Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/04/26

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Subject: [Leica] Digital M
From: walt at waltjohnson.com (Walt Johnson)
Date: Wed Apr 26 11:38:00 2006
References: <C0752972.FDFD%bdcolen@comcast.net>

Et tu B.D.?

Scientists studying amoebas and photojournalists "concerns" with the 
downtrodden are certainly not the same. How many decades have we been 
documenting the same tired old stories? Starving waifs, bloodied bodies, 
homeless, etc. and for what? Waifs still starve and we have more 
bloodied bodies to deal with on a day to day basis than Lucifer. We live 
in the most prosperous country in the world and have streets full of 
homeless. But never fear, "Wonderlens is here".

To equate those running around with cameras dangling and world aid 
workers is far from accurate. The ink dries, the t.v. channel is 
switched and it's off to another scene of human suffering for our 
hero-shooters.. The aid workers, meanwhile, hang tough. Does any of this 
indicate I'm against covering news events? Of course not. It does strike 
me as sad that we don't glean more than just superficial information 
from it all.  There is a vast difference between Nachtwey, Salgado and 
Tina compared with the herd I mentioned in the first post. The are 
committed, and that is what really makes a difference. My statement "we 
want to feel your pain" is based upon methods I've seen used in 
action.Many journalists approach subjects as if they were items on a 
shelf rather than human beings. If anyone makes a statement  about "not 
one bit of hypocrisy involved" relating to news coverage their judgment 
is flawed IMHO.

Walt


B. D. Colen wrote:

>Absolutely right, Scott...Photojournalists are not social workers; they are
>not aid workers; they are photojournalists, photographers making image of
>news events and  situations around the world. Being a photographer requires
>using cameras. Cameras are expensive, worth more than the annual income of
>many people being photographed. But so what? Would it be better if James
>Nachtwey and Sabastian Salgado - and Tina Manley - sold their cameras and
>donated the money to some fund specified by Angelina Jolie, and stopped
>providing the world with visual reminders of the awful conditions under
>which so many live? I think not.
>
>
>
>
>On 4/26/06 1:33 PM, "Scott McLoughlin" <scott@adrenaline.com> wrote:
>
>  
>
>>This makes it sound like a bad thing. We don't complain when
>>the amoeba is studied by the scientist under the microscope. Same
>>for the photographer's concern with the downtrodden - it's a good
>>thing, and not one bit of hypocricy involved, IMHO. It's insanity
>>to truly *want* to feel the pain of the truly suffering.
>>
>>Scott
>>
>>    
>>
>>>>,  I can see the new Leicas in action.  A horde of photojournalists
>>>>with 10 or 15 grand hanging  around their necks stalking the poor,
>>>>downtrodden masses. The oh so concerned looks on their faces while
>>>>they mutter, "we want to feel your pain".
>>>>
>>>>        
>>>>
>
>
>
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>
>
>  
>

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