Android has a lot of nasty corners around stuff like this, which can prevent being both streamlined (accessing all photos does let you optimize for your app, some people want that) and privacy-friendly (for people who don't want that). My personal favorite:

If you don't request camera permission, you can still open the camera with an intent. This is great!

If you do request camera permission, and you are denied, you can't use that intent either. https://blog.egorand.me/taking-photos-not-so-simply-how-i-go...

I honestly can't tell if it's this way to be intentionally hostile to users, or by accident, or if they honestly think this is a positive quality.