Re: [Leica] On Photographic Seeing

["Bruce R. Slomovitz" <brslomo@erols.com>]

Joseph,

Now that's the kind of post I like.  It goes to the heart (IMO) of what i=
t
means to be a photographer.  In the last analysis, I think, being a
photographer means being someone who sees more or who sees differently th=
an
others.  In that regard, it's much like the gift possessed by a good writ=
er.
Only the photographer expresses what he has seen through a different medi=
um.

I recall having read somewhere (it may have been in the forward to one of
his books) that HCB believed that in order to best photograph a new place=
,
he had to go out and begin photographing almost immediately and that the
quality of his work (his "vision" if you will) suffered if he spent more
than a couple of weeks in the place.

I myself have always felt that I needed at least a couple of weeks in a n=
ew
city in order to begin to get the feel of the place and become comfortabl=
e
enough to know what to look for and what to photograph.  However I do agr=
ee
that after a point, familiarity with a place breeds a kind of visual
laziness.

Bruce S.
- -----Original Message-----
From: Joseph Codispoti <joecodi@thegrid.net>
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Date: Friday, August 07, 1998 7:10 PM
Subject: [Leica] On Photographic Seeing


>As a first challenge (albeit a small one) for Curt Miller, or anyone
willing
>to comment, I would like to know what exercises photographers who "can=92=
t
see
>the forest for the trees" employ .  In other words, how can one keep sha=
rp
>in spotting a potential photograph among the mundane.
>When I travel I find all I see to be exotic while in my home surrounding=
s I
>tend to became blase at seeing the same haunts day after day.
>
>Joseph Codispoti
>
>
>