The longer I am involved in photography I find that I am becoming simpler and simpler in my approach. Years ago I read about Edward Weston meeting Alfred Steiglitz and the one piece of advice Steiglitz gave Weston was that less was more and that simplification led to a greater depth.
The best photographers I know use the simplest tools to produce their work, that is something the novice hobbyist photographer has trouble understanding. The part time do photography on the weekends crowd is generally dazzled by all the flashing lights and toys (something I was also guilty of for years). They are constantly playing with new cameras, multiple lens and many films and developer combinations. These folks never really settle on anything they never learn anything really well, but instead know a bit of this and a bit of that. I often think that photogs that go the many tools route are fascinated more by the toys than the end photographs, they like the techniques of photography more than the art of photography. The end statement they are trying to make is not nearly as important to them as the tech crap. I think the fun of photography for them is the gizmos, the gadgets, the testing, the formulas and the like.
If I was going to advise a young photographer on what is really important I would say, throw away all the toys, settle on a few tools to tell your stories with them (Jock Sturges told me this a few years back). I would tell them to spend all there time and effort making pictures, not buying and playing with the tech stuff (digi or film), they need to simplify and make photographs, nothing else is of importance.
The best photographers I know use the simplest tools to produce their work, that is something the novice hobbyist photographer has trouble understanding. The part time do photography on the weekends crowd is generally dazzled by all the flashing lights and toys (something I was also guilty of for years). They are constantly playing with new cameras, multiple lens and many films and developer combinations. These folks never really settle on anything they never learn anything really well, but instead know a bit of this and a bit of that. I often think that photogs that go the many tools route are fascinated more by the toys than the end photographs, they like the techniques of photography more than the art of photography. The end statement they are trying to make is not nearly as important to them as the tech crap. I think the fun of photography for them is the gizmos, the gadgets, the testing, the formulas and the like.
If I was going to advise a young photographer on what is really important I would say, throw away all the toys, settle on a few tools to tell your stories with them (Jock Sturges told me this a few years back). I would tell them to spend all there time and effort making pictures, not buying and playing with the tech stuff (digi or film), they need to simplify and make photographs, nothing else is of importance.
