[Leica] Re: tools...

[Jim Brick <jimbrick@photoaccess.com>]

Was this with or without "Bricks" ? I don't remember being there...

;-)

Stirling Moss was indeed a master. A Grand Master. But tools do make a
difference.

Ansel Adams' work looks the way it does because of his vision, talent, and
tools. His foray into 6x6 and 35mm were simply playing around. His
signature work is the result, in part, from the tools he used. 8x10 camera.

In a race of "brick" trucks, Stirling Moss would have surely won. But I
believe the track record would have been safe by minutes, not seconds.

Can anyone imagine Ted using an 8x10 at the Olympics? Or Art Wolfe using a
Holga? It can be done, but the results will not look like the masterful
results that we know. They would probably be the best 8x10 Olympic
photographs ever made, and the best Holga wildlife photographs ever made.
But it's like trying to race a brick truck. You can do it, but no one cares
and you won't become the recognized master in your field. They would all be
unknowns.

Tools are as much of the process as anything else. One must feel a
mutualism with one's tools. Carving fine ivory with an ax won't work. You
need delicate cutting tools. Creating a large ice sculpture with a pocket
knife won't work. You need a chain saw. Painting a fine oil painting with a
house painting brush won't work. Etc...

What personally feels correct, for the task at hand, is the correct tool.
Leica, Hasselblad, Linhof for me. Nikon, Mamiya, and Toyo for my friend.
Leica and Linhof for David Muench. Canon for George Lepp, Nikon for Pat
O'Hara, Leica for Fred Maroon, etc.

I personally have such an aversion to Nikon slr's, I cannot make decent
photographs with one. I cannot own a Japanese automobile. They feel
disposable and I simply do not trust them to perform under pressure. Tools
are very very personal.

If you have to constantly think about the tool and it accoutrements, you
are stealing energy away from the vision. You are fiddling and fumbling
rather than envisioning and producing.

Symbiosis is the key. When the tools are second nature, a trusting
relationship, you can concentrate on the vision rather than the process. A
symbionic relationship with all of the parts allows, with ease, the
production of masterful work.

IMHO,

Jim

At 02:48 PM 9/9/99 -0700, David Medley wrote:
>
>I believe it was the English race driver Stirling Moss who once got into
>this argument with someone. I don't remember all of the details, but the
>gist of the story is that he took a brick truck (literally a brick truck)
>out on the race course and came within very few seconds of the record at the
>Brands Hatch (SP) raceway. Proving once again that a master is a master
>regardless of the tool in his hand.
>
>Also, didn't Irving Penn once shoot a job with a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye to
>prove a point?
>
>Cheers,