Hypothetical Question: What Would You Do?

Congratulations! A foundation has just awarded you one year of working on your photography full time. You will be generously paid, and any travel expenses will be met (although you don't have to travel). Subject is entirely up to you, no limitations there. You get the services of an assistant to help with cataloguing, image processing, and other routine chores, if you so choose. Any outside lab fees will be paid in full. Furthermore, your boss has agreed to let you take the sabbatical and your regular job will be waiting for you one year from now. A vehicle can be provided should you need it. The only caveat is that you have to choose one camera and one lens which you agree to work with exclusively. Paid for by the foundation, of course. You don't get to keep the camera or lens at the end of the year. The photos (and rights) are all yours.

Would you accept such an arrangement? If so, which camera and lens would you choose? Please be specific! Finally, do you already own that camera and lens?

Mike

Original contents copyright 2013 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

TOP's links!

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

marek fogiel: "I suspect this provocative question will have many answers...I would definitely go with a medium format camera (I mean film camera obviously). The most beautiful and flexible lens I know of is the Hasselblad Zeiss Planar 110mm ƒ/2, which works just fine on the Hasselblad 201f. I own both."

John Prendergast: "Given that there are no caveats whatsoever to this arrangement anyone would be foolish not to bite.

"I like the idea of the Fuji X-E1 and their 35mm ƒ/1.4; this is not too different from what I use regularly today, the Nikon D5100 and the 35mm ƒ/1.8 (DX).

"What would I do, well, let's stretch the rules a tad. As Steve D commented that he would go to the ISS, I'll take it one step further. I would like to photograph the moons of Jupiter. Impractical, you say? On the contrary, I figure if 50% of the world's GDP is diverted to constructing a nuclear pulse drive or fusion rocket, one could get there and back within the year...totally practical.

Cost of camera ~$1,300
Travel expenses ~$30 Trillion

"If there is some fine print about how the photographer many not divert more than 1% of the world's GDP towards their own, um...narcissism, then I would just travel around the world."

robert e (partial comment): "Of course I'd accept. I'll be honest—if someone's footing the bill, travel itself would be as much motivation as photography. I'd want to go everywhere, though a year isn't that long if one wants to get to know places and people...."

Matt Miller: "I'd take an 8x10 Ebony and a nice 12-inch Dagor. Man, do I miss contact printing."

scott kirkpatrick: "A year in which to turn what I see into pictures in the simplest way possible? No problem. A new Leica M and the latest Summilux 35mm ƒ/1.4—they see pretty much what I see when I look around. And I already have them. Not giving them back at the end of the year, thank you very much. "

struan: "I like work which commits time and attention to one small place over an extended period of time. If someone were willing to underwrite the project I would want use one of my existing cameras—which I know well—and my habitual short tele. I would aim to build a visual impression of what is like to start out with fresh eyes and gradually come to know a single subject really well. There are quite a few such projects in the canon, but none, I feel, which do justice to a subject close to my heart, one which I am certain would result in a significant contribution to the history of the medium. So I would keep it simple. Just me, my 6x6, and a full year at the Ritz."

Mike replies: You forgot to add the rimshot at the end there. [g]

Jack (partial comment): "I did this in 2010 but without the assistant and I kept the camera at the end. It was a Leica S and a 35mm S. Three years later I use the same camera but still no assistant."

Terry Letton: "I'm afraid I would have to decline such an offer. The thought of being tied to only one lens for a whole year would be stifling. Ever since my first SLR freed me from captivity to the not-so-nifty 50, I enjoyed being able to change up once in a while which never fails to enliven my results. The rest of the offer is very enticing, but no, I'll pass."

S. Chris: "Can't imagine anyone reading this far down the comments, and if they do, sheesh, yet another Leica M with 35mm ƒ/1.4.... How boring....

"To spice it up and to take advantage of the circumstances (free lab!), I'd make it an M6 TTL, probably with the .58 finder. And loads of Portra 160 and 400, and Tri-X. Scanned by real experts on something like top o' the line Imacon gear.

"I'd spend at least half the year knocking around Java, Ternate, maybe Flores, a few more out-of-the-way bits.... Then either carry on, or head to the other end of the globe and crawl around Morocco for the remainder.

"The heartbreak would be parting with such a fine camera after a year of getting to know it well. But I do after all have my own M6 and M9 to go back to, though the M6 needs some work and is the standard .72 finder....

"Interestingly, the part about this that is the most appealing to me (also the only part I haven't basically done already) is having the assistant. I imagine someone who would be a truly gifted photo editor, helping me to discover things in my work I am blind to myself...."

Comments

[Earl Dunbar]

I would photograph the north shore of Lake Superior and the lands, lakes and streams to its north, and the peoples and stories.

