Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/02/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Gang, Just read an insert within the current National Press Photographer's magazine. The insert, Visual Communication Quarterly, is a somewhat scholarly look at PJ topics. The lead is a long look at "Marc Riboud in North Vietnam." If you can get a copy, it is worth a read. Especially interesting is early discussion of the social conditions that lead to the richness of the social documentary photography of and for the "common man." This used to be Life Magazine and others. So interesting to think how things have changed to obsessions not with ordinary life (a Riboud specialty) but to celebrity these days. The article is based around the story in Look magazine (that became a book The Face of North Vietnam--an exquisite work that has disappeared from my library, alas). The article is an excellent deconstruction (I can't belive I used that word!) of the long essay and how the content was able to portray the conditions in the North that made a US/SVN victory only a distant possibility. Not only are most of the photos visually compelling, but they also tell the story in great visual detail. photoJOURNALISM at its finest, no matter which side of the fence you were on. This article is as good an analysis of a great photo essay and its context as I have ever read. And yes, I am sure it was all done with Leicas. donal - -- __________ Donal Philby San Diego www.donalphilby.com