Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/12/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Jeff Actually I agree with the thrust of your point. I think this is related to the point that Gib and Doug are making as well. For example, I was just in Moab Utah at Arches and Canyonlands National Parks (terrific place by the way). It's real easy to run around and take a bunch of pictures of all the glorious stuff that God left scattered around. And in doing that, you've only done what a thousand other photographers have already done - after all, it's a target rich environment for a photographer. That doesn't make it bad, but it short changes the viewer and the artist. Galen makes this distinction in his reference to "mature" and "immature" images. The later are those that have never seldom been seen before (like the first ever picture of a snow leopard for example). For some chunk of Galen's career, he's had the advantage of being places others have not, so making immature images was pretty easy. All this finally brings me back to your point. Making profound images in your backyard (sometimes literally) is wonderfully challenging because you really need to strip away the apparent familiarity to see something fresh and new. As I understood Gib's and Doug's point, that was what they felt was missing in some of Galen's work from more exotic locales. In fairness to "Bay Area Wild," I should probably spend more time looking closely at the images. Having talked to him about the book, I know he worked hard to show an area that he loves deeply in a personal way. Kevin Hoffberg (925) 942-2772 Visit our website at www.inseon.com - -----Original Message----- From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of JeffS Sent: Thursday, December 17, 1998 7:13 PM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: Re: [Leica] Rowell, etc. Kevin, I read Rowell's newspaper column on the matter of his Bay Area book, and admire the man for focusing on his backyard again, despite visiting so many faraway places, as there's no better way to sharpen your vision than by learning to see the everyday world through new eyes! Learning to "see" means that you stop saying "oh, that's a street, and those are cars", and noticing instead textures, colors, tonal values, forms and the possibilities offered by them, and it works as well in your home as it does in some exotic locale halfway around the world. This is exciting stuff, and the reason why we get hooked on photography! Jeff Segawa See my photography online at http://www.netone.com/~segawa - -----Original Message----- From: Khoffberg <khoffberg@email.msn.com> >I'm probably >least taken with his book "Bay Area Wild" probably in large part because >they're so familiar to me (I live here). Conversely, the images from exotic >locales and difficult circumstances thrill me.