Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/06/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I'm personally not too sure on Steve's point of view - the fact that the subjects so far actually wanted to be shown in their home settings with their weapons is still something totally alien to people outside the USA. The people themselves, their pets, their children, their furnishings, the way they dress - and the reasons for owning weapons all come together to show the rest of the world a slice of American (sub?)culture, side to side and top to bottom.. IMO, it doesn't have to be a cross-section of US-Gun-Culture, just as little as Martin Parr's British Holidaymakers are representative of British tourists in toto. Or his German garden pictures as a slice of Teutonic life - these people are minorities - that makes them interesting for the public at large - and to themselves exactly because they find themselves so perfectly normal. You interest the one group and satisfy the other. The fact that the pictures are strange to us, but not totally unknown, already removes the label of voyeurism, so no problems on this point - and narcism (sp?) doesn't seem to be a factor in most of the pictures either - the subjects are showing, not showing off or threatening us, except perhaps in a subtle subliminal attack on what WE consider to right, proper or normal behaviour (but who are we to say). If this were to be a series on truck drivers -would someone be getting worried at a predominance of Mack's, White's or International's, or somebody not wanting to show his/her semi-trailer? Please try and see Kyle's wonderful work as a simple (not so simple, perhaps) sampling of American society, without the connotations of pro and contra armed private citizens - it doesn't really matter one way or another. The shots stand alone as, and as a series of, fascinating cameos showing us a view of private lives in parts of society to which the majority of us has no access. Most of all, Kyle's pictures give us a three-dimensional cross-section - they show that we shouldn't be so bigoted as to say - "well, we all know what gun-toters are like - hard drinking, sweaty , unshaven pit-bull terrier owners driving dusty pickups" These pictures are an eye-opener - disturbing but not threatening - normal but outside our usual frame of reference. Keep at it Kyle, don't worry - it's all very good the way it's going cheers Douglas Steve Barbour wrote: > > On Jun 26, 2006, at 9:53 AM, Kyle Cassidy wrote: > >> Steve hit something right on the head -- and very hard, when he pointed >> out: "clearly the folks who want to be photographed in their living >> rooms with their guns are a very minute subset of gunned America, so >> it's not evident what they represent... (except people who want to be >> photographed in their living room with their guns...)" >> >> while working on this, i put a lot of time and energy into convincing >> gun owners that i wasn't out to ridicule them, that i really did just >> want to know why they owned guns -- that i wasn't making any judgements >> at all -- one way or the other, that i truely wanted an apolitical book >> -- and these people ended up coming out in droves to get photographed. >> but what i'm having the most difficult time getting are people who own >> guns but either don't like them, don't want them, or don't care about >> them. > > > further Kyle, how about those people who like them, want them, and > care about them... > > use them for good, or for bad, or don't use them at all.... > > but don't want to advertise these facts with photos, especially > sitting in their living rooms... ? > > Steve > > > >> people who inherrited guns from family members or have them left >> over from a previous phase of their lives. right now, these are the >> people i'm most interested in, but their story is proving the most >> difficult to tell -- simply because they don't want to be photographed >> with a gun. during this trip i had no less than five such people back >> out. i'm in pennsylvania, so i can photograph deer hunters till i'm >> blue >> in the face -- but what i really want right now is someone who says >> "this is my dad's gun. i hate guns, but i don't know what to do with >> this. so it sits in the closet" -- that's a missing part of this story >> and these voices are the ones i'm afraid are going to go unheard. >> >> advice is always apprecaited. >> >> kyle "mojave desert with no air conditioning survivor" cassidy >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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