Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/03/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I'm torn by HCB's quote. My starting point is that the quality of a photograph lies primarily in the composition, light and the capture of moment. That there is a danger of losing sight of this if you become too obsessed by the technical aspects of photography - the camera, the lens quality, the film etc. I think that this is the danger all dedicated photographers face. I always become testy with photographers who criticise the minutest aspects of the print of Selgado or Cartier Bresson's images. But, that doesn't mean that the technical aspects are irrelevant or unimportant. On the contrary - particularly those technical aspects that make the difference between capturing the image, with a reasonable quality of reproduction, or not. Perhaps, the key word in Cartier Bresson's quote is 'immoderate taste for the sharpness ' Gareth >>> Dan Cardish <dcardish@microtec.net> 18/March/1999 11:06am >>> It may be instructive to read the book, "Magnum, Fifty years at the front line of history", by Russell Miller, to get a different perspective of HCB (and of Magnum in general; what a messed up organization!). You may not want to quote him so freely after reading it. Just be satisfied with his photographic legacy. Dan C. At 04:49 PM 17-03-99 -0800, you wrote: >IMHO, this is simply an opinion of and by HCB. Neither correct, nor >incorrect. Simply "his" opinion. > >As far as saying it all... in reality it says nothing. It is simply an opinion. > >Jim > > >At 12:39 AM 3/18/99 +0100, Bruce Feldman wrote: > >>Just came across this quote, which says it all: >> >>"I'm always amused by the ideas that certain people have about technique, >>which translates into an immoderate taste for the sharpness of the image. >>Is it a passion for detail? For perfection? Or do they hope to get closer >>to reality with this trompe l'oeil? They are, by the way, as far away from >>the real issues as other generations of photographers were when they >>obscured their subjects in soft-focus effects." >> >> -- HCB, quoted in American Photo, Sept/Oct '97, p. 76. >> >> >> > > >