“Have any notable inventions marked the year? Is the photostat coming
into use and has it any value other than commercial? Do you recommend one
of the new high-priced enlarging cameras, which focus the lens
automatically on any size of paper, as suitable for clubs to purchase?”
“Well, I must confess that I have only heard of it, and the price seems to
be such as to discourage almost all the pictorial workers that I know. In
my observation of the work that has been done by pictorialists, the very
fact that in many instances they use makeshift apparatus has resulted in
some of the most beautiful effects in their work. Good apparatus is of
course desirable, but there are happy accidents with the other sort. It
is the workman, not his tools, that counts. Get the best tools if you can
afford them, but remember that you can make just as bad pictures with an
expensive outfit as you can with the cheapest.”