[Leica] "review" of Women in Medicine

[tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant)]

Richard offered:
Subject: [Leica] "review" of Women in Medicine


> Nah, this is not a review because it is probably more classifiable as a 
> fan letter or something.
>
> It is good. The story is engaging, the forward and the introduction gave a 
> history of the subject, which I as a layman, do not know much about. Then 
> the photos...<<<<<<<

Hi Richard,
We can't thank you enough good sir for your positive remarks about our book. 
Very kind indeed, sure makes us feel good about the efforts of long hours, 
long days and seemingly never ending rolls of film, processing, printing, 
editing and fussing and fussing over which photographs worked and which 
didn't.

I think we logged more hours in hospitals, doctor offices and every kind of 
medical situation from birth to death one non-medical person does in their 
lifetime. And we put it all into about 5 months! :-) Whew!

We're exceptionally pleased you liked the written aspect. The forward by Dr. 
Jennifer H. Mieres, Director of Nuclear Cardiology at Northshore University 
Hospital on Long Island, New York, is an incredible interesting historical 
piece of how women evolved in the medical world during the last century.

While the introduction by Judith Finlayson of Toronto, Canada opens our eyes 
to women in medicine the world over. It's a piece of writing that works 
beautifully hand in glove with the photography in such a unique manner the 
writing and photography compliment each other.

Best of all? The writing is such a comfortable read it grabs you to the 
extent once you start you just want to read to the end without interruption! 
;-) Fascinating subject.

> Oh boy, this is what photojournalism is about. You are treated to an 
> intimate look at scenes with these women doctors. It is almost like it is 
> movie set where the camera is right there, to show you the actions. Except 
> that these are not rehearsed actresses, but real people. Make you wonder 
> how they do it. They are like flies on the walls, with cameras on their 
> necks. We know what Ted might say, "I just focus and shoot!" Sandy 
> probably would say the same. I wish we all can focus and shoot like 
> that.<<<<<<<

Now that's a major compliment and very much appreciated because we shoot in 
exactly the same manner, see, focus, shoot! ;-) It's as simple as that 
without any analytical thought whatsoever! In fact it's extremely difficult 
if not impossible, as many have tried to tell which of us shot which 
picture! One of many things I like about the book is it's photographic 
uniqueness with two photographers shooting in different cities, hospitals, 
clinics, offices and readers can not tell who shot what! A quite amazing 
thing photographically.

And of course all Leica glass! ;-)

> And the lights. What mastery! I had a chat with a 4x5 landscape shooter 
> over the weekend after I showed him my portfolio, and we were talking 
> about tonal forms, the zone system, Weston and his peppers and all that. 
> This is not like that. Ted just focuses and shoots - and the shadows on 
> the faces are just right, and the bright lights don't scream burnt-out 
> highlights. They are just part of the images. Wow!<<<<<<<<

Without question light is the magic, recognizing what works, what doesn't, 
understanding how to use it and not fussing about it, is the secret to much 
of our success in shooting anytime. Look for the shadow side where it can be 
useful, move there and start to look at what you see! ;-) Click! ;-)

> I have to say that the equipment fetish in me causes me to notice several 
> shots with the creamy bokeh signature of the Noctilux. Of course I could 
> be wrong in pegging them. No matter, lots to learn from books from this...
>
> Thank you Ted and Sandy.<<<

Richard we most sincerely thank you and trust you enjoy it a very long-time.

ted & (Sandy)