Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/11/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]As-bo-lute-ly. So the difference between the two types of propaganda is in their underlying motives and messages. The work of Evans and Lange we appreciate, because at some basic level, it strikes us as benevolent, because it helped move a country towards doing something about poverty. The other instance we find abhorrent, because it glorifies a president who apparently fabricated a scheme to move the country towards a war it now has to reconsider. By the way, did anyone watch Noam Chomsky on Charlie Rose last night? It was a good interview, and would have been great, had Charlie not insisted on putting his ego in the way! (I've already written to him to complain!) Kit == B. D. Colen responded to Eric: "Easy, big guy..:-) I wasn't criticizing the photographers - many of whom are among the Greats - or the work, which speaks for itself. I was simply pointing out that the work IS propaganda, produced for a government propaganda agency, and needs to be considered on those terms. That was NOT what we would today call documentary work or photojournalism. Those photographers weren't told - go document life in America during the Great Depression; nor were they told to go document the lives of people in the Midwest and West during the Great Depression - - they were told to go get photographs of poor people which would move the great mass of people and put pressure on Congress to pass a very specific set of social programs. And that doesn't strike me as any different from putting a banner that says "Mission Accomplished" on an aircraft carrier onto which a formerly AWOL Texas Air National Guard pilot will be flown in a flight suit so that he can make a victory speech to the American people. ;-) B. D. Stirring the pot every few days keeps the food for thought from sticking to the bottom!" - -----Original Message----- From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Eric Welch Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 9:39 PM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: Re: [Leica] XXX of the YYY? WAS (something else) (fwd) Well, for one thing this happened before there was any kind of formation of those concepts as we understand them now. Even so many of the photos were close enough considering the development of the profession in those days. On Nov 20, 2003, at 10:38 AM, B. D. Colen wrote: > Yes, they produced gorgeous work - but it > was NOT documentary photography or photojournalism is any sense that > those terms are commonly understood; Eric Welch Carlsbad, CA http://www.jphotog.com Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco. - Will Rogers. - -- 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 - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html