I would use the same camera I already have, a Chamonix 45N-2, but with a lens I do not (yet) own, the Fuji 240A f9. Although I am not well travelled compared to most who read and comment here, I am content that Superior is the best place I could choose.

[Svein-Frode]

Easy. Hasselblad H5D-60 and 35-90mm lens.

[Neal]

Most definitely would jump at the chance, the camera would have to be a technical field camera, most likely 4x5 with perhaps a 90mm lens.

I don't currently own said camera, although I do have a Busch Pressman 4x5 with 135mm Wollensak Raptar, that I use and love dearly.

[TC]

It's a bit strange that most of the comments concentrate on gear and travel and almost none of them mention projects.

I'd have to decide between a few projects I've mulled over. Possibly something on the ferries that run between the various Japanese islands and the people who work on them, or perhaps the influences of the newest immigrants that are flooding Amman, Jordan (if I could take the arid atmosphere for as long as a year...I'm used to humidity). The camera isn't important, something full frame with a 35-40mm lens would do fine, I'd think, but I'd use whatever I had access to.

[Michael Bearman]

Sony RX-1R with the lovely but expensive Zeiss OVF. I have the RX-1 without the R.

[Mike R]

Now that I've had time to let this hypothetical question settle in a little, (it kinda rattled me at first), I'd be perfectly content with an updated version of what I already have, which is either the Lumix GF1, or the GH2, and the 14-42 kit zoom.

Picking 2015 as a target year, I'd like to take a motor home, (equipped with my computers and printers and able to connect to the internet), to every major airshow in the USA and Canada. I'd plan to visit every iconic USA spot on my bucket list in between, or in-transit, as well as art museums. In the off season (both the early months, and the late months), in the spring I'd base in Paris for a few weeks, and in the fall, it'd be Venice, for La Biennale.

My assistant? My wife, of course. We review each other's work all of the time. We're used to it.

[Ernie Van Veen]

I accept. Like 5% of your respondents (so far), I'll choose the Canon 5DIII (which I already own), but with my Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 instead of the Canon version. I'd also make sure the 5D was running Magic Lantern. Why? I can add in-camera time lapses, raw video and focus peaking to the mix.

My project? A multimedia documentary of the life and times of the Australian coast.

[Steve Smith]

I'd take an 8x10 Ebony and a nice 12-inch Dagor. Man, do I miss contact printing

Comments like this are quite common. My thought is, if you miss it so much, why not do it?

[James W.]

Yes, I would. I'd choose a Fuji X100S. I have an X100, but not an X100S.

[Andrew R]

Of course I would accept!

Although I'm tempted by the romance of the small camera/prime lens option (Leica M 240 with 50mm Summicron AA), I don't think I could make all the images I would like to in a year with a single focal length.

So I would take a Nikon D800E with the Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 as a compromise between portability (more portable than MF), versatility (decent wide angle to portrait length) and image quality.

I don't own either at present.

[Gert Visser]

I would like to do a project on Education. Photograph teachers and students/pupils around the world, to document the different ways and means we employ to educate the young. Camera Fuji ex1 because the camera is light an unobtrusive, lens fujinon 18-55 2.8-4, because a standard zoom is the most versatile.

[GMR]

Unless you REALLY love your current job, I see no reason for not accepting that offer...

Nikon d300s + sigma 18-35 f/1.8 - nice AF, relatively small and light, tough, zoom as fast as a prime from wide to normal, nice IQ and even the capability of grabbing some video, should it be needed

Currently own d300 and 35 f/1.8 (just missing an "s" and [18-35[ )

[Robbie Corrigan]

Pentax K-3 & FA43 Limited. I think I would tour all the Michelin starred restaurants in Europe and take a few shots in each. Should take a year or so.

[Bill Tyler]

One camera and one lens says "simplicity" to me, so I'm not going to try to get around that with a zoom. Olympus OM-D E-M5 (M1 if it's available by then) and 17mm f/1.8 lens. Since travel is provided, I'll take advantage of it. I'd like to finish the year with a strongly themed set of images, so I'll select a group of cities, and photograph daily life. I want to spend at least a month, and possibly more in each city - I don't want to be rushed. Cities on the list include Paris, Rome, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Tokyo, New York, Mumbai, and possibly others. Scheduling would be variable - I'd want to stay in a place until not exactly tired of it, but until I think I've got enough, and am ready to move on. Why this camera and lens? First, I own them already, and like them. The 17mm focal length (34mm equivalent) fits my way of seeing for this subject, and it's fast enough that I can work in relatively poor light. The camera and lens are light, unobtrusive, and yield excellent image quality.