RE: [Leica] Powerful image

[Harrison McClary <harrison@jnlcom.com>]

Francesco,

Landscapes, nudes no I don't think they can be "powerful".  Beautiful, 
moving, provocative, or other terms yes.  

To me Powerful connotes an image that immediately makes an impression in 
the mind of the viewers and has the ability to effect some kind of 
change, or captures some universal feeling.  Children at play can, on 
occasion, catch this if the emotion and "universally" appealing moment is 
present.  

Think of the photos I mentioned earlier.  The Eddie Adams photo I am sure 
once seen you never forget.

Eisse captured the mood of the entire nation with his "Kiss" photo.

Eugene Smith caught the dogged hours and determination of a rural doctor, 
as well as documenting the emotions of his patients and a way of life 
that has all but disappeared.  

The photos transcend the "moment" to become icons of an era.

While Ansel Adams landscapes are beautiful they do not create, in me at 
least, power of the moment.  I can look at the afore mentioned photos (as 
well as many others) and experience the Joy, pain, desperation, hopes and 
joys depicted there in.  This is to me what makes a powerful image.

I guess what I am getting at, for me at least, powerful images are packed 
with emotion.  The composition and lighting take second seat to the 
emotion in the photo.  I do not think the photos have to be famous, heck 
some powerful images that I have seen are never seen by very many people 
at all, but they must convey the emotions, and evoke emotions as well as 
communicate something about either the event or subject matter to be 
powerful.  That is a lot to do in photography and is the reason I keep 
plugging away with my Leicas.  The few really good images are few and far 
between - for me at least, but when I get them I feel I have accomplished 
something.


Five Senses Productions wrote

>So are you implying that a powerful image can only be of a serious,
>dramatic, or emotional life experience?  Does this mean landscapes,
>nudes, or photos of children at play cannot be powerful?


Harrison McClary
http://people.delphi.com/hmphoto