Re: A room for everybody

["C.M. Fortunko" <fortunko@boulder.nist.gov>]

Oddmund,

I am not familiar with other equipment. I know that Leica no longer makes an
85mm lens. Who does?

Don't tell me that President Clinton's press officer would actually specify
what equipment to use, at what speed, aperture, etc. 

I would think that most of the photographers nowdays use motorized,
computerized wunderplastick and do not use the manual mode for fear that
they would miss shots. They also use zooms, most likely. Anyhow, how would
you even enforce something like this. Please don't be silly.

I will not tell you how to behave on this forum. However, I ask you to be
more kind and give us, in this country, some benefit of doubt.

Regards,

Chris



In the past, I defended your right to expression. 
At 05:28 PM 11/22/96 -0800, you wrote:
>One of my colleagues went to the USA some weeks ago to cover the
>presidential election. At an election meeting Bill Clinton's press
>officer said to the photographers: "Gentlemen, you shoot at 1/125,
>aperture 5.6, focal length 85mm..." If you picked up a 28mm to make a
>different photo, you were excluded. Simply like that.
>
>The power of a photographer is found out of the field. The political
>establishment in USA have very well understood this. I always find the
>sense of my photos to the left or to the right of the subject (or what
>is presented). If I am obliged to use a 85mm lens, I will make the same
>photo as everybody else. This is not interesting at all.
>
>There is parallel problem in some of the reactions upon some of my
>messages to the Leica-users forum. I should make no further comments
>upon this, but I find Roger L. Beamon's reactions extremely simple and
>childish, not representative. 
>
>As a reaction upon a sub-sentence in one of my mails, he says: "As a
>western imperialist, I'm proud as hell of it, and take umbrage when
>somebody has the temerity to initiate the subject, which, by the way,
>has no place in this list either. When offended, I return the fire. It's
>my style..." and so on. 
>
>Roger L. Beamon is of course no imperialist. He is simply a "Naturalist
>& Photographer, Docent:  Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Leica Historical
>Society Of America", bla-bla, like I was a Social Anthropologist once
>and others here may be Photographers, Engineers, Salesmen, unemployed or
>whatever. I think all the members of the forum like the Leica and have a
>common interest in photography. Roger L. Beamon has got his own ideas
>like everybody else, and he is free to express them here.
>
>Among others my Leicas opened my eyes and my mind. It is a very simple
>camera to use and if you are a user, this is what counts. When I was 19
>or 20 years old I learned the base of photography, technical solutions,
>clues, how to use my M4 and so on. 
>
>My cameras are tools. After all these years I know the Leica M in and
>out. Technique is not important for me. A real Leica user is not sitting
>cleaning, polishing and looking at his Leica, wondering if it can do
>this or that. My Leicas always did what I wanted them to do. If the
>result was bad or even a disaster sometimes, it was my own fault. I
>don't like techno-freaks or collectors, especially not Leica collectors.
>A Leica in a safe or in a showcase is a dead Leica. I find that very
>sad. I don't like "leicaists", carrying around with their Leicas without
>using them either. These "leicaists" who like to show their Leicas and
>speak about them, because in certain places and under certain
>circumstances, it gives *prestige*. This is another way of killing the
>Leica.
>
>I have very few Reference Books about Leica. I have a couple of old
>German and French books, and then I bought the "75 Years of Leica
>Photography". I don't have time to drown myself in technical details.
>When I have time for it, I prefer going to galleries and exhibitions
>looking at others pictures and visions or looking at photo books. 
>
>November is a nice month for photographers in France. It is "Le Mois de
>la Photo" with exhibitions, meetings and discussions about photography
>all over the country. You can choose what you want. There is a room for
>everybody. 
>
>In this forum there should be a room for everybody as well. If you don't
>like some of the threads here, just use the <Delete> button. All these
>discussions are useful for many of us. Let the few narrow-minded who
>don't feel comfortable with this, do what they want. Let this forum be a
>free space, where Leica people from all over the world can exchange
>ideas and opinions about Leica and photography.       
>
>Oddmund
>
>PS: I am not a "post-modernist" and I don't consider photography as an
>art (someone mentioned this).
>
>