Re: [Leica] The snapshot ethic

[henry <henry@henryambrose.com>]

Johnny Deadman wrote:
>
>sure, but the 'snapshot' has a load of tags of supposed authenticity...
>apparently casual composition, grain perhaps, some blur... these are the
>things that are supposed to make us turn our rhetoric-radar off. That's why
>there's such a hoo-hah when allegations like those about Doisneau's kiss
>surface. There's nothing in the picture that says 'this is unposed' except
>the nature of the picture itself. (Macluhan not a dead dog!).
>
>We are upset (well, some of us are) when we learn it's a posed pic because
>we assumed it wasn't. No-one told us it wasn't. It just 'looks' unposed.
I think ANY picture has a "load of tags of supposed authenticity". 
It is in the nature of a photograph.
People accept a photograph as evidence that some thing happened.
Doisneau's Kiss is a good example. I was somewhat shocked when I learned 
it was staged. Not because I had not seen staged photographs before but 
because this one is SO convincing. It becomes its own reality. Show it to 
100 unknowing people and I suspect they will accept it as fact. That's 
another part here - try to remove for a moment your "photographer" eyes 
and try to see it as an unsophisticated person would. Suddenly  the 
constructed photography we see in advertising becomes believable as fact. 
(of course - thats what they're counting on)

Doisneau's Kiss (and others) starts an internal story going for lots of 
people. As soon as that happens - its real. This is a test of great 
photos I think - if they cause the viewer to manufacture a framwork to 
hold them, building a story and a reality.
>
>I think it would be interesting to investigate how far its possible to
>switch this around ie create a picture which appears to be a formal, set up
>shot from the nature of the image, and yet is actually a snap. This is kind
>of what I'm hoping to do by shooting street stuff with 4x5, produce a
>technically astounding picture which nevertheless is a real street snap.
>
I'd be surprised if you pull this off. (not the technical part, I know 
you can do that)

Content over technique, the other way around is empty except as an 
exercise for training. Use all the technique you can, content MUST be 
there.

Henry