Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/04/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Paul Schliesser wrote: >Smith studied photography at Notre Dame, on a scholarship, after working >on the staff of a small-town newspaper in his teens (see Smith's >biographical essay in _W. Eugene Smith: His Photographs and Notes_). Gene and I came to know each other while we worked together in = Minamata, Japan, sometime in the early 70=B4s. We were both doing the = story about how the Japanese company Chisso dumped mercury into the = sea and thereby poisoned hundreds of people. Gene never mentioned his scholarship, but he used to say how he every = day learned new things about photography. BTW, it was probably the Minamata story that killed Gene. He never = really recovered from the beating he received from one of the company = guards. Paul, you also mention that Capa assisted other photographers and = that HCB studied art. Well, that most likely helped them to become = great photographers. Did I ever say that knowledge is a bad thing? Of = course we all need dicipline, training and practice to excell in our = choosen profession, but I insist that without talent, no education - = formal or not - can make you really great. >If you are passionate about photography, why wouldn't you want to learn >about it, and if you did, how would that be bad? And who is there who >would not benefit from knowing more about their chosen field, no matter >how good they are? I couldn=B4t agree with you more, Paul! And that=B4s why I after 34 = years in the racket still is an eager and curious student of our = masters and of photography in general. And this Users Group has = certainly given me additional knowledge about the perfect tool of our = trade - the Leica. Claes Bjerner