[Leica] Even more Adelaide photos from Brian's visit

[jshul at comcast.net (Jim Shulman)]

C'mon, everyone makes their own irony--sometimes it's single malt and a
Leicastack, other times it's paying the two bucks to wear the stupid outfit
(and pose accordingly.) <g>.

When I was about twelve years old I tried to make a movie about the
degrading effects of poverty and greed.  Filmed it in the backyard with my
friends.  At the first showing, the audience was on the floor laughing--and
I had been totally serious.  Then I tried a film about the corrosive effects
of WWI propaganda. The same effect.  

Some people have a knack for flowers, others for historic buildings, still
others for cute kids.  I have a knack for getting weird and funny, almost
irrespective of the occasion's original intent.  Give me a pretentious
funeral, a pork products festival or a high society horse show, and I'm in
my element. 

However, if I take a picture I'd like it to show someone interacting with
their surroundings, or at least with the photographer.  For instance, at the
Philadelphia tattoo convention a few weeks ago I saw the following:

A midget, covered with tattoos, had a birth defect so that his hands were
attached directly to his shoulders.  He was yelling at a security guard (who
demanded to see his wrist band, proving a paid admission), "Fucking wrist
band?  Dude, I don't have a fucking wrist!"  The guard admitted him without
incident.

Now, I've shared this story privately with a few LUGgers, who all asked if I
had snapped a picture of the midget.  I refused to do that, since I didn't
want to just shoot him for the sake of getting a picture of someone who
looked strange.  He looks that way every day, without making an effort (such
as wearing a special occasion t-shirt with wacky message, or posing, or
whatever.)

Then, of course, once I was home I realized the picture: he should have
flipped me off.

Warlord Jim
Wynnewood, PA
Who just shot several rolls over the past week or so, including a scrapple
festival

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net at leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net at leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Marty
Deveney
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 5:04 AM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] Even more Adelaide photos from Brian's visit

Very good - but it doesn't count if you make your own irony or weirdness ;-)

M

On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 2:33 PM, Jim Shulman <jshul at comcast.net> wrote:

> Not just America:
> I also seemed to have good luck in China, Marty
>
>
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/focusit/the+great+shmuck+of+china.JPG.html
>
> Of course, I paid a fellow several yuan to push the shutter button on my
> M3.
>
> Jim Shulman
> Wynnewood, PA
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net at leica-users.org
> [mailto:lug-bounces+jshul <lug-bounces%2Bjshul>=comcast.net@
> leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Marty
> Deveney
> Sent: Sunday, March 22, 2009 11:22 PM
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Even more Adelaide photos from Brian's visit
>
> Ken's post is on-list, it's here:
> http://www.leica-users.org/v38/msg16385.html.  I don't quite have the hang
> of GMail yet but I can tell the difference between a post and an off-list
> message - that's one thing the interface gets right.
>
> Steve asks a very on-topic question about the kind of photography people
do
> with their Leicas and Leica-like cameras.
>
> To me, Jim's photos are characterised by irony (in the true sense - where
> the literal and the actual implied meanings of the photographs are
opposite
> or fundamentally incongruent) and poking fun at western society.  Anywhere
> where society is fundamentally different (as it is almost everywhere else
> in
> the world) a person doesn't have a sufficient context to poke the same
kind
> of fun.  You can see this in my photos of Russia:
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/freakscene/Russia/ and Japan:
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/freakscene/Japan/ which (to me) say more
> "this is really forgeign and that amkes it different" rather than "look at
> this weirdness".
>
> The side of life that many of Jim's photos point out as humorous are
> dependant on wealth and a relative lack of self-consciousness.  The
> following examples are from my experience and might vary depending on
where
> you go in a given place.  In Japan, for instance, people maintain a very
> careful public image most of the time, making these kinds of shots
> impossible.  In a lot of parts of Scandinavia, almost everyone is very fit
> and attractive, removing one of Jim's obvious sources of humour.
>
> But more than anything, walker Evans' old nemesis, prosperity, removes a
> lot
> of the good-natured aspects of public life.  People become more
> self-conscious, change how they act and look and take on a more serious
> general demeanour.  This interferes with the kinds of scenes Jim captures.
> Adelaide is the least economically developed Australian mainland city of
> its
> size and in many ways its residents are very natural and lack
> self-consciousness.  A lot of obviously incongruous things happen.  I
doubt
> Jim would do very well in the middle of Sydney or Melbourne.
>
> Analysis is always personal; anyone who posts a themed body of work to the
> LuG gets a lot of attention and analysis from me.  I don't always post
> about
> it, but I am always looking and thinking.
>
> Marty
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 9:14 AM, Steve Barbour <kididdoc at cox.net> wrote:
>
> >
> > On Mar 22, 2009, at 3:34 PM, Geoff Hopkinson wrote:
> >
> > Seems like Marty accidentally replied to the list about an off list joke
> >> from Ken. Then Steve replied thinking also he was off-list! Whoops!
> >> Check the headers. You guys are in soo much trouble!
> >>
> >
> > hey, let's get back on track...
> >
> > regrets...
> >
> > mille fois...
> >
> >
> > Steve
> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> >> From: Steve Barbour <kididdoc at cox.net>
> >> Date: 2009/3/23
> >> Subject: [Leica] Even more Adelaide photos from Brian's visit
> >> To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mar 22, 2009, at 4:37 AM, Marty Deveney wrote:
> >>
> >> No, but we're trying to get him to visit.  There's plenty of fruitful
> >> areas
> >> around here for Jim's style of observation.
> >>
> >> a very interesting comment Marty, it really got me thinking.
> >>
> >> Is there a place in the world not fruitful for Jim's style of
> observation?
> >> Then I  realized that it varies a lot...with some places much less
> >> fruitful...even in the civilized world.
> >>
> >> we don't have to get into that right now...
> >>
> >> but my very simplistic impression is that  the very unfruitful areas
may
> >> be limited to third world parts of the globe...
> >>
> >> I wonder if that is seen by veteran travelers as an oversimplification,
> >> somehow  unfair,
> >>
> >>
> >> Steve
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Marty
> >>
> >> On Sun, Mar 22, 2009 at 9:14 AM, Ken Carney <kcarney1 at cox.net> wrote:
> >>
> >> My God that's an ugly dog :).  Has Jim Shulman been to Adelaide?
> >>
> >> Ken
> >>
> >>
> >