Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/10/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I'm surprised no one has mentioned this before so I guess I'll just have to tackle it. After about a month with the book AFGHANISTAN by Magnum member Chris Steele-Perkins, I'm prepared to write a few words of recommendation about it. [Warning: it was not photographed with Leicas and therefore has serious content-obscuring optical deficiencies in the OOF areas. Insert laugh track here, please.] Photographed in the mid- to late 1990s and recently published, it's a black + white, large format, beautifully printed book of a timely subject. There are 76 images and, perhaps unfortunately now, only minimal text; you'll have to look elsewhere for either a history or a detailed analysis of contemporary Afghanistan. Some of the pics are truly extraordinary and some quietly advance the story. The tone is emotionally even - somber but not heavy - despite depicting a materially shattered country. Just absolutely, totally shattered. There's plenty of evidence of war - how could it be otherwise in Afghanistan in the 90s - but not exclusively. The soldiers are, in a sense, indistinguishable from other men at work. The street photographer has his view camera, the barber his razor, and the Taliban their rocket grenades. The overall picture is of a broken country and to some small extent the image is biased; there are no pictures of the (relative) modernity (or at least recent construction) of Kabul or elsewhere. Steele-Perkins's interest is people and the banal but strangely fascinating moments of daily life. There are quirky moments: a thrown melon in mid-flight, an very unhappy looking bride, three tightly composed faces in different planes looking in three directions. And there are some ordinary moments of transcendent beauty: village elders gathering in a field at dusk, the weekly bath at the orphanage, milking the flock, hay carried on men's backs, a portrait of armed Taliban fighters, a young soldier sitting on a bridge at dusk, and many more - you'll have your own favorites. Steele-Perkins carries a very lively camera, pushing it inside the scene, almost inside the moment. Wide angle, shmide angle, you just feel like you're there. You stumble over loose gravel, you shy away from a wild-looking horse, you flinch from a rifle-toting soldier waving in your face. It's a very earthy style, neither intellectual nor emotional. I have contacts in the Afghan refugee community and I've tried to get some feedback about these pictures. I've incorporated here some of what I've learned but basically the response has been: so what are you showing me, I already know what Afghanistan looks like. After giving their responses some thought, I now take them to mean that Steele-Perkins's view is faithful, even if it's largely subjective. Lastly, I'd like to make a gentle appeal. Leica gear, even on the used market, is pretty darned expensive. But it's worth it, so we pay it. A few weeks (or less) supply of Tri-X can set you back a hundred dollars, never mind the processing. You see where I'm going with this. The exceptionally talented and hard working guys and gals who make the photographs that educate us and inspire us to get outside with our Leicas aren't exactly getting rich off their efforts. If you like a book enough to thumb through it every time you go down to Borders, maybe you like it enough to buy it and, in some small way, help sustain the freelance photojournalism community. AFGHANISTAN's about 50 bucks at Amazon.com, which equates to about 13 rolls of Tri-X. Not a bad deal, I think. Okay, the usual disclaimers: No political commentary is intended here. I have no connection to Steele-Perkins. My post is semi-incoherent only because I'm an ignorant fool (HS diploma on a technicality) who's too lazy to make the effort to think and write more clearly. - ---Peter - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html