Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/04/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Cutting from the new BJP Newsletter: two items speak for themselves. Peterg Dear Friends, Welcome to this week's Professional Photographers Newsletter. The renowned Henri Cartier-Bresson recently gave a self- depracatory four-letter response on TV to the query about how he feels when described as the century's greatest photographer. A still more pointed lesson in humility was given when he criticised those who go around declaring 'I am an artist.' His view, significantly, seems to be shared by many photographers who by general consent have every right to so describe themselves. One of those who has rejected the unsought 'artist' title declares that only the public interested in a medium had the 'yea' or 'nay' over a practitioner's status - and then only after due passage of time. But it can be argued that photography, a mere infant among the visual arts, whose history spans millennia, is in one respect a special case. If you accept that public or private funding is a good thing (and some don't) then the perception of a photographer as an artist is essential. In art history terms a mere tiny tot, photography needs nurturing. If the price is a little self-inflation, terminologically, then so be it. Somewhat similar in political advisability is the collector market in photographic equipment. Certainly there is a positive aspect to owning an original print made by a time-proven master. But working photographers tend to have a sense of unease about the high prices reached for obsolete or semi-obsolete cameras. On the other hand, they do promote a public respect for the material status of photography overall. So it may be politically correct to uphold self-expressive photographers as artists willy nilly and their old tools as priceless gems. Don't let's fool ourselves, though. Enjoy this week's issue... Darron Hartas, online editor *PPN is E-mailed to over 2,000 subscribers weekly* - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This week's printed BJP is out 1 April. View contents at: <http://www.bjphoto.co.uk/thisweek.html>