In your bag No: 1621 – James Stokes

James gives us an organized Terminator-esque POV of the lovely goodies he carries daily down under.

My name is James Stokes, and I’m a student studying Architecture/Creative Innovation/Engineering/ Physics in Australia. Very much like my study, I’ve developed a constant condition of indecisiveness, as reflected in the breadth of gear I use. All serving a slightly different purpose and function, as they further expand my exploration.

I started shooting on a 650d, but it wasn’t until my 7D that I began to gear horde. First it was all digital, but as I started lugging around one body with what seemed like hundreds of lenses, the system became overly complex, but didn’t really allow me to extend any further. It wasn’t until I bought my first $10 Om-10 that I’ve nearly completely dropped digital. Contrary to reason, I’m now running a simpler, easier, more enjoyable kit.

Photography has never stood to me as a singular media, it has always, and will always, be a supplementary/complementary product to capture, frame, record, freeze, or explore with. The pace of film very much matches my pace in sketching, reducing the anxiety of speed. My sketch books are just another vision. The further awkwardness of some cameras help mental processing of a shot, and combined with the higher price per shot (especially the RZ67) further slows me down to think about the image, and the frame. The fear of losing a moment has made me less dependent on the image, but more on my memory and engagement in the present. I find every day I lean further away from the digital, with even my Fuji x100s turning more vintage dusty than the elder companions.

Not everything pictured fits into the Crumple Bag, but I tend to lean towards (unfortunately for my back) the Mamiya RZ67 for urban architectural photography with Portra 400 and the Olympus Om-2n with Ilford Xr2 400 for the rest. The Nikonos is amazing, build tough, easy to use while being crushed by a wave. It is a nice companion to the beach, and everywhere else. The Canon G-III is a cute little rangefinder for when you don’t want to carry much of a camera. The Fuji X-100s does everything for me, nice and easy. The Olympus Om-2n does everything I want it do, and for me look gorgeous. And finally the clumsy brutish monster of the Mamiya RZ67, just puts a smile on my face…

Thanks for sending us your bag shot James. Don’t be shy, let’s see some images!

Keep them coming folks, we need more submissions, so get your bag on Japancamerahunter.com

Send me a high resolution image of the bag. Optimum size is 1500px across. Please ensure there is a bag in the shot, unless you don’t use one. The more you can write about yourself the better, make it appealing and tell us a story. Snapshots of your gear with a camera phone and no words will not be featured.
Oh and don’t forget your contact details (twitter, flickr, tumbler et al). Send the bag shots here. Please understand that there is a long wait now as there is a backlog of submissions. Not all make the cut, so make sure yours is funny/interesting/quirky. And please make sure the shot is of good quality, as the ones that are not do not go up.

Cheers
Japancamerahunter