The hierarchy of cameras - and why it’s all bullshit

When starting out as a photographer, kit seems to be the thing we all cling to — ‘if only I had that camera,’ or ‘this lens would solve all my problems’ — and for the most part it’s simply not true. Your kit can absolutely hold you back but it is not the be all and end all of making good photos.

This notion, although seemingly matter of fact and uncontroversial, took me hugely by surprise on a morning at SNAP Photography Festival. The first talk of the day was by Simon Leclercq and featured an incredibly emotional slideshow of work he made during his time volunteering at a care home during the COVID 19 pandemic. As the slideshow started, the room fell into silence. We watched on with lumps in our throats as we witnessed hauntingly beautiful, painful and yet an incredibly hopeful series of images. That presentation will stay with me, and I’m sure with many others in the room that day, for life.

During or after Simon’s talk, he revealed that the images were made with a mix of his camera and phone, but mostly with his phone. I was more perplexed than I’d like to admit; every image sung with feeling, clarity and depth, something I hadn’t thought possible from the flattening effects of smartphones — but then again, I was so wrapped up in the emotional content of the images, I wasn’t looking for discrepancies. His choice of medium was way down on the list of his priorities when capturing this work, and was not what made this work exceptional. It was the story and his treatment of it that shone.

From that moment on, I’ve not stopped myself capturing a moment just because I haven’t got a camera with me. How awful it’s felt in the past to miss beautiful or interesting moments because I’m not lugging around a DSLR or mirrorless. As my good friend Celie Nigoumi said in her latest newsletter, “the best camera is the one you have on you”.

Now, I often share photos taken with my phone. I edit them on LR mobile with my favourite presets (usually Ginger) and treat them as I would a ‘proper’ picture. Every photo is valid. If something evokes emotion in you, that should be enough, no matter what it was taken with.

— Let’s play a game, shall we?

Below I’m going to show a series of photos taken on a Canon R8 and my iPhone 11. Try and see if you can tell which one was taken by which, and just for fun, comment your answers (e.g 1. R8, 2. phone) below for a chance to win an Emily Joan art print sent directly to you!

Here we go:

Remember; art is art, however you access it and through whatever means — so take the bloody photo. Good luck!