Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/11/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I think any photojournalist who is honest about what goes on in conflict areas, for instance, where clashes and riots are often "staged" in response to the presence of the press, would disagree with you. And please don't tell me that you've never asked someone to move aside to improve the light or the picture in any number of ways. Well, maybe you haven't! But again, what we are talking about here is method, not the picture. As an example, do you really think Eugene Smith didn't very largely stage manage the picture of the mourning women in his Spanish Village essay? Set up lights, ask people to move aside so he could get a good view of the dead man as well as the mourners? Or many others he took? I know PJ's and documentarists are wedded to the idea of spontaneity and not intruding (their idea of authenticity), but the real world of taking pictures is just not like that. Of course, the members of a professional association whose identity is founded on the projection of such a naive ethos may well deny it. Good photojournalists and documentary photographer take pictures that tell the story - _their_ story - and how they go about it is irrelevant. And of course, all you can ever document is your idea of what their lives are. - -- Rob http://www.robertappleby.com Mobile: (+39) 348 336 7990 Home: (+39) 0536 63001 All outgoing email scanned by Norton AntiVirus (TM) 2003 Professional Edition. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tina Manley" <images@InfoAve.Net> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 3:09 PM Subject: Re: [Leica] re: The Decisive Moment is gone > At 07:17 AM 11/4/2003 +0100, Rob wrote: > >Well, some people are better at directing than others. And also, direction > >need not mean _overspecifying_ - but it could mean saying, why don't you all > >go over and sit in that doorway and play with the baby for a bit while I > >take some pictures. > > Then I would not be documenting their lives. I would be documenting my > idea of what their lives should be. > > > >The fact is we are all actors all the time, and a good photographer knows > >how to leverage that to get what he wants. > > If this discussion were taking place over on the NPPA list, > photojournalists would be horrified at the suggestion that they direct > people in the photos. Good photojournalists and documentary photographers > do not interfere in any way with what they are photographing. I know my > very presence altars the situation. That's why I try not to bring > attention to myself. Eventually, they do go on with their lives as if I > were not there. The families that I photograph are too busy trying to make > a living and care for their children to stop and act for a photographer. > Spontaneous moments like the father touching the baby's hand are exactly > that - spontaneous. I don't believe that any photograph that has been > directed should be called a documentary photograph or photojournalism. > > Tina > > Tina Manley, ASMP > www.tinamanley.com > > > http://www.pdiphotos.com > http://www.workbookstock.com > http://www.newscom.com > http://www.americanphotojournalist.com > > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html