Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/05/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Eric, Earlier you wrote that Cartier-Bresson would say, "I am a surrealist," and you added, "Photojournalism and art are not so far apart." But your comment below contradicts that. There you say that you too "can fake pictures all day long" and don't find certain "pictures all that compelling, because I know that with money and models, I could do the same," and that "My composition would be different, [and] it would be in color, but it would be just as fake." The notion of what's "fake" is germane to photojournalism, but it's irrelevant to art (except, of course, where one perpetrates a forgery of an exiting work of art). Photojournalism and art differ entirely in their objectives, even if Cartier-Bresson's work shows that their results may---given his unique genius---coincide. Certainly, as you have pointed out on this list before, to "fake it" violates a basic objective of photojournalism. But would one call Orson Welles or Robert Altman "fakes" because they worked from scripts, staged scenes, and employed actors? Surely not! The objectives of news and documentary film on the one hand and Orson Welles's "Citizen Kane" and Robert Altman's "Nashville" on the other differ in the same way as the objectives of photojournalism and art. Surrealism is an artistic style, and whether Cartier-Bresson considers himself that or something else is of far less importance than what he created in whatever style. He made it SEEM that "Photojournalism and art are not so far apart," perhaps, because he, extraordinarily, while practicing photojournalism, produced some great works of art. :) Art Peterson - ----Original Message Follows---- From: Eric Welch <ewelch@ponyexpress.net> Reply-To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: Re: [Leica] art, manual focus & other misunderstanding Date: Wed, 05 May 1999 11:05:00 -0500 At 09:15 AM 5/5/99 -0400, you wrote: >I would like to see some of your work that competes with Dousneau. You guys don't get it. My point was that I can fake pictures all day long. I dong find his pictures all that compelling, because I know that with money and models, I could do the same. I have no interest in doing it, so forget it. My composition would be different, it would be in color, but it would be just as fake. Eric Welch St. Joseph, MO http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch Backups? We doan *NEED* no steenking baX%^~,VbKx NO CARRIER _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com