You don't study photography. You do it.
You can find pictures anywhere. It's simply a matter of noticing things and organizing them.
If your subjects are eternal... they'll survive.
Most photographers work best alone, myself included.
I don't really have a favorite camera. I use a Leica and Canon a lot. It depends, especially professionally, on the requirements. But my carry-around camera is a Leica.
Somehow Photoshop and the ease with which one can produce an image has degraded the quality of photography in general.