Re: [Leica] Today's Great Photographers {was Photo whores}

["Bill Larsen" <ohlen@lightspeed.net>]

I was rather impressed by the 29 June 1998 issue of U.S. News and World =
Report.  In this issue is two articles on China.  One is "China' Exhibit =
No. 1 - Shanghai is the Showcase for De-demonizing China."  This is =
illustrated by color photographs that could be taken in almost any urban =
area.  (pp.. 38-40).
The second is titled "Underneath China's Boom - Joblessness, Addiction =
and Prostitution on the Rise."  This is illuminated by seven pictures by =
Francesco Zizola which are in black in white.  High contrast prints with =
a somber tone.  Newsweek credits Zizola and the Contrasto/Matrix, but =
does not explain who Zizola is.  While the captions are necessary, the =
article text is not.
I don't know what cameras Zizola uses, but I think the announced death =
of photojournalism is premature.
Regards, Bill Larsen

- -----Original Message-----
From: B. D. Colen <BDColen@earthlink.net>
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us =
<leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Date: Wednesday, July 08, 1998 3:51 PM
Subject: RE: [Leica] Today's Great Photographers {was Photo whores}


|
|It seems to me that when discussing great images of the past, the =
period in
|which these images were taken were historically significant, i.e., =
great
|depression, WWII, Viet Nam, etc.  Maybe Eric Welch or other pros out =
there
|can
|answer this better than I, but do we need major historical events to =
produce
|great photojournalism that 95% of the public will take interest?
|
|Arturo
|
|Arturo - I think not. But I think part of what you are referring to is =
the
|subjects themselves, more than the photography per se. War makes =
compelling
|photographic material. Armies marching into Paris make compelling
|photographs. A napalmed naked child running down a road makes a =
compelling
|photo subject, and you don't need to be HBC, Larry Burrows, or Eddie =
Adams
|to get a great photo of that.
|
|The Great Depression was, I believe, another matter entirely. While it
|didn't take much of an artist to get a compelling photo of a bread =
line, it
|did take a real photographer - with a real eye - to get most of the
|portraits and most memorable images produced during that period.
|
|Again, I don't think what we're talking about is what the public will =
or
|won't respond to, but what editors are interested in printing. And what =
they
|seem to be interested in is celebrities, etc.
|
|B. D.
|