Re: [Leica] Re:If a rock flies in the forest.....

["M.E.Berube" <MEB@goodphotos.com>]

At 06:38 PM 10/23/00 -0400, Sal DiMarco,Jr. wrote:
>Just because, I'm lucky enough to earn a living doing what I love,
>doesn't give you the right to condemn me. Beside, photographs can and DO
>make a difference. Eddie Adams' Street Corner Execution," Nick Ut's "Napalm
>Girl," not to mention Johnny Filo's Kent State photo did more to change
>public opinion against the war, than any demonstration.
>     What about W. Eugene Smith's Minamata Essay? It did a lot of good for
>the people of that village.

Of course I have the right to condemn you Sal, but that's not what I'm 
trying or want to do. (That would be impolite and probably unwarranted.) 
Please re-read my post. I only stated that PJs TODAY (not in the heyday 
image deprived eras that you quote above) are no more or less Noble in 
doing their job than Advertising Photographers are in the studio. The folks 
who write the paychecks for both are the same. If that offends, I am sorry, 
but it is the truth.

LUGgers tend to talk of Photojournalists as if they were great and selfless 
humanitarians roaming the world only to find injustices to right. I don't 
think that this is the case. You get paid to bring home the images that 
sell. This makes you just like all the rest of us who are out there 
shooting. If my image does no harm, great. Show me the money. If it 
actually does some good, great, glad I could help the cause. Show me the money.

I wholeheartedly salute you if you are one of the rare few idealists who 
are out to change the world with your images while doing what you enjoy. 
Hey fight the good fight and follow that bliss, but the public are so 
inundated with images today that only the most striking or lurid have any 
effect on the average person at all and even then only for a brief 
momentary pause. The public have become desensitized to even the best work 
via image overload. The average PJ is in the job to make money to pay the 
rent...just like all other photographers who shoot for cash and they "make 
a difference" about as often.

Carpe Luminem,
Michael E. Berube