Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/04/09

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Subject: Re: [Leica] artistically, what is GOOD photography?
From: Eric Welch <ewelch@ponyexpress.net>
Date: Thu, 09 Apr 1998 17:40:25 -0500

At 12:28 PM 4/9/98 -0700, you wrote:

>To produce such a photograph, sharpness, ASPH, APO, bokeh, and
>micro-contrast are the very least important ingredients, in fact they are
>not important at all.

It's not an either/or situation. Ansel Adams' pictures have impact for many
reasons, two of them being technical mastery, and the content. (One has to
appreciate the American West to really understand his work.) 

The same can be said about Sebastiao Salgado's work. Beautiful (not
everyone agrees) and gripping in content. Very powerful. Technical quality
can play into why a picture has impact. But a technically beautiful
photograph with no real content is like playing scales on a grand piano.
But playing with the greatest technique on a toy piano still sounds like a
toy.

If I was as good as these guys, I wouldn't be a photo editor. But as a
matter of fact, my photography is improving as I edit more closely other
people's work. I see lots of mistakes that I now can think "I'm going to
avoid that."
==========

Eric Welch
St. Joseph, MO
http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch

IRS: We've got what it takes to take what you've got!