnya bukan?”
dan…
kemauan orang itu terhadap arti dari fotografi menurut pikirannya dan apa yang dimauinya dari fotografi.
yah kira kira begitulah pemikiran saya. bukan begitu kak ben?
betul putra..
orang di belakang kamera.
bukan kameranya..
itu yang orang telah lupakan saat ini.
the man behind the camera.
Kemarin gw ujicoba pake kamera-film, hasilnya ga ok semua, haha. Masih harus belajar banyak
dan emang tujuannya.
belajar.
dengan itu kita akan bisa.
dengan itu kita akan mengerti.
dan dengan itu saya, anda dan kita dapat dengan mudah menjadi seorang fotografer.
hehehe. setuju sama putra.
gw mgkin bkn fotografer dan msh awam dgn semua teknikalitas tentang kamera atau cara memotret yang baik..
tapi, modal gw untuk belajar adalah karena senang. hehe. kamera yang “serius” untuk mendalami fotografi saja belum punya. hehe
cuma ada satu fujika tua bekas si bapak.
I agree with you in lot points.. and I still trying to learn photography too.. there is a whole lot more to learn and it never bored me (neither you ^.^)
Nice to meet you, nice to read your blog
huuff, DSLR itu emang sudah jadi sebuah trend. sedih juga si ngeliatnya, ben.
mskpn gue bukan fotografer, tp gue adalah pecinta seni visual yg cukup mengerti filosofi dr fotografi itu.
tp gue mau metik kata2 tmn gue yg uda jadi fotografer keren di amrik, selain the man behind the camera, yg terpenting dr sebuah foto adalah moment yg lo abadikan. bukan sekedar keindahan visualnya. krn tujuan awal dari penciptaan kamera adalah mengabadikan suatu kejadian kan. ya, jadi ga masalah lo mau pake kamera apa atau sepanjang apa lensa lo.
iya ben, kita memang harus sll blajar dan berlatih. bukan cuma fotografer aja, pianist yg uda konser dimana2 juga ttp hrs menggerakkan jari mereka minimal 3jam sehari, profesor HI juga masih harus baca koran kan tiap hari.
photography has become a fashion statement.
i hate it.
Gimana ya Ben, antara mau ikutan ngangguk2 sama sedikit pengen geleng2.. (Lah, gila dong..)
IMHO – any attempt at getting in touch with your creative side is awesome and beautiful. AND beauty is supposed to be in the eye of its beholder. Mungkin yang menurut lu kacrut strikes a resonance with someone else.
Emang skill itu ada di fotografer, bukan di kamera.. Tapi the emotions evoked by the pictures kan dari orang yang liat bukan yang memperlihatkan..
Yang bikin ngeselin emang menjamurnya dslr dimana-mana – but I can’t complain, I’m one who benefits from the abundance of people I can ask about photography. I’m craptastic and I admit it, but I’m learning.
And even though menurut lu photography has become a fashion statement, bukannya bagus yah? Diantara 5 orang yang dongo, mungkin ada satu yang ujung2nya foto2nya tuh bener2 ok.
Instead of getting pissed off, you might as well look for the silver lining. You don’t want to become bitter at our age, we still have ways to go
me too hate the part that photography became a fashion statement. hate so so much.
well, it’s probably like manually-drive-car people hate automatically-drive-car people.
heu..
long live analogue!
but the heart.
yes, the heart, the soul, the conscience, has and will always play a major role in photography. and that can never be substituted by any type of expensive, high end cameras or equipments.
by all means, learn. not only about the camera itself but about yourself. you as the soul of the medium.
learn about yourself and you will find photography.
———– I love those lines. Spoken [or written] by a true artist!