I saw this caption on an add on Instagram. Some course for hopeful photographers. The main gist of the manipulation being that all real photographers shoot on manual. Let me just intervene for a second here: BULLSHIT. I sift through the comments, which is pretty uneventful, until I spot the usual, daft moron trying to flex his shit. A ways down someone leaves this gem: “<<<< I’m a real photographer, and mine never leaves M”. I comment and point out, that there’s simply shit you will not get then, and opportunities you will definitely miss - you’re also a purist twat for no productive reason. Never mind this business of highlighting to others ‘what it’s all about’ - piss off, and let people define their own relationship with the craft.
As if photography was ever about auto focus, manual focus, digital or analog. Some of the best mono I have seen in recent history, was by Laurent Hette, and it was out of bloody focus (on purpose…but there you go). It is about affinity for light and telling stories and creating moods - that’s it. Fuck motif too. If the manner in which we create as photographers was so damn important, we should all be on daguerreotype. We have all been insufferable in this category, and we need to stop it and just create. Who cares what everyone else thinks?
I get this all the time, and I have lost precious time trying to create what I thought people wanted. Like I give a fuck? It stops being interesting when you stop doing what you want to do and start worrying about what unimportant assholes want. Forget about gear, it is only your own mind that can let you down - your brain is your gift and your greatest enemy at the same time. This is where focus actually matters: talent does not mean anything if you lack it - and we all do from time to time.