Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/10/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>>>> Many on the LUG love to relate the use of their Leica gear as impromptu weapons in securing a favored position to document an event. Why, one might ask, if not to lay claim to an 'authorative' representation of the moment? If such a photo were to become emblematic, to appear, for instance, as an illustration in a college history textbook, would we dismiss the photographer's aggressive shaping of the image as inconsequential to its content? I doubt it. Chandos <<<< Chandos, I think that one of the deadly traps of photojournalism in general is the urge to produce emblematic images which fail to transmit or even notice the particularity of place or person. How many pictures have you seen of a person afflicted with leprosy laughing with his kids? No, he has to be miserable because he's a leprosy victim, and therefore his personal experience must be disregarded in the pursuit of a larger theme. Or a drug addict enjoying a cup of tea with his mates? This is an insidious form of "invention", really a sort of propaganda, which it's hard not to fall into, especially when dealing with the exotic or "serious". Very little journalistic photography allows people to be more than symbols of their condition. Sontag just has a very snappy way of putting it. Better than me! There does seem to be an anti-intellectual trend to the LUG at times, I wonder why? Not that I count myself as an intellectual or artist, whatever. Actually, I find Diane Arbus' comment more self-consciously oracular than Sontag's. Rob. Robert Appleby V. Bellentani 36 41100 MO Italy tel. (+39) 059 303436 mob. (+39) 0348 336 7990