Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/05/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]You wrote: From: Laurent SAMINADAYAR <saminad@amoco.saclay.cea.fr> Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 15:12:48 +0200 Subject: HCB Saw HCB's exhibitions "des europ=3DE9ens" this WE at the "maison Europ=3DE9e= n=3D ne de la Photographie". Wonderful ! I strongly recommend it if you are in Paris. Only the printings are quite bad. Laurent. I saw the exhibit Saturday, May 3rd. The images were wonderful, particularly those that are iconic in this master's body of work. Like Laurent I thought that some of the images suffered in printing; particularly the Alicante Spain photo of the three women doing their hair- too flat. On the other hand I was spellbound by some images I had never seen and that represented moments in pre-World War II Europe; moments of innocence. Finally, subscribing to this group is always enjoyable if only to follow the dualities of technical vs. philosophic/esthetic. To see HCB's work is to see every range of this discourse brought to life. I was amazed at how few of his images are truly sharp and how little the technical ne plus ultra of Leica lenses really matters. On the other hand, some of the lighting circumstances could only have been handled by glass that I have found to be very generous in its ability to record extremes of contrast. And, most certainly, the ergonomics and spontaneity offered by the camera mechanism itself have been maximized by this master. Finally, if you have the opportunity to see this show, do stop at the Muse= =E9 Pompidou as there are three or four photos by HCB of artists whose work is exhibited in the museum; Alberto Giacometti in particular coming to mind. Carl S. "Between the ideal and the reality lies the shadow." T.S. Eliot