This is a really bad take. Art is expression, it's about the emotion it tries to evoke from its audience. There are sculptors who work with junk and other finished goods, not just clay or stone. There is a subset of photography and sound that attempts to accurately reproduce what is seen/heard and nothing more, but in both areas you have many examples of artists who add interpretation, which affects the emotional impact. For example, Steve Albini on the production front; his production techniques are instantly recognizable. Ansel Adams was essentially a landscape painter that used a camera and darkroom instead of a brush. It's just bizarre to be so focused on the equipment that one does nit understand what is being done with it.
I totally agree with you and you are touching on some big themes there. For some, photography is purely a mechanism of recording. However, there is always a degree of interpretation...after all we are capturing a 2 dimensional representation of a 3D world. Hence the phrase "all photography is a lie". For some, a camera is a service, for some a device, or others a curiosity, for others an art.
I can order a coffee from McDonalds or from my local art Barista...both contain the same elements and the same materials. However...they have an entirely different emotional impact on me.
A long while ago I went through the whole purist phase...no filters...just the camera and lens...minimal editing etc. It was a nice discipline but ultimately a flawed thought process. The Sensor has an IR filter placed over it to make the images more palatable. The lens has coatings that effect the colour response. The camera has a codec that interpret the colours (to give that Canon look). So it's all open for adjustment, tweaking, interpreting and choice. There is no right and wrong, only guides, narrative and impact. A photo could win 1st place using the WCPF judging rules (a 20 point system) and yet be utterly boring and have zero impact on the viewer. Or a photo could have blown highlights, lowlights, wonky horizons...no glint in a eye...symmetrical framing etc etc and yet be utterly enthralling.
Some photographers worry about settings and dials, others worry about light, others worry about narrative, others worry about atmosphere and ambiance. Neither is wrong or right.