Tools, Tricks and other 'T' words

I'm a firm believer that tools a means to an end just as a collection of sounds that 'might' form words are only elements in a sentence.

I've been asked twice in the last few days something to the effect of if money were no object, what would you use as 'gear' for making images. Similarily, I was asked my opinion on this camera vs that.

I - of course - have tools that I'm comfortable with but I don't see them as being particularly relevant to process. Whether it be the brand of film, camera or chemical process I use, they have characteristics that are appealing and effective to use rather than being key drivers in the work.

I shot a particular way not because of idealogical reasons but because of practical considerations. Ideally I would use 'x' or 'y' if logistically possible, but a lack of 'x' or 'y' is not going to stop the work.

Duane Michals point it quite poignantly when he joked that you don't imagine writers sitting around discussing the virtues of their typewriters.

Whilst it sounds a bit gag-inducing, I do believe that artists are people who USE photographs/mud/shopping bags/ink/pigment (circle where applicable) rather than people branded as photographers, painters, sculptors or whatever label we might see fit to apply to them.