Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/04/09

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: [Leica] Would you trade your M9 to go back to an M8?
From: photo.forrest at earthlink.net (Phil Forrest)
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2012 09:04:18 -0400
References: <CALCsb0GHQehCJxMxrArb=aRfRkKbBX0psaaMP0rdnjfKGWfT7w@mail.gmail.com> <CBA7E07C.11FB5%chris@chriscrawfordphoto.com> <CAH1UNJ3uREnFdL=3V9O8jZR8qqp6ncKBhKjgBs6fafrT7EpKHQ@mail.gmail.com> <CAF8hL-Em1Do=27nZhtOXEWGEhMzDOq2cyAJ1p6w7s5jqgpyezA@mail.gmail.com> <CAH1UNJ3jy1nnhoWE2s110O4t9L+Zy8UzVdMzCr6ZaHX=1VwKDw@mail.gmail.com> <CALCsb0EstsvRYZxYmGHsekUdwnei1o9NGsZj7qhc08oO7zvxKQ@mail.gmail.com> <4366332213FC4115BCECF0C05D2CDCE2@Family>

The problem with the "buyt flour" or "buy a bag of potatoes, etc" logic
is that sometimes there isn't a place to cook. That's why people go to
McDonald's or any other fast food joint to eat portable food. People
are animal just enough that they will feed themselves protein when they
need it. If that's with a hamburger from the dollar menu then that's
it. A loaf of bread is just a loaf of bread. 
Add to that education. Some of the homeless in this country are
educated but not many. Most fell into circumstances beyond their
control and wound up in a situation where they simply were trapped then
chronic homelessness set in for some.
Back in 2006 when I had a job at a film lab I would sleep in my truck
in the parking lot because gas was too expensive to buy for me to drive
back home to the friend's place I was staying at. I needed portable
food so I ate burritos, tacos and burgers. I did the math it was
cheaper that way than going 30 miles home and cooking food that I had
yet to buy. After my friend was ordered to leave the house, that truck
became my home.
I'm reasonably sure that since we're on a Leica Users list, there are a
few, but not many who have been homeless. There are more who grew up in
conditions which were quite hard, I'm sure. But looking down, as a few
here have been, on the conditions in which some live is a truly
privileged thing you're doing. Thinking to say "Go buy a bag of
rice" to a homeless person is an uneducated statement. Or saying "who
are you to use a Leica if you can barely afford to feed yourself?" is a
true mark of snobbery and makes me want to sell my Leica gear because
that kind of exclusivity is associated with it. It's a camera that has
already been paid for and is paying for itself. That's just like saying
"who are you to be a photographer when you can't afford to feed
yourself?" Followed up by a statement akin to "Oh, just send yourself
to college" is ridiculous too. 

Phil Forrest



On Mon, 9 Apr 2012 13:32:09 +0100
"Douglas Barry" <imra at iol.ie> wrote:

> 
> "Kay Yang" <liangjiyang at gmail.com> wrote
> > meal from McDonald's. This really boggles me because if I cannot
> > even afford a meal, I would not want to go to McDonald's. I would
> > just go to the
> > closest supermarket and buy a loaf of bread and eat it for 3 days.
> 
> Buy flour and bake it yourself. I do. My bread is better than my 
> photographs.
> 
> Anyway, who are you? An intro is normal before posting.
> 
> Douglas
> _________
> Douglas Barry
> Bray, Co. Wicklow
> Republic of Ireland 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information



-- 
philforrest.wordpress.com
gallery.leica-users.org/v/philforrest


In reply to: Message from liangjiyang at gmail.com (Kay Yang) ([Leica] Would you trade your M9 to go back to an M8?)
Message from chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com (Chris Crawford) ([Leica] Would you trade your M9 to go back to an M8?)
Message from jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj) ([Leica] Would you trade your M9 to go back to an M8?)
Message from richard at richardmanphoto.com (Richard Man) ([Leica] Would you trade your M9 to go back to an M8?)
Message from jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj) ([Leica] Would you trade your M9 to go back to an M8?)
Message from liangjiyang at gmail.com (Kay Yang) ([Leica] Would you trade your M9 to go back to an M8?)
Message from imra at iol.ie (Douglas Barry) ([Leica] Would you trade your M9 to go back to an M8?)