When we get better at photography, particularly street photography, what is the core skill that we are actually building? Certainly, we need to learn how to use the photographer’s tools: the camera, the lens, lighting, the usage of film or application of digital editing, and so on. And of course, the exact tools of the trade vary. What is crucial for one photographer is useless for another. However, I would argue there is one universal skill that comprises the foundation of photography: perception. The fundamental aspect of what we do is simply put as seeing. It is this ability which we need to learn, to improve, and to sharpen in order to get better at photography.

To be honest, I don’t think it’s so important to classify and quantify what is or isn’t Street Photography with a capital S and a capital P. All that really matters is that you’re out there photographing—exploring the world through your camera’s lens and through your own inner perception. In the past, I’ve spent too much effort making sure my photos are ‘street’ enough. Do I really care if someone else can ‘smell the street’?

But, unfortunately, my mind can’t let it go. I give into the human compulsion of classifying and categorizing things. The taxonomy of photographs is no exception. I can’t help but put my photos into neat little mental boxes, one box for each type.

Of course, you need a camera… right?! It’s right there in the name: from the Greek roots φωτός (phōtos) meaning "light" and γραφή (graphé) "drawing" together meaning "drawing with light." You must have some tool to do this. You cannot do it with your hands alone. This is obvious, so why the provocative title?

As I write these words, I know it sounds like an English major over-analyzing something so basic and obvious (I happened to have majored in English, so I spent a few years doing this). But I believe acknowledging this idea is an important element—a mantra—which helps me maintain sight of what actually matters in my creative pursuit in the realm of photography. It’s not about the camera. The camera is just a tool—completely arbitrary—a necessary evil that exists only as a means to get what I am really after: honest perception, truth in an image, self-discovery.

So, what is my dilemma? With such a wealth of amazing work out there… I wonder, why do I bother? To be honest, I’ve often felt a tinge of jealousy. Those other works are so good, that maybe I wish I took them. I overcame this negative line of thinking with a simple mantra: don’t be jealous; be inspired. When this came to me years ago, whether I read it somewhere or it was a personal realization, it was like a salve on a wound. It soothed the pain caused by that dilemma—the ubiquity of great work.