RE: [Leica] Cartier-Bresson Tete-a-Tete

["B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

Alistair - I think the issue one has to keep in mind with virtually all the
photography icons is that what they are really put on pedestals for is being
"first," not necessarily best. Robert Capa, for instance, who is held up as
"the" combat photographer, doesn't hold up very well when compared to some
of the shooters from the American Vietnam era - Larry Burrows, Henri Huet,
etc. - but he really invented modern combat photography. He took the viewer
where the viewer had never been before. He showed us the horror of war "up
close and personal," and risked his life time and time again - and finally
died - doing it. And yes, he was pretty damn good photographer.

HCB was/is a terrific street/art photographer. His name is synonymous with
the use of the Leica and the use of the Leica to freeze otherwise mundane
moments most of us never even "see," and make them meaningful. Many of his
images are technically quite "soft" by today's standards, because despite a
lot of the blather on this list, Leica lenses were not always sharp enough
to shave an image with.

Is HCB "the best" photographer of all time. Probably not. Are his
portraits - as seen in Tete-a-Tete, anything special? By and large, I don't
think so. But who cares. There are some things he did astoundingly well.

Similarly, W. Eugene Smith - who probably at one time or another used
practically ever serious camera ever produced ;-)...He manipulated his
images in the darkroom. He was, by all accounts, a quite bizarre person -
but he really is the father of the modern photo story. And he was one hell
of a photographer. But if you look carefully through a few of the recent
books of his stuff, and take a look at the contact sheets included, you'll
realize how much of his magic was achieved in the darkroom, rather than in
the camera.

All heroes have warts. All heroes have feet of clay. But they are all heroes
for specific reasons, and by and large, those reasons hold up over time.

B. D.
> From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Stewart,
> Alistair
> Sent: Monday, November 01, 1999 7:11 PM
> To: 'leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us'
> Subject: RE: [Leica] Cartier-Bresson Tete-a-Tete
>
>
> Ken,
>
> sorry if you took it as an attack, it was not meant as that.
> It was meant as
> critical, however, of the deification which we have performed
> on one very
> talented guy.
>
> best of light,
>
> alistair
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lee, Ken [mailto:ken.lee@hbc.com]
> Sent: Monday, November 01, 1999 12:19 PM
> To: 'leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us'
> Subject: RE: [Leica] Cartier-Bresson Tete-a-Tete
>
>
> Why must you attack someone just because you don't happen to
> like his work?
> I was very moved by the portraits on the web site from the
> "tete a tete".
> Does this mean there is something wrong with me? Why can't you like
> something without attacking something else?
>
> Ken
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:	Stewart, Alistair [SMTP:AStewart@gigaweb.com]
> > Sent:	Sunday, October 31, 1999 10:22 PM
> > To:	'leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us'
> > Subject:	RE: [Leica] Cartier-Bresson Tete-a-Tete
> >
> > Ah, Jonathan,
> >
> > you are right. Can't post to the LUG without a clear point :=)
> >
> > So, my point is that several LUGers, let alone countless other
> > contemporary
> > silver halide artists, have work that stands, on any
> evaluation, head and
> > shoulders above His, and elevates the medium far more than
> Mr. Artless Art
> > ever did. But the dealers don't stand to get rich off their
> work since the
> > market is as yet unmade. The new work isn't 'promoted' and
> the medium gets
> > mired in the old cliches. Es claro?
> >
> > best of light,
> >
> > Alistair
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Jonathan Borden [mailto:jborden@mediaone.net]
> > Sent: Sunday, October 31, 1999 8:37 PM
> > To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> > Subject: RE: [Leica] Cartier-Bresson Tete-a-Tete
> >
> >
> > The point being ... ?
> >
> > Jonathan Borden
> > Stewart, Alistair wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > OK, I may be dense here, but why are we continuing to deify
> > > HasCountlessBenefitsfromhisfamily?
> > >
> > > Know what? The world has actually rotated a bit since HCB married
> > > surrealism
> > > and photography. Get over it.
> > >
> > > I propose to the LUG that although His shoes would fit
> my, and our, feet
> > > poorly, there are thousands of better, yes, better, photographers
> > > out there
> > > today whose work gets
> > > 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of
> > > the coverage
> > > that He does.
> > >
> > > Please, get over it and let's move on to another niveau which is
> > unrelated
> > > to constructing a market so the print dealers can make even more
> > > money than
> > > they already have.
> > >
> > > OK, ok, can you guys hold off for a moment, please? I'm having
> > > some trouble
> > > with my asbestos suit here. My gonads seem to have got caught in
> > > the zipper.
> > >
> > > later
> > >
> > > Alistair
>