Re: Mugged!

[leica@purdue.edu (Jason Tetzloff)]

You know, I probably should have just responded to Ben, as Fred Ward
suggested in a post to me instead of the whole group.  That way I would
have only been flamed by him instead of the all of the LUG.

I should have been more precise in my posting though, for I think that many
of the readers missed the point.  I objected to Mr. Holmes referring to the
"Winos and addicts" that he photographed, and I think for good reason.

This group frequently refers (with high praise, too) to many famous
photographers who use Leica cameras.  My point is this, though many of you
missed it becasue you were guessing my politics.  These photographers did
not get these warm sensitive photographs which have stood the test of time
simply because they used a Leica or had a good lab or used the right film.
All of these helped, but they were able to capture these photographs
because of their sensitivity and awareness to their surroundings and
towards the people whom they photographed.  It seemed to me from his
postings that Mr. Holmes did not display much sensitivity or awareness to
his surroundings or to the PEOPLE (not just addicts or winos) that he
photographed.  If I can sense that electronically, I have a pretty good
idea that so too did the people of the area where he worked.  That may have
been what got him in trouble--certainly they didn't see him as a friend or
even neutral.  I don't mean to kick a guy when he is down after losing his
equipment, but those who care more about the equipment than the people that
they photograph maybe have missed the point of all of this.

My idea is that if we want to get photos like the great photographers who
use Leica, we have to do more than copy their equipment, we have to copy
their style and technique.  They didn't denigrate the people they
photographed.

Jason Tetzloff

Jason M. Tetzloff
Dept. of History, Purdue University
1358 University Hall
West Lafayette, IN 47907-1358