I’ve been playing around with multiple image making tools lately. I hesitate to just say “camera” as I use other things besides a camera to make my visual work. I use my iPhone, not really a “camera,” right? I use my scanner, again, not a camera. I make collages by hand, then print or photograph them with my Canon DSLR camera. I shoot film, sometimes. I make digital negatives of AI generated imagery, and then make cyanotypes. My art does not depend on a camera to exist. I still consider myself a photo-based artist, just not simply a “photographer.” I’ve been struggling lately to let go of the dogmatic structure that the photo world can thrust upon me. Does it really matter what tool I used to make my art? Does it matter if I shoot half frame images on a film camera or through an app on my iPhone? Does it matter to the viewer? Does it make the work less interesting if it wasn’t shot on a 50 year old film camera? Does it diminish my intent as an artist? Is a simple, rough frame spit out via an app interface less valid than a filed out negative carier in a darkroom? Do i need to apologize for something that is pleasing but made easily? Do I need to struggle and flagellate myself to the photo gods before my work has meaning? NO.