Old Colorado City

I had a few hours on a Sunday morning recently and decided to get out and walk around in Old Colorado City. It was a cold, clear morning and nobody was out. I had a coffee and took some pictures, which I’ll post here as an excuse to talk about some things I’ve been thinking about recently.

Here’s the thought: would I be interested in photography if I could only take photos on my phone?

Leica MP, Voigtlander 28mm f2

I guess there’s the obvious first thing: it’s kind of just a gear question, right? I like cameras - especially film cameras - because they’re tactile and click and clack and are a physical device dedicated to a specific purpose. A phone is a physical device that that virtually replaces many different things in our day to day life. Alarm clock, music player, stills camera, video camera, wallet, flashlight. My iPhone is the master of being good enough; it will do it, but compared to the real thing it often falls short. But even if it didn’t fall short it’s still doing all of those things and more. And for that reason, it’s underhwelming as a stills camera and I don’t want to use it to take pictures.

Leica MP, Voigtlander 28mm f2

That being said, I think there’s more to it than my phone being literally and figuratively a bad camera. It’s about an attidue - or an appetite - to take pictures. Gary Winogrand famously said that he takes photos so he can see what something looks like photographed. Do I have that inherent desire to just see things photographed? Do I need it? Do I need to create art? Or is it just a habit, something to do on a Sunday morning walk? I’m not sure.

Leica MP, Voigtlander 28mm f2

In the last four or five years I’ve taken around 200,000 photos. I’ve done a few paid photography gigs and have had a few specific projects. The vast majority of those 200,000 are just documentary. I’m not trying to create art, I’m just trying to remember what happened! And that’s fine. I like to think all of the photographs contribute to the cause when I actually do go out and intentionally create. And really, the rewards for having these visual documents are immense. Sharing with family, making prints, just flipping through and recalling the feelings and sights and smells. Absolutely worth it.

Leica MP, Voigtlander 28mm f2

I suppose there’s a kind of imposter syndrome at play here. I don’t really have a vision for my photography as art…and isn’t a vision what real artists have? I have to wonder if Winogrand had a vision or if it was just stepping back and allowing the world to unfold so art could fall out. If any of my photos could be considered art - and I’m definitely not drawing a parallel between me and Gary Winogrand - it’s because I stumbled upon that after the fact. In the moment, I’m really just thinking about how cool something looks and that I should get a photo. I can only hope that art does fall out.

Leica MP, Voigtlander 28mm f2

In any case, that’s what I was thinking about on my walk. Old Colorado City is nice too.