Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/01/19

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Week 3 and two bonuses
From: Martin Howard <howard.390@osu.edu>
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 14:51:32 -0500

Rodgers, David jotted down the following:

> Re Bonus 1. Amazing how a b/w image can make me see green, and smell fresh
> cut grass, here in the dead of winter. Love the expression on Bonus 2. Very
> "Leica" photo. Also really like your use of captions.

Thanks.  I'm delighted that I managed to convey "summer" in the golf shot.
The one second test is a test of a good photo, but another one that is
equally important to me, is if it managed to trigger other sensory
experiences/memories too.  I often hear music in my head when I see a really
good photograph, so it means a great deal to me that you saw green and
smelled grass.

I'm discovering that my pictures work best with captions -- or rather,
little stories.  I take pictures for myself and their significance is often
beyond just the merely visual.  When I take merely visual pictures, I often
get very austere, quite boring compositions with little life in them.  I
find that writing something about when the picture was taken and why adds
something to the experience.  So, I don't believe 100% in that a good
photograph absolutely must stand alone.  I think that it should have value
in and of itself, but if the experience can be augmented by text, then it
should be.

The shot of Mary is very much why I bought a Leica two years ago: It's not
very significant, just a moment one morning, but it's a photo I'll treasure
forever.  It's a Leica M cliché, but then I would never have taken the
picture if my camera was an F5 with 80-200mm zoom.  And Mary wouldn't have
giggled like that.  My father saw the shot and said "Mary looks just like
Mary".  I'm delighted that I managed to capture that.  Like Ted says, with
colour, your photograph people's clothes, with B&W you capture their soul.

BTW -- a blanket comment to all: I'm learning a lot from comments I'm
getting privately and publically on this PAW thing.  It's turning out to be
a tremendously useful tool, and just plain fun too.  I love how the LUG has
become more visual since Jan 1st.

M.

- -- 
Martin Howard                     | iCon          iDole       iRate
Visiting Scholar, CSEL, OSU       | iDeal         iDull       iMage
email: howard.390@osu.edu         | iSue          iOn         iGnorance
www: http://mvhoward.i.am/        +---------------------------------------