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From: LeicaM6@webtv.net (David Miller)
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 1997 09:33:14 -0600
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Re: [Leica] More blind shooting discussion
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Eisenstaedt DID on occasion "shoot blinded" (your term).  I quote from
his book, "Eisenstaedt's Guide to Photography", copyright 1978, Viking
Press.

"It is always a challenge to take pictures of people unobtrusively.  For
the photographs on this page I waited in front of a cafe-bar in Paris
with the camera hung around my neck on a short strap.  When I saw an
expression I wanted, I just pressed the shutter release without raising
the camera to my eye as I did not want to draw attention to myself.  I
use a wide-angle lens for this technique because it gives better depth
of field and, since I can not compose in the viewfinder, its wide angle
of coverage allows me to crop unnecessary details in the final print"

"The flower vendor, opposite, was one of many people I photographed to
illustrate an essay on the Parisians.  While walking along a street
looking for candid photographs, I often carry the camera in my hand
rather than around my neck where it may attract more attention"- A.E.

Eisenstaedt also used a similar technique with his Rolleiflex to
photograph departing soldiers at Pennsylvania Station (NYC) during WWII.
I quote from the book, "Eisenstaedt on Eisenstaedt" copyright 1985,
Abbeville.

"To photograph American soldiers saying farewell to their wives and
sweethearts, I used a Rolleiflex 21/4/ X 21/4, not a Leica, because you
can hold a Rolleiflex without raising it to your eye; so they didn't see
me taking the pictures.  I just kept motionless like a statue.  They
never saw me clicking away.  For the kind of photography I do, one has
to be very unobtrusive and to blend in with the crowd" -A.E.

This term, "blind shooting", pertains to those who do not (can not)
connect what they see with their mind, emotions, and physical control.
Waiting for an action or expression is not blind shooting.  This comment
of "having the balls to raise the camera" is about as stupid as I have
heard in aong time.   Succesful pictures are not about machismo, it's
knowing when to fire away.  The technique we use to "fire away" is as
diverse as we are.  What matters if your are a photojournalist is that
your photo editor is left with photos that can used.  What matters if
your are a gallery photog is that your work sells.  What matters if you
compete is that your photos win compeitions.  So on and so on.

Re-read Eisenstaedt's comments.  How he shot was not "blind".  He saw,
and captured.

David Miller
(resident Eisiephile)