Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/09/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Greg Locke wrote: > As a working photojournalist and anthropologist there is one thing that > always amazes me about a lot of the people who post to this list and the > comments they make about photography. > > Never have I met a group of people who have such an enthusiasm for > photography, yet have so little understanding of its origins, history and > true value as a cultural and social communication tool. > > Sure, some of you are paranoid or have serious hate for the Press, News > Media and documentary photography but that is no reason to be ignorant of > the power of photography. > > While photography of nature and family gatherings are a fine application of > photography, true calling is that of a social tool. > > A tool to document the human condition, our cultures and society. A tool of EDUCATION! > To educate is to break down ignorance. > > Maybe when we stop worrying about tech charts and what kind of paint is on > our Leicas we can do some reading about the work of Lewis Hine and Brassai. > Their photography, because of their choice of subject matter and REASON for > photographing have a far greater value then many of the "artists" that get > a lot of hero worship on this list. > > How about we approach photography from the point of view of the subject > matter and WHY we make pictures instead of starting with the camera. > > When I photograph some religious ceremony in Bosnia, Rwanda, Haiti.... or > Newfoundland, I document a primary tenet of a peoples culture. When those > pictures are shown to people in isolated and insular western cultures they > LEARN something and, hopefully, gain an understanding of a culture they > have never had contact with and, most likely, have some misguided views. > > I hate to tell you but "this" ain't about flowers, trees and sunsets. > > Greg Locke > St. John's, Newfoundland > locke@straylight.ca > http://www.straylight.ca/locke > Greg, No question, photography is an excellent educational tool for documenting the human condition, our cultures and society. To say that this is the true calling of photography, though, is stretching things a bit too far. For example, it was photography that led to the establishment of the first US National Park at Yellowstone. The human condition, our cultures and society may be what YOU are most interested in, and many many others are as well. I'm also fascinated by human cultures but not enough to devote my life's work to its study. What gets me up in the morning, and keeps the spark of life in me, is wild lands and wildlife, and for me photography is a means to share my love of the wilds with others. There are many photographic styles and choices of subject matter that bore the crap out of me but for those who choose those styles it is as much the True Calling of photography as wildlife is for me. On another point we agree: the beauty and power of the photographs made by Tina and Ted and many others on this list hold far more interest than whether the Noctilux was used at f/1 or f/1.4. The tech stuff can be useful info but only as a means to making photographs that communicate something. Doug Herr Birdman of Sacramento http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/telyt - -------------------------------------------------- Visit the Northwestern Alumni Association portal page at http://www.nualumni.com to get free web-based e-mail and many other exciting features.