40 http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk

ALL

PICTURES

©

BENEDICT

BRAIN

Ataglance

£ 3,199 body only

● 51.4MP medium-format sensor

● ISO 50-102,400 (extended)

● 3fps continuous shooting

● 3.69m-dot OLED EVF

● 3.2in, 2.36m-dot tilt touchscreen

Testbench IN THE FIELD

I

n one of the best books

about photography, On

Being a Photographer - A

Practical Guide by Bill Jay

and David Hurn the duo discuss

photographers’ attitudes to talking

about cameras and kit. They

observe that people new to

photography often obsess about

their equipment, then, as they

evolve creatively they dismiss and

deny its importance, but yet the

very ‘best’ photographers, those at

the top of their game spend a lot

of time talking about their cameras

again. They relate this evolution to

the Zen saying that goes along the

lines of ‘on the fi rst encounter a

rock is just a rock; on further

examination, a rock is not a rock;

and with full understanding, a rock

is a rock again’. I’m really fond of

their anecdote and feel it is relevant

to my experiences in the world of

photography. I guess I’ve spent

much of my photographic life in the

middle stage. With my art-school

background, I’ve dismissed the

relevance of kit, and have been

more preoccupied with my ‘big’

ideas, cool concepts and generally

being an ‘arty-farty pants’. When I

interviewed some of the world’s

greatest photographers for

consumer photography magazines

and was compelled to ask them

what kit they used, I was

embarrassed to ask and often they

too were reluctant to answer. It was

as if it was beneath us. Mere

trivialities that distract from the true

meaning, message or the story of

the work. And in many ways we

were right, the stories are more

important than the kit used – in

much the same way that George

Orwell’s words are more important

than the portable Remington he

used to write them with or

Picasso’s choice of paintbrush.

However, I bet Picasso carefully

chose which paint, brush and type

the art of

choosing

Zen

right

and

the

kit

Photographer

Benedict Brain

makes the switch

to the medium-format Fuji lm

GFX 50R and instantly falls in love