Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/08/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>Oddmund - > >While I often agree with, and always enjoy, your postings to this list, I think >we all need to be more tolerant and open-minded about why we enjoy photography, >Leica or otherwise. There are many reasons why each individual gets pleasure >or satisfaction from photography -- no one should judge another's basis for >enjoyment. > >I have a good friend, for example, who knows MUCH more about lighting, film >exposure/development, and printing than I do. But I rarely see this fellow's >pictures. He loves Phil Davis' book Beyond the Zone System, he measures his >negatives with a densitometer, he can produce the "perfect" print. Bottom line >is my friend may get more satisfaction from solving technical lighting, >development, or printing problems as he does from "seeing" the world, taking >pictures, or hanging prints on the wall. He enjoys these technical challenges, >and who is to say that he is into photography for the "wrong" reasons. > >Some people like Leicas because they are beautiful machines. They appreciate >the camera's design and construction. Some people like Leicas because they >have a history ranging from HCB to Capa. Some people see the camera as simply >a tool that helps them to see the world, etc. It's ok to be an engineer, or a >collector, or a humanitarian with regard to Leica. > >If someone wants to take snaps with their M6, who knows why they want to do >this, and frankly, who cares? Maybe they like the "click" of the shutter when >they press it. Maybe they "wear" their Leica as a status symbol -- a worse >case scenario. But even here, so what, they may actually enjoy using the >camera. > >I enjoy hearing about how and why you use your Leica and your Contax. This >list benefits from your perspective. But it's "ok" to not be like you. We >don't have to have the same reasons for using our Leicas that you have for >using, or not using, yours. It's a greater error, in my opinion, for Leica >owners to feel that they must pretend to own Leicas for the "right" reasons >(i.e. to record the world's travails like Salgado, etc.) than it is to be >honest about owning a Leica for a less than noble reason. > >John McLeod A BIGGER OVATION!!!!!!!!!