RE: [Leica] TWO AMAZING PHOTOS

[Paul Chefurka <Paul_Chefurka@pmc-sierra.com>]

>-----Original Message-----
>From: B. D. Colen [mailto:bdcolen@earthlink.net]
>Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2000 10:58 AM
>To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
>Subject: RE: [Leica] TWO AMAZING PHOTOS
>
[snip]
>As to the GORE photo...I think the composition is wonderful, 
>the color is
>quintessential Florida....Like the combat photo, it captures a
>quintessential moment in our quadrennial political combat - 
>the candidate
>captured by "the folks.." If it was just a shot of Gore 
>posing, I'd agree
>with your take...but the shot o  the tourist taking the shot of the
>candidate posing with tourists is just too perfect...as is the 
>gut hanging
>over the "photographers" bathing suit...The position of the 
>beach chairs and
>the way they, the photographer and the Gore group form a sort of
>circle....it just all works for me....

I suspect that to have that kind of impression on the viewer, they have to
be aware of the cultural context of the photo.  If they've never been to
Florida, the Floridaness" of the colour is lost on them.  If they don't care
(or know) much about American presidential races then the identity of the
protagonist doesn't contribute to the message.

For me, it would work as one image in a thematic book that could impart that
sense of context.  As is, for me as a Canuck who's never been to Florida, it
lacks those resonances.  Thus - a pretty, well-composed snap of an everyday
activity on the beach.

Paul