Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/07/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Scott- You provide great reasons for your photography. I have similar feelings about portrature-usually casual, informal shots of friends when we get together. If it's a nice b/w one- I print it in the wet darkroom and let them have it. They appreciate the effort I put in and the result which they receive. Stasys On Jul 11, 2005, at 7:16 PM, Scott McLoughlin wrote: > Oh, I plan to live a long time too (I hope). I'm only 39 right now, > quite > sick, but hopeful for the future. > > Here's another reason I take photographs of people, maybe less > depressing. > > People view themselves a certain way. Maybe they feel too old, or too > young, or they don't like their job or their weight, or worry about > paying > for college for their kids. You know, everyday stuff. Their friends > and > relatives view them a certain way too - big man on campus, ne'er do > well, > dandy, slouch, bore, joker - you get the idea. > > A photographic portrait, or even a candid actually, can make a person > appear > in a different light, bring out a different aspect of his or her > personality, not > hidden but perhaps eclipsed by the persona. Both to the subject and to > his > or her family and friends - a new vision of a possible (or actual) > self. > > This possibility is really exciting to me. To allow people to see > themselves > in ways they might not have seen themselves before. In some very minor > way, it might lend a helping hand to hope and/or compassion in a very > focused (subject and viewers) way. > > We do this with children, hyperbolizing some aspect of their charcter. > Little slugger, brave child at the doctor, oh so beautiful with mommy's > makeup and shoes on. We thusly encourage the children around us to > see and realize new possibilities in themselves. > > Photographs of people can be a rather subtle means to do the same > things for adults. I always find it interesting to hear reactions on a > photograph both from the subject and from his/her acquaintances. > The level of engagement often suprises me. > > BTW, some of my thoughts on this aspect of people photography > comes from an essay by Michel Foucault called "What is Enlightenment" > which had a profound effect on me as a college student, and since then. > He talks about characterizing not what we are or must be, but what we > not > necessarily or no longer need to be. A certain kind of liberation, > what he calls > "the undefined work of freedom." > > Scott > > Stasys Petravicius wrote: > >> Scott- I am not anticipating my death- I hope to be around long >> enough at least to use the DMR I have on order! And- it is a >> depressing (sic?) subject. >> >> ps- going to another memorial Thurs pm. Stasys >> On Jul 11, 2005, at 9:01 AM, Scott McLoughlin wrote: >> >>>> >>>> >>>>> I am hoping to stimulate a bit more discussion on this topic: why >>>>> do you take the images, what do you do with them, how big do you >>>>> print, how do you print, why do you print etc >>>> >>>> >>> >>> I hope to produce a body of work that my family and kin and friends >>> can look >>> at once I'm dead, or at least, once many of the subjects of my >>> pictures are dead. >>> >>> Lately, I'm printing more and shooting less. I figure that once I'm >>> dead, some boxes >>> of prints will be more accessible than some hard drives. >>> >>> It's funny to look at pictures of dead people that mean something to >>> you. Sometimes >>> a beautiful picture grabs you. Other times something prosaic can >>> bring you to tears - >>> a prom picture, or a shot from summer camp, or the pictures on your >>> mother's >>> bedroom walls when she was a teenager. >>> >>> Sometimes what's more remarkable is to think of who took *that* >>> picture. >>> My grandfather (still living) had a real eye and knack with a >>> brownie camera >>> in his day, and I've often been startled by his compositions. >>> >>> When someone dies, alot of things get lost or thrown away. Closets >>> of clothes, >>> boxes of old jewelry, dog eared paper backs, keep sakes that will >>> mean little >>> to anyone but the deceased. >>> >>> But pictures get thumbed through and passed around and circulated. >>> I've >>> seen tin types (sp?) of my great grandmother, along with her diary >>> which >>> is mostly records of her meagre finances as she kept house for some >>> better off relatives as a young girl. >>> >>> Photography is my hobby. I enjoy the process and the gear. Futzing >>> with >>> an image is a joy in its own right. But I have to say that for me, >>> the result, >>> the product or print, has alot to do with our mortality, the >>> anticipation of >>> death, and sparking the memory of those still living. >>> >>> Scott >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >