Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/04/01
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At 09:43 AM 4/1/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Leica
>or not, is grossly overrated "People" photography. He may have been the
>world's
>most charming guy, but....
In the context of the history of photojournalism, he has many, many
wonderful pictures. The ballerinas standing in the windows sills. Amazing
light! The kids following the drum major. Churchill giving the Victory
sign. The sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square. I could go on and on.
He was truly a pioneer of the profession, and though he took many pictures
that are not terribly meaningful to most of us, he was amazingly prolific.
He had his own style. He never copied anyone. He is original as it gets.
And he deserves our respect for that, and not such a negative epithet as
the one above. He does not deserve being put in the same category as pseudo
photojournalists who specialize in celebrity photography for People. Sure
he had a lot of pot boilers. He was a staff photographer. That means having
to photograph many things the boss's think are important that he might not
have thought was so important.
As he said in one interview, he learned to not be intimidated by anyone,
and treated everyone with respect. He was one of the greats.
Eric Welch
St. Joseph, MO
http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch
The precept: Judge not, that ye be not judged... is an
abdication of moral responsibility. It is a moral blank
check one gives to others in exchange for a moral blank
check one expects for oneself. The moral principle to adopt