Re: Rabies shots? Was[Leica] Re: FOMing at the mouth

[Dante A Stella <dante@umich.edu>]

Ted:

Me boy?!  At last  I know who me *real* father is now... talk about a Darth
Vader moment!  Does that mean I get a Canadian passport?

I think what I said before was that too many people were agonizing about
the final form and not worried about what they should be doing with all of
that exotic photo gear.  Make pictures of people now (and for whatever time
this runs for); ruminate, agonize and herniate about your favorite original
FOM (original) contributor later.  The past should be inspiration, not a
pulpit for preaching the gospel of self-defeat.  I think from reading your
post that means we agree.  I was just seeing a ton of posts that in essence
said, "what if I'm not good enough?"

I will be starting on this project next week in DC and the week following
in Spain and Portugal.  And I could care less who went before -- only that
I will make the best photos that can be made of what I see.  In fact, if
the basic idea is depicting man and his environment, I will just proceed de
novo with "me" M3 and a ton of TMX without so much as dusting off that FOM
that's languishing on a basement bookshelf.

Cheers
Dante


P.S. Interestingly, on the "good enough" line of thought, I think some
people (including a lot of people here) get demoralized because they do
recall the great photographers' pictures as automatically all great -- as
seen in the glossy photo books at Borders -- while forgetting that behind
every great photo is a contact sheet with some not-so-good ones.  Probably
a lot of not very good ones when you tally it all up.

Ted, me Canadian paterfamilias, wrote:

> Dante me son,
>
> Get real!  First of all the majority of the population of the world
> won't
> know, won't have a clue nor are they going to give a flying hoop what
> the hell "the Family of  Man" from 50 years ago was all about!  It's the
> same as 99% of the world haven't a clue what a Leica camera is!
>
> Do you really think we are going to go out and shoot the same kind of
> imagery that was done over 50 years ago?   Won't happen....doesn't
> happen
> and not likely will we go looking for it anyway! Besides, in case you
> haven't looked lately,  it's kind of like "rather different!"
>
> And what makes you think we aren't going to kick photographic ass in our
> work? You're damn right we're going to "take some nice pictures"  But
> more than that, we collectively, those who are gung ho about this
> project, the shooters in the group, are going to do a hell of a lot more
> than take some "nice pictures!"
>
> > > Even the use of the FOM name gives everyone an inferiority
> > > complex.  Why go nuts living in the shadow of HCB and others?<<<<<<,
>
> Now you really pissed me off!!!!!!!!!!   Who the hell has an inferiority
> complex due to the name? Nobody I've talked to and I sure as hell don't
> have one!  And I sure as hell don't live nor shoot under the "shadow of
> the worlds greatest snap shooter, HCB or any of the others!"  You look
> up to them as they went before us, but they sure don't hold any big
> shadow over me or anyone I know!
>
> >>>>>>>> Life is too short to worry about taking a picture because "it
> won't live up to x, y or z." <<<<<<
>
> If I worried about this tom foolery all my photographic career, I'd have
> never lived up to my own criteria for good pictures. If you want to be
> successful you don't worry about your photography living up to anyone
> else's. You take on the attitude, "You are going to kick their ass and
> have them in envy of your eye as a photojournalist!' Otherwise you'll
> always be second!
>
> >>>>>The only significant pictures you can take are of things to which
> you are a witness.  HCB (or any
> > professional) was paid for what he did, and that's how he got to the
> places where he did his work.>>>
>
> Look this is crap for a very simple reason. If you can't take
> excellent..good..great... well executed pictures in your home town, what
> the hell makes you think because you go some place else, you are going
> to be great because you're in a different location / country?  Money or
> not!
>
> It's the same as photographers telling me "You are so lucky covering the
> Olympics,  that's why you get great sports pictures!" And my answer to
> that?  Quite frankly this. "Bull shit! I took great sports pictures at
> high school track meets and that's why I eventually was assigned to
> shoot the Olympics!"  If you can't do it at home you sure as hell aren't
> going to do it any place else!
>
> And this is the same as what you're saying, HCB was great because he
> went ot other countries, well me old son it just doesn't cut it!
>
> >>>>In the same way everyone wonders why they can never get travel
> Kodachromes like National Geographic does.  Easy answer: if you had six
> weeks (or months) to  get that volume of pictures, there would be little
> excuse for you to come away with nothing good enough to grace at least a
> text-dominated NG page.<<<<<<<
>
> You are partly right and partly wrong.  Time is always an asset on any
> shoot, however, even time can't save your ass if you are an incompetent
> photographer!
>
> >>>>>>>> Besides, from some of the pictures I've seen of him at work,
> HCB used Canon IVSB bodies anyway.<<<<<<
>
> Who cares!
>
> Look, if all the energy that has been expended with the bull shit of
> title, old version /new, why, why not, whine whine whine had been
> put to better use in taking pictures, some of you guys would have stuff
> in the can and waiting to go to Alastair! Think about that for a moment
> and get your asses out the door, get started and stop whining!  Damn!
> ted