[Leica] Photo show dissent

[Mark Rabiner]

Larry photographic prints have been considered art in the art world for over
50 years now.  Photographers can wear berets and everything... Talk about
their vision...
 Perhaps your point is that we don't try to make photos look like paintings
or water colors  or etchings which the pastoralists did in the beginnings of
photography when everyone was apologetic about making automatic photographs
instead of real art. They're over it now.
Lets not revert back a century or two on this.
If your not comfortable that what you might be making is art just forget
about it and keep having fun taking pictures. Its possible after your dead
some of your prints might sell for big money if you are way wrong on your
assessment of your work a thing which happens all the time.
Just remember to fix twice and use hypo clear.
And if they sell for not bit money they're still art.


On 3/22/15 4:39 PM, "Leica Users Group" <lug at leica-users.org> wrote:

> I just came back from the Westchester Photo Show where four of my older
> photographs were hung. They stood out like sore thumbs. Not because they were
> inferior but because they were different. All of mine were street photos or
> pseudo street photos, slices of life taken in my usual adventitious manner.
> Several were in my LUG gallery and were taken on film. I'd be the first to
> admit that they are not great pictures but they were a sample of my
> photographic endeavors.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Cook.jpeg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Coppersmith.jpg.html
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/The+valve+room.jpg.html
> Most of the other pictures exhibited were carefully posed, highly processed
> images which tried to emulate fine art. I've always believed, as have most
> Luggers, that art and photography are two different media, each with its
> advantages and disadvantages. An artist can take time to pose the subject
> appropriately, choose colors, and accentuate what he or she chooses. It is a
> contemplative and imaginative medium. Photography, on the other hand, is ideal
> for catching slices of life which may vanish in a fraction of a second.?It is
> a realistic and immediate medium.
> What was most interesting is that several exhibiting photographers maintained
> that the original image was not the end in itself but merely the starting
> point for intensive manipulation in Photoshop. Indeed, some of the pictures
> were so significantly altered that they bore little resemblence to the actual
> scene. Colors were changed, portions of the image were accentuated or
> eliminated. The worst case, in my opinion, was a photograph which combined
> several individual photos in one displayed image. Just like the Russian Mayday
> podium pictures.
> I'm coming to believe that exhibited photos should bear a warning label, like
> foodstuffs, noting if any artificial ingredients were used in the
> presentation.
> Larry Z
> 
> 
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-- 
Mark William Rabiner
Photographer
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lugalrabs/