Go Ahead, Buy The Camera

Finding inspiration, it really isn't the gear but...

Intro page from LFI magazine for one of Emanuele Scorcelletti’s personal projects that I found intriguing and inspiring.

A couple of weeks ago I was severely critical of Fuji’s new camera, the X-half. I’ll summarize my criticism as it’s “feature set” is designed to simplify your photographic approach by introducing “restrictions” all of which can be turn-off so that you won’t be so restricted. Oh… forgot, you can also make vertical video because umm, cameras must do video. It’s an oxymoron manifested in a product. I was taken aback with that video functionality given a heck of a lot of people interested in photography have almost no interest in video beyond their phone according to a poll I sent out last month.

I was sincere when I bottom-lined my non-review of the X-half when I concluded to go ahead and grab one if it will help you in any way to go make good work. I was not being at all sarcastic. Personally, I have far more stupid camera and lens purchases that I don’t need and functionally do nothing that I can’t do with any of my other gear. My Leica M digital camera serves that function for me. A stupid camera as its main feature is lack of features. Its other feature is that lenses cost so much money that I’m not tempted in the least to buy all of them. Scratch that, when I am tempted those temptations are harshly put down with fear of being destitute a week after the purchase. The X-half struck me as a strange Fuji anti-M camera in a way.

The truth of the matter is that we should get off the internet and go make the work. Camera manufacturers take advantage of that desire to go make the creative work that we all have the capability to go do and make a product that “will help us”. In a way I’m glad there’s a market that seems to be an anti-feature trend, or in the X-half’s case, features that help one to see the world in a different way than “faster and more”.

I’ll offer a photographer’s personal work as inspiration rather than a product that might help you to get out and make the work. I find this body of work fascinating and extremely educational. You won’t find this project highlighted on his website. You will find other personal work that’s just as good and better. What you’ll also find is far more commercial oriented work that’s aimed at a more commercial market. At first glance that commercial work looks nothing like the project I’m highlighting from LFI magazine. Upon more careful study you’ll see that a lot of the more commercial work is definitely influenced by the personal work. That particular project, Elegia Fantastica, manifests itself in a book that you can see that full body of work on his publisher’s site.

Every one of us could theoretically go make work like this, it’s the antithesis of letting the camera decide the “optimal” exposure settings, the “optimal” eye focus, and capturing all the frames that could be captured in any given moment with “optimal”fidelity. We can turn it all off and decide to see the world differently, more representationally rather than literally. In many cases that can be far more powerful. Instead of eliminating contrasts, embracing them to tell a story. Lighting contrasts, the static and the moving, the fast and the slow. I’d propose that seeing those contrasts and portraying them may show more truth and beauty than downplaying them.

Take a look again at his other work, in a lot of ways this notion is the foundation of many of his pictures both commercial but far more the personal work on his site. We don’t need camera features to do this but sometimes lack of features helps us to be more truly creative. Sometimes certain gear can help get us out and inspire us. Emanuele happened to use a digital Leica M camera to make this project. We could use any camera we own to do the same thing buy turning off many of the features but even talented photographers sometimes need a device to inspire us. That’s why I am sincere in my final recommendation of “go ahead and buy the X-half” if it helps you go out and do the work but only if it does.