[Leica] Carl Mydans

[tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant)]

Buzz Hausner informed us: :-(
Subject: [Leica] Carl Mydans


> Carl Mydans, one of the original staff photographers for "Life" magazine
and a brilliant photojournalist, has died at the age of ninety-seven.<<<<<

There goes another of my idols as I learned the magic of picture taking. 54
years ago when I began playing photographer I visually devoured every copy
of LIFE, old and new, I could get my hands on. Went through  them time and
time again studying every picture, the light, it was always the light that
constantly blew me away. How the photographs were taken and what was the
motivation for capturing the moment. And back to the magic of understanding
the available light they worked with.

Of course I always dreamt of shooting a LIFE assignment, alas it was not to
be. Actually I looked through nearly every copy till "the original LIFE was
put to rest." And I attribute the consistency of studying page after page to
my success over the years and today.

And as B.D. said... >>>>Actually, it's more than a bit ironic that the
generation that pioneered 35 mm film photography and film are disappearing
at about the same time.<<<

Evolution mon ami. As the old guys move on from one era, the young guys and
gals of today will fill the void with their electronic machines. However,
there's an extra sad note to all this beyond the passing of the old crew,
there are no wonderful large magazines around to carry those beautiful LIFE
sized multi-page picture spreads. :-(

And that for the young shooters of today is a major loss in showing the fine
art of being a photojournalist.

ted