Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/12/13
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About a year ago I started what I would term a commercial documentary
venture, or commissioned documentary photography - A Day In Our
Life...Documentary Photography of American Families...
I spend a day with a family, from when they wake up in the morning until the
end of the day, shooting all B&W, available light - well, flash in utter
desperation - all candid. I shoot 15-25 rolls, select what I believe to be
the best 30-50 to tell the story of the day, scan the negs, print them using
the Cone piezography process, and present them in either an album or
presentation box.
I have posted the latest such shoot at
http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=76808
and welcome comment, criticism, suggestions, etc. etc. etc.
B. D.
P.S. - Everything shot with M6 and pair of F100s....Tri-X at 800
- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of S Dimitrov
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2000 10:03 AM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: Canon LTM, Winogrand, etc.
Johnny D.
Sorry I've taken so long to respond. We just had our house tented,
that kept us out and about using friends' computers. But back to topic
at hand, Mr. Winogrand.
I lived in Ocean Park, CA during the 80's. This was a very small
community that was absorbed by Santa Monica. Santa Monica collected the
taxes but was making Los Angeles pay for services due to a technicality,
It's a sleaziness the persists to this day in the fair city of SM.
During that time, I would do the usual, go to the SM pier and walk on
the Venice front walk. Every now and then I would bump unto Winogrand.
Seeing as how I had an MP4 with a 28mm at the time and sometimes an M3
or M2 with a smattering of lenses and he had the very same around his
neck and shoulder, I thought that a nod or a few words of courteous
camaraderie would be exchanged. Well, what used to happen is that he
looked as though he walked unto a leper and he would literally shrink
back in a strange kind of horror. So after a few of those little
escapades I kept an eye on him when he walked by other individuals with
a modest amount of gear with them, well, just about the same reaction
occurred. I could see that his mannerism created a ripple of guarded
attention around him due to his attempt at inconspicuousness. In all
that time I never said a word to him. I do think that the word
"skulking" best describes his photographic approach.
I'm sure there are a slew of his friends, and students that probably
have a different view of him, because of their relationship with him. I
can only comment on my own experience. I only saw a rumpled, evasive and
eccentric street photographer.
Frankly, his style reminds me of the twelve-tone technique. It's so
rarefied and personal, that grasping a unifying coherence requires so
much visual sophistication, in this instance, that it is outside the
reach of most viewers. Now I would think, that Winogrand as a
professional, meaning he was paid for his services, and having to
survive in such a demanding environment, would find the need to develop
an obscurest mannerism as an attempt to break from the pack. But of
course, that's only a guess on my part.
Photographing people, in flagrante, is akin to practicing
anthropology, there are several schools of thought in how to be in
contact with your subject. They are all valid, to a great extent, and
they are all dependent on the temperament of the researcher, and in this
case, the photographer. I'll stop right here on this vein, I'm sure
everyone is bored to tears by now.
But, don't mind me, It's just an opinion, albeit influenced by
experience.
Slobodan Dimitrov
Johnny Deadman wrote:
> on 11/12/00 2:14 am, slobodan dimitrov at sld@earthlink.net wrote:
>
> > Weird guy, from what I saw of his shooting style, it was more an
> excercise in
> > skulking than photographing
>
> can you tell us a bit more about this? I am always interested in
> hearing
> Winogrand observations for the biography I will probably never get
> time to
> write...
>
> --
> Johnny Deadman
>
> http://www.pinkheadedbug.com