Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/09/02

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Aesthetic qualities of photographs
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 10:01:18 -0400

 When I see photographs that (to me) convey a
mood or emotion, rather than just depict a subject, I hear music in my
mind, influenced by the mood conveyed by the picture.

Does anyone else get such cross-influencing of sensory impression, or
do I just need to see a shrink? ;-)

__________________
REPLY:
No shrink necessary. Good photographs do convey a sense of time, place,
event, mood, etc. Look at certain photos, you will hear certain music. Hear
certain music, you will "see" certain pictures in your mind and conjure up
certain events. I can hear a given rock number and think, "Thanksgiving
vacation, 1964, Concord, Mass., 5 p.m., it's snowing." (Well, maybe one of
us needs a shrink :-) )

Seriously, though, look at the best of the photos in Requiem and you can
practically feel the heat, smell the stink, hear the racket, feel the fear.

Isn't that what good photography is really all about?