[Leica] HCB portraits

["Gib Robinson" <robinson@sfsu.edu>]

I've seen a few of HCB's portraits in gallery prints. Their power and subtlety as prints make them considerably more compelling than
the website versions. As I recall the gallery-print portraits of Matisse, Faulkner, Sontag, and others, I remember feeling the
vitality of the subjects and the freshness of their individual personalities. I've never bought an HCB book because I've never found
the book version of the prints conveyed that vitality. The website versions are even more limited. They allow us to see his style as
a portrait photographer, but not really to feel the substance and vitality of his portraits.

Also, I wonder if we're not inclined to underestimate HCB's portraits because his very informal, "environmental" style of
portraiture has become a norm and looks like a cliche.

- --Gib