OT: [Leica] Salgado/Nachtwey

["Ting Lee" <tinglee@exceltrade.com>]

Hey BD

I just saw the Nachwey exhibition at the ICP this weekend.
The quality of the prints are much better than the book.
Some luggers had posted that his book 'Inferno' contained too much of the
same type of shots... too much of the too unpleasent  to look at stuff.. I
had agreed...that he's only known for his ability to shock.

Well... I was wrong.. he is a great photographer/photojournalist... one of
the best.  Most of his war pictures are no more bloody/gory than pics shot
by famous war photographers of the Vietnam era (at least at the exhibition).

Maybe Selgado's work might be a tad better technically, he didn't have
bullets whizzing over his head and bombs going off.   To me, Selgado's work
is more of a 'protrait session' in comparison to Nachwey's world of chaos.

Ting




- ----- Original Message -----
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Monday, July 17, 2000 11:41 AM
Subject: [Leica] Salgado/Nachtwey


> Having finally acquired both Inferno and Migrations, and having spent a
good
> deal of time with both this weekend, a few thoughts -
>
> If one reads the essays by the two photographers one is struck by how
> similar their outlooks and views of their own self-proclaimed mission - to
> bear witness and force society  to confront the evils that beset us;
>
> I don't see how one can really look at Nachwey's work and come away saying
> that he is removed from his subjects, somehow using or looking down on
the,
> trying to enhance his own reputation, etc. He is staring into the face of
> misery, evil and death, and shoving it into our faces;
>
> I would argue that while Nachtwey is the more impassioned of the two,
> Salgado is the better artist. This is not to say that Nachtwey isn't a
> really terrific photographer, in terms of how he frames, etc., etc., but
> Salgado's work is definitely more technically impressive - but not so much
> so that, as some have charged, the beauty of the work detracts from its
> impact.
>
> All in all, two amazing works by two of the outstanding photo
> commentators/documentarians of our age.
>
> B. D.
>
>