Re: [Leica] Garry Winogrand

[Johnny Deadman <deadman@jukebox.demon.co.uk>]

on 28/4/00 10:41 AM, Dan Honemann at ddh@home.com wrote:

> I just received a copy of the Garry Winogrand book, _The Man in the Crowd_,
> and spent the better part of the night leafing through the pages.  Wow!
> These are remarkable photos.
> 
> Photo books often discuss the emulsions but rarely if ever mention the
> optics used.  Does anyone know what lens(es) Garry used to produce these
> images?  Most look wider (to my thoroughly untrained eye) than 35.

Winogrand (my hero!!) almost exclusively used an M2 or M3 with a 28 for his
street stuff, though I think you're right that some of the early stuff was
shot with a 35. I suspect that some of the 28 images were cropped slightly
which makes them look like a 35. (There are very few limbs poking into the
edge of frame which is unusual for such freeform shooting).

There are nice pictures of him using the M2 in that 'THE OTHER SIDE OF THE
CAMERA' book, which has a great shot of him shooting between his legs as a
joke. 

It was all Tri-X in D76 1:1, though Meyerowitz says in BYSTANDER that
Winogrand rated it at 1000 and pushed it, so that he could shoot at 1/1000
whenever possible... he was a fanatic about sharpness, apparently. If you
look at the sunlit shots there is often no shadow detail whatever.

Other people remember that Winogrand used to attach little sticky tabs to
his film recording the light conditions it was shot under.

Most of the time the camera was in his hand with the strap wrapped around
his palm. People remember him standing in the flow, just bringing the camera
to his eye for the exposure, quick as a flash, then giving one of his big
Santa Claus grins that he always seems to be wearing.

As I keep saying, I really want to write a Winogrand biography, so if anyone
has any anecdotes or contacts they feel like sharing, I'd love to be
contacted off-list.

- --
Johnny Deadman

photos:      http://www.pinkheadedbug.com
music:       http://www.jukebox.demon.co.uk