Repost of annoying attachment in ASCII form(itīs sm all)

["Nicolas Levinton" <nicolev@jet.es>]

This is why I wanted people to give me their opinions on the attachment =
I sent. This time, reasons like viruses, etc.. DO sound reasonable to me =
and although not much people spoke about the subject yet, I am =
convinced.
The only reason why I quoted the author (without mentioning his name) =
was to really see If he was right and I was wrong, or viceversa. It was =
the the quickest and simplier way, and it=B4s exactly as writing: "Hey =
guys somebody has told me privately that I shouldn=B4t this and that, =
because this and that. I personally think ...... please give your =
opinions"

Anyway. As for the third time since I joined the list some months ago: =
SORRY.

Here is the extract, just in case some of you will dare to read it:


Nicolas Levinton. Madrid. SPAIN
nicolev@jet.es

- ------------------------------------------------------------------------



Extract from the article "The Leica comes of age"
by Manuel Komroff from "Leica manual" by Morgan & Lester, Publishers.
Copyright 1947 Willard D.  Morgan and Henry M.  Lester.



" The age of the old "wooly" salon print is over.  Is it possible that =
this sweet, soft, mushy bit of sentiment is now in the scrapheap?  Yes, =
it is gone forever.  Perhaps some old boy clinging to the dear old =
horse-hair past will still reach down and drag out from under the bed a =
few mussy examples of "pictorial art" to show you.  But do not laugh.  =
In the presence of death you should be respectful.  And the death of an =
ideal takes no longer than the death of a man.  Sentiment dies hard.  =
And while we may still occasionally see examples of the fuzzy salon =
print they are growing rarer and their day is definitely over.

	How is one to account for the rapid decline and death of a whole school =
of photography, a school that held sway for so long and during the most =
important time in the development of photography?
Was it killed from the outside or was it poisoned from the inside?
What were the main factors that led to so definite a revolt?

	I believe that there were two main factors that hastened the advent of =
modern photography.  The first of these was a decided change of the =
times that followed inmediately after World War I.  Modern art had come =
into its own, modern architecture was announcing a new shell for the new =
life as different as the skyscraper was from the classical Gothic =
cathedral.  Automobiles that had been built on vertical lines were =
dropped low and streamlined on the horizontal, in the kitchen we threw =
out the old agate ware, in the bathroom chromium and showers became the =
order, in the bedroom the lace curtains were discarded, color was added =
to the living room and murals to the nursery.  Radio replaced the old =
phonograph, modern movies-the old melodrama, sunshine and vitamines-the =
old brown school of medicine, and as for women:-the hand that rocked the =
cradle now steers the car and the old modest blush now became frank =
rouge with lips that smoked a cigarette on the street.

	Yes, life changed quite quickly.  And as life changed the surroundings =
changed.  Values were different and meanings different.  Ten million men =
dead in a war that reached no victory and no conclusion could not help =
but change the lives of those who survived.  And this surely was one of =
the factors that did away with the old school of photography.

	The other factor was a piece of engineering.  A small camera was =
introduced to the world in the year 1924.  To many of the old =
photographers it looked like a toy designed for a lady's handbag.  But =
on closer examination it bore all the evidence of a keen precision =
instrument designed and manufactured by the ablest technicians of a =
world-famous microscope company.  It had certain important innovations.  =
It used a long strip of motion picture film, it could take pictures in =
rapid sucession, and it borrowed from the war the rangefinder which did =
away with the guess focusing of the old ground glass.  A great scope of =
shutter speeds and extra rapid crystal sharp lenses together with its =
size and ease of manipulation made this camera into an instrument of =
modern expression that dealt the final blow to the old "imitation art" =
school of photography.  This camera was the Leica!

	Amateurs welcomed the Leica with open arms and their results were far =
from disappointing.  Proffessionals, a little slower to give up their =
well-tried boxes and methods, soon realized that this instrument opened =
up a new photographic vista and here at last was a definite extension of =
the pictorial horizon.  Many who had picked up the Leica as a possible =
handy accessory to their great battery of equipment found in a year or =
two that they had definitely abandoned the large expensive sizes and =
were working exclusively with the miniature Leica.  And not only did =
they find that the Leica was capable of doing much that the old view =
plate box was capable of doing but that it could do many things that the =
large camera could never do.  It was possible to get pictures quickly in =
court rooms, in the dark of a theatre, at night on the street, a bird in =
its flight and a thousand and one more frozen and revealing records of =
our rapidly passing American scene.  Speed and frankness are a =
characteristic of our time.  The Leica with its freedom of expression =
became, almost overnight, the pocket notebook of passing =
events........."