Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/01/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Some of the responses to this work have been amazing! This is not "bad photography", it's a photographer using his own style. You might not like it - indeed I'm not convinced that I do - but good grief, give the guy a break. The style makes me feel uncomfortable because it is so anthropological. I reminds me more than anything else of the pictures by scientific expeditions in the 19th century showing new, previously unseen in the west, human races. Think of those portraits of aboriginal Australians, or bushmen from southern Africa, stood in front of a white sheet while a bloke with a big camera and an exploding flash captures their image for the benefit of the Natural History Museum, or the RGS. The subjects of such portraits always look like skewered scientific specimens, and the same look as been achieved here by Kander. This may not have been intentional but it's the way I see it. As regards the political orientation of the production team, I don't see it as relevant. I'd say Kander did exactly what I would have done - treat the subjects just like you'd treat anyone else. It's not his job to make them look presidential, or ridiculous. It doesn't matter to me what position someone holds, president or street sweeper, they'll get the same treatment from me. Which probably explains why I don't get too many portrait commissions from CEOs! Cheers, Paul. ******* Paul Hardy Carter +44 (0)20 3239 9573 www.paulhardycarter.com www.lightstalkers.org/phc www.twitter.com/paulhardycarter Skype: paulhardycarter ******* On 18 Jan 2009, at 20:56, Brian Reid wrote: > The New York Times magazine just ran a set of portraits of "Obama's > People" > > http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/magazine/2009-inauguration-gallery/index.html > > It feels to me as though the photographer went out of his way to > make all of his subjects look unnatural and bizarre. They are posed > awkwardly, the lighting is very peculiar, the camera angles are > unusual, and the subjects were usually photographed off-guard. > > What does anybody else think? Was the photographer here trying to > create a negative perception of these people? > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information