Re: [Leica] Political Correctness

["Bob Walkden" <bobwalkden@hotmail.com>]

Hi,

complete crap, of course. It is a good idea to involve the people you're 
photographing, and it makes an interesting project in itself to give cameras 
to some of the people, but the idea that you shouldn't photograph foreign 
cultures is ludicrous. David Hurn (Magnum) and Peter Jay have some 
interesting things to say about this in their book 'On being a 
photographer'. Here is an excerpt; myth #8 is directly relevant to this 
matter:

http://www.phototechmag.com/previous-articles/apr-myths.htm

I have an interest in this because I have photographed quite widely in 
Africa, especially Ethiopia, so it's easy to guess which side of the debate 
I'm on.

Cheers,

Bob

>From: Tina Manley <images@InfoAve.Net>

>
>Dear LUGnuts -
>
>The Project Workshop in Santa Fe with Sam Abell was very good.  Sam is a
>wonderful teacher; however, I learned something that was both enlightening
>and disturbing.
>
>My project is "Las Familias" - an exhibit (possibly book) of my photographs
>of Honduran families.  I learned that many galleries will not accept my
>project because it is politically incorrect - I am a photographer from the
>first world photographing people in the third world.  To make the project
>more acceptable it was suggested that I involve the families in the project
>by (a) giving them a camera and letting them photograph their own lives (b)
>getting them to write comments about the photographs.  (a) wouldn't work
>because the people I visit don't have time to take photographs - they spend
>all of their waking hours trying to feed their families (b) might work with
>a tape recorder but many of the people I photograph don't read or write -
>and several of the families in the project were killed by Hurricane Mitch -
>do I exclude those photographs?
>
>What do you think about political correctness?  Gallery owners and
>publishers who reviewed our work seemed to think it is an important issue,
>but it honestly never occurred to me.
>
>Leically,
>
>Tina
>
>
>Tina Manley, ASMP
>http://www.tinamanley.com
>

________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com