Meaning. Passion. Equipment.

Sometimes, in pursuit of high-end, better, and even better equipment, people forget the original intent of the equipment. Common groups of people are Audiophiles and Photographers.

Audiophiles, by definition are people who seek high-quality audio reproduction via the use of specialized high-end audio electronics; so the group I am referring to is really music appreciators. 

Music is fundamentally a form of communication; a message that the musician wants to convey. Every “ting”, every “oom”, the selection of every single instrument, vocal harmonies and many more; it paints an image the musician wants to show, it shows the hard work put forth by the musician.  Being able to take apart, and appreciate each layer of the harmonics by itself, and then put them back together and enjoy the piece as a whole. That is music appreciation.

I believe that the purpose of high-end audio equipment is to enhance the music appreciation experience. To me, high end audio equipment is about giving credit to the musician, and hearing music as what the musician intended to be. However, when one become obsessed with high-end equipment, music becomes secondary, and equipment takes priority. Music becomes something for one to appreciate his high-end equipment; but the original idea is the other way around.

I feel photographers are quite the same. Tho not a photographer myself, I see some similarity in the pursuit of high-end equipments.

Ever heard of the phrase “A picture paints a thousand words”? Same as music, behind each photograph, is the story the photographer wants to tell; it paints the image (literally) that the photographer wants to show. The purpose of a high-end camera is to enable the photographer to showcase his capabilities, to the photographer to tell his tale fully, and not be restrained by the limitation of his equipment.

And the same problem arises: obsession with high-end equipments. The question is: just by hanging a $4-5k DSLR on your neck, does that make you a photographer? When you shoot for the sake of the equipment, the photograph is hollow; it does not have a meaning. Photographs then become just a showcase of the camera’s capabilities.

The purpose of your equipment is to empowers your passion. When the focus is shifted to the equipment, the meaning in your passion is lost. Simply put, it should be “I want to do this, what equipment can allow me to do that?” not “I have such good equipment, what can I do with it?” If your passion is about flaunting your wealth and getting expensive equipment, then I have nothing to say.