Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/07/08

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Today's Great Photographers {was Photo whores}
From: Eric Welch <ewelch@ponyexpress.net>
Date: Wed, 08 Jul 1998 19:20:11 -0500

At 08:26 AM 7/8/98 -0700, you wrote:

>the photographers had access to incredible misery and suffering. the
>power of the photography lies not only in their skills as photographers,
>but in their incredibly grim surroundings (?).

On the National Press Photographers list, this subject has been beaten to
death, with convincing evidence that that is not true. Good photographers
take great pictures in their own neighborhood. And bad photographers can't
take decent pictures anywhere, no matter how far away or exotic. The
subjects themselves may be compelling, but the pictures are another thing
altogether.

>i've seen the "bean counters" get castigated, yet those bean counters
>are simply counting beans ? if people don't buy the magazine something 
>needs to be changed ? if people do then the bean counters are kept busy 
>with piles of beans ?

A Dallas Morning news photographer just this morning talked about how a
bean counter came into a paper he used to work for (much smaller on the
east coast) and saw the photo budget was rather large compared to the rest
of the paper. Ignoring the fact they had just upgraded all their photo
equipment and bought a bunch of computer equipment, but still needed to
spend more the next year, he forced the photographers to limit their film
usage to five frames for general assignments and 15 for sporting events. 

Great for shooting discipline I suppose, but totally out of touch with
reality.

That's bean counting.
- -- 

Eric Welch
St. Joseph, MO
http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch

He, who will not reason, is a bigot;     
he, who cannot, is a fool;                
and he, who dares not, is a slave.         

William Drumond, Scottish writer  (1585-1649)