[Leica] Re: A Manifesto

[Douglas Cooper <douglas@metaversalstudios.com>]

> 1. Images must not move.
> 6. Nothing beautiful, except by accident.
> 2.2 A person must inhabit every shot.
> 4. Input analogue, output digital.
> 5. No staged action
> 
> 5. Images must not titillate, except by accident.
> 9. Eschew autofocus.
> 7. Natural or found light.
> 8. Slow-speed or negative film, color.
> 
> 10. Let there be a hand-held meter, or no meter at all.
> 
> 
> In terms of Leicas, just about everyone with an M4P or earlier and all
> Barnak cameras have been doing this for years.


Well, not exactly.  Slow speed color film for candid street work?  Not all
that common.  Input analogue, output digital?  Nothing beautiful?  I
wouldn't say that these are precisely standard Leica practices.  Certainly
not for years:  digital output wasn't all that tempting years ago.

Anyway, the rules that *do* apply to years of Leica practice are not out of
place.  (If you check out the Dogme95 manifesto, you'll find rules that have
applied for years to documentary and independent film work:  handheld
camera, authentic locations and props, no genre work, etc.)  What is unusual
- -- I'm not suggesting unique -- is photography that adheres to *all ten* of
these dicta.

If you find, however, that you've already been doing this for years,
congratulations:  you're a member of this elite group, whether you want to
be or not!

cheers,


Douglas Cooper
www.dysmedia.com