Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/06/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Sounds like a "powerful" image needs to portray something serious or important to humanity in general. At 10:26 AM 6/2/98 , you wrote: >Francesco, > >Landscapes, nudes no I don't think they can be "powerful". Beautiful, >moving, provocative, or other terms yes. > >To me Powerful connotes an image that immediately makes an impression in >the mind of the viewers and has the ability to effect some kind of >change, or captures some universal feeling. Children at play can, on >occasion, catch this if the emotion and "universally" appealing moment is >present. > >Think of the photos I mentioned earlier. The Eddie Adams photo I am sure >once seen you never forget. > >Eisse captured the mood of the entire nation with his "Kiss" photo. > >Eugene Smith caught the dogged hours and determination of a rural doctor, >as well as documenting the emotions of his patients and a way of life >that has all but disappeared. > >The photos transcend the "moment" to become icons of an era. > >While Ansel Adams landscapes are beautiful they do not create, in me at >least, power of the moment. I can look at the afore mentioned photos (as >well as many others) and experience the Joy, pain, desperation, hopes and >joys depicted there in. This is to me what makes a powerful image. > >I guess what I am getting at, for me at least, powerful images are packed >with emotion. The composition and lighting take second seat to the >emotion in the photo. I do not think the photos have to be famous, heck >some powerful images that I have seen are never seen by very many people >at all, but they must convey the emotions, and evoke emotions as well as >communicate something about either the event or subject matter to be >powerful. That is a lot to do in photography and is the reason I keep >plugging away with my Leicas. The few really good images are few and far >between - for me at least, but when I get them I feel I have accomplished >something. > > >Five Senses Productions wrote > >>So are you implying that a powerful image can only be of a serious, >>dramatic, or emotional life experience? Does this mean landscapes, >>nudes, or photos of children at play cannot be powerful? > > >Harrison McClary >http://people.delphi.com/hmphoto >