Re: Needs vs Wants

[Oddmund Garvik <garvik@i-t.fr>]

At 23:48 17/03/1997 -0500, Bob R wrote:
<snip>
>I infer that you can get along very well without a Leica M. I assume Horowitz
>couldn't get along without a Steinway grand. He seldom used another brand or
>type. At the level of his art the cost of the instrument didn't enter his
>mind. The Steinway was not a luxury to him.
>It was a necessity. 
<snip>
>I reckon our equipment is a matter of the priorities we set for ourselves to
>accomplish our destiny. Unless we're wealthy we must make tradeoffs. We deny
>ourselves certain things to afford others. So we know the use value of what
>we possess. I don't own luxuries. Therefore, to me a Leica isn't one. I don't
>buy what I want. I purchase what I need.
<snip>

I think there are several categories of Leica users: Professional
photographers who need an efficient tool, and amateur photographers at
different levels, for whom the Leica represents a variety of values. I think
the question has an objective and a subjective answer. 

First of all when you are a freelance photographer, fighting every day to
survive, and to continue your work, you become especially aware of the
expenses. The 'cost of production' with an extensive Leica system is far too
high to be reasonable. That is at least objective. 

Using an older M because of the unique characteristics of the camera as a
tool in association with a personal affinity with the Leica, is not
necessarily a question of 'luxury'. If you feel that you need your Leica M,
and if you can show results confirming this, I think the Horowitz/Steinway
example is valid also for Leica users. 

We do see other examples, however, of a certain cultivation of the Leica M
as a gadget, as male jewelry, which in my opinion has a limited value. This
attitude is closer to a collector's attitude, and is of course a matter of
pure luxury. 

I got rid of my M's, because I didn't use them very often, and finally
because I found out that I didn't need a Leica *system*. I couldn't defend
having a camera only because it was a Leica, or because I like the idea of
having a Leica. 

I make some of my images in third world countries. As I already mentioned in
an earlier message, our Leicas are 'worth' more money than the majority of
human beings would ever earn their whole life. A farmer in India, for
instance, would at least have to work for ten years to earn what we paid for
an M6. In this perspective the fundamental idea, Needs vs Wants, also
becomes a moral one.

Oddmund
- ---
Oddmund Garvik - <garvik@i-t.fr>
Today's topic - Pictures from 'World in Crisis' (Medecins Sans Frontieres)
http://www.msf.org/photogal/crisis.htm