My Camera

I have a desire to document fragments of what happens in the streets through street photography. For that reason, the most important factor when choosing a camera was portability. It had to be small enough to fit in my pocket, so I could carry it anywhere and shoot at any time. At the same time, it needed to deliver a level of image quality I could be satisfied with.

The only camera that met both of these conditions was the RICOH GR III.

In particular, the Snap Focus mode allows you to shoot instantly at a preset distance, ensuring you never miss a moment. When I feel the urge to capture something, I can press the shutter without hesitation. That sense of speed is essential in street photography. The fixed 28mm focal length also feels just right. The more I use it, the more naturally this angle of view fits with how I shoot.

I’m not someone who is obsessed with gear. What matters most to me is what’s happening right in front of me—the light, the shadows, the coincidental layers of reality. For me, the act of photography is about documenting those fleeting moments as they are. Smartphone cameras continue to evolve, but I often feel that their software-based processing prevents them from truly capturing what I see. I want to record light as it appears in real life—nothing more, nothing less.

To me, pressing the shutter comes before any concern over gear. That is the most important act in photography. For now, I’ll continue using the GR III to capture what unfolds in front of me.

“What the photograph reproduces to infinity has occurred only once: the photograph mechanically repeats what could never be repeated existentially.”

—Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida, Chapter 1 “The Difficulty of Studying Photography”