[Leica] Some history

["Erwin Puts" <imxputs@knoware.nl>]

At the beginning of the 20th century photography was dominated by the
socalled Pictorialist School, that insisted upon the artistic possibilities
of camera-made imagery, giving photographs that represented a personal
vision, by selecting subject, light and atmosphere.
This movement brought the world the aesthetically motivated photography that
gave photography the respect of an artform.
These Pictorialists however deplored intensily the utilitarian banality of
of Realist or Straight Photography.This style   gave us sharply focused
pictures with unblinking realism. This approach yielded images full of
details, enlarged and crisply purified of their functional context and so
lens filling that the images border on pure design.
This text above is a condensed abstract from the book  'A History of modern
art'by Arnason.
The two positions, Pictorialism and Straight Photography, are in my view at
the heart of the current topic if one is allowed to use the image potential
of Leica lenses and when doing so, one is still being a true photographer.
As Pictorialists seem to despise the Straight Photographers, this emotion
nicely summarises what is going on on this list lately.
I have no dispute with, nor objection to photographers who wish to foster
their personal expression by whatever means and tools.
I do object however to the assertion that a Realist approach, that is using
the tools to represent reality with unblinking realism, should be
considered a banal way of using the Leica.
I also do object to the notion that the Leica is the proper instrument for
pictorialist photography and may only be used to reach that goal.
So maybe the Pictorialists will allow that Realists do exist and can proceed
with their goals without being deplored and ridiculed at every step. And
maybe they will even accept that the Leica is a tool that can be used for
both types of Photography and that neither type is superior in itself.


Erwin