Re: [Leica] Faas, Horst, and Betrayal

[Jim Brick <jim@brick.org>]

I am not implying that you all should stop your discussions. Not at all.
The following is simply my uneducated opinion.

Everybody has arguments that will indeed support their own line of
thinking. Agendas are different. Perceptions are different. One's entire
history on this earth will mold his or her mind to perceive events in a
certain way. Nobody is right. Nobody is wrong. It's your past. Your
present. Your information base. Both sides make sense. Both sides make no
sense. The argument of the Vietnam war, the soldiers, the photographers,
the families, can and will be argued for centuries. There really are no
sides. Wherever you find a weakness, you will also find a strength.

This is an endless dialog that can neither find solution nor explanation
for the perpetrated acts. Power, politics, and greed will cause otherwise
moral men to lose their ability to act nobly.

The Leica is innocent. It neither made decisions nor carried them out. It
was the humble servant of those who felt compelled to participate. The
minds eye of its user, was recorded for all time. The Leica did its job.
And did it well.

It is perhaps best to view the photographs for technique and vision.
Extrapolating symbolic meaning from controversial era photographs serves
little purpose. Unless perhaps to simply argue in one's own behalf. And to
continue the endless diatribe.

Jim