An Ode to G.A.S., A Look In The Rear View Mirror and How Annie Leibowitz Got Me Here
Confessions from a recovering Gear Acquisition Syndrome sufferer and other discoveries.
Several years ago I took an online Masterclass with Annie Leobowitz and about halfway through the class she said something that really stayed with me:
“Those who want to be serious photographers, you're really going to have to edit your work…You’re going to have to not just shoot, shoot, shoot. To stop and look at your work is the most important thing you can do.”
In recent days, as I’ve struggled with a failing hard drive and the stress of rescuing data from it, these words have begun to echo in my mind. What exactly am I doing with this catalog of over 100,000 images anyway? All I ever seem to do is shoot and yet producing my work in a tangible format is a rare occurrence.
I felt stressed with the idea that the clock was ticking and I had to get my data copied over. I didn’t have time but something told me to start looking in the rear view mirror at my past images. What happened was interesting.
Going all the way back, my photographic journey began with film photography. (I’m still the proud of owner of a beautiful Rolleiflex, a Pentax 67 and a handful of rangefinders and 35mm cameras. I’ll never sell them). I didn’t know how to shoot film properly back then but every once in a while, I’d capture an image I would feel proud of and it pushed me to learn more about the exposure triangle and concepts around lighting.
In 2003, when digital cameras were making their way on the scene, I dropped film and took to digital like so many photographers did. I got deeply immersed into the Nikon DSLR world. I attended a night school and ravaged every bit of information about digital photography I could find and threw myself at every possible opportunity … until…
Film poked its head out of the darkroom to peer at me around 2012. I started attending film developing classes. The attraction of that emulsion and the quality of prints I could make in my own basement darkroom made me feel so empowered!
And so it began: two cameras on me religiously at every gig, every outing: one film, one digital. This went on for years.
Around the start of the pandemic, my film shooting came to a halt, thanks to younger generation of curious shooters who on the one hand, I’m grateful to for feeding the resurgence, but on the other hand, resentful of for driving up prices of film! As a result, I focused more on digital gear.
The advances in digital photographic equipment in the last five years have been outstanding, so the allure of buying new cameras and lenses gave me a bad case of G.A.S or Gear Acquisition Syndrome. I sold my Nikon DSLRs and went full throttle into mirrorless. I was in and out of online and local camera shops all the time, perusing YouTube non-stop for the latest and greatest, and what I spent on different brands of cameras, lenses and other accessories is something that I never want to review!
I don’t regret these years though. In the grand investigation of what lens to get for what situation or what can IBIS do for me, I learned a great deal both about technology, the art of photography, and myself. In the end, guess what? I sold off most of that gear and went back to Nikon - Nikon Z mirrorless, specifically. It completely satisfied every technical aspect I was missing for event, street and personal projects in photography.
Except…I almost lost data on that external drive this week and in the process of rescuing thousands of raw files, I stumbled upon some of my first digital images I took as a street photographer back in 2011. An Olympus E-P2 with a 17mm 2.8 Olympus lens was recommended to me by the camera shop owner when I told him back then that my big DSLR was getting in the way of continuing to shoot the streets. I took thousands of shots with it in many travels. I used that one camera and one lens only apart from film.
Sadly, I sold my Olympus E-P2 in 2014 for a Ricoh GR. The Olympus was a 12 megapixel micro four thirds sensor. It is approaching 15 years in age now, but throw a 1.8 lens on it and it’s still pure magic. I owned Fuji cameras for many years but to me, what approximates the feel of film grain better than anything are these older micro four thirds sensors.
Ironically, the day after my hard drive episode started, I stumbled upon an incredible deal for a beat up copy of the E-P2 for $80. And I had not yet sold my micro four thirds lenses. So much for curing G.A.S. I ended up keeping my M43 gear.
Yet I look at what joy it brings and how it inspired me to go back and review those first street images! It allows me to see what I personally deemed back then as interesting documentary or environmental images that make a story or just single shots that can stand alone.
Today, the Olympus E-P2 arrived from MPB.com with all its 12 megapixel glory. I took it out on a walk this evening to take some test shots. Yes — I am adding to the ridiculously large catalog of images still, but I’m having fun both shooting and looking back.
And that’s the point I guess. Having fun, looking back, keeping on.
Have you suffered in the past from G.A.S.? Have you looked back at your work? What is inspiring you on the technical front?
Thank you for that. I find myself struggling and remembering fun is a great reminder.
Nice set of photographs Juliette! I really like the car picture a lot!