Re: Shutterbabe Re: [Leica] Curiosity on Magnum

["B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

Dragi Anevski wrote - and asked for my response, so......:
> 
> Hi B.D.
> I agree that it is the their work that is important. So how come some of
> them use Leicas? Does it show in their work? And how do they capture those
> moments? I think these are interesting questions and in my personal and
> naive opinion also maybe as interesting as whether WE think that certain
> lenses are sharper than others. 

Anything of more interest than that! :-)

So what do THEY think? Why do they choose a
> Leica to such a high degree?

Why do they choose Leicas? Because some of them prefer to work with
rangefinder cameras and Leica makes the only modern professional level
rangefinder and makes terrific lenses? I don't know. You'd have to ask
the photographer. Asking any of us is pure speculation and BS.
> 
> Lets compare with the "normal" equipment for a photo journalist. You don't
> see that many carrying a Leica on say a press conference on TV. But a lot of
> the Magnum people do exactly that.

Not many Magnum shooter spend their time covering press conferences. And
press conferences - photo ops - are highly competitive situations where
many photographers are trying for THE shot, and most photographers in
that situation are going to use the fastest, most foolproof, equipment
they can get their hands on.

 Maybe they do a different kind of
> photography for which the Leica is more suited? I don't know. I'd love to
> hear others opinions on that.

Yes - Most of them do documentary work and have time to develop their
projects. Although there are certainly exceptions to that rule. But I
don't think that "most" Magnum photographers regularly use Leicas.

> 
> One of my friends works as a freelance for a newspaper in Sweden. I can see
> a change in his pictures from when he started, where he only used a Leica
> M4P with one lens (35 Summicron), and now he uses a Nikon F100 with wide
> angles and very rarely takes out his Leica. And I think I can say that his
> older pictures are perhaps more contemplative, to use a word for lack of
> better. He used to say that he used the Nikon for the photojournalist things
> and the Leica for his personal. That's changed now to just the Nikon, and
> now he likes that camera more. I'm not saying his pictures are better or
> worse, but I think they are different. I don't know if that's because he has
> changed or his cameras.

I would suggest - and I am making this suggestion blind - that he has
changed.
> 
> I'd love to see a discussion on say what makes Salgado use an R6 to shoot
> his pictures. 

Perhaps the fact that Leica gives them to him? ;-) I believe he used to
use Olympus equipment. Getting free equipment, especially when, like
Salgado, you probably need to have it replaced and overhauled frequently
because of the conditions in which you shoot, is a real incentive to use
a particular type of equipment. Which is not to say that the R6 isn't a
terrific manual SLR - of which there are very few left - or that Leica
lenses aren't fabulous.


By the way I saw the Workers exhibition in Stockholm some
> years ago, and I still remember how it felt to stand in front of one of his
> huge charcoal-like prints for several minutes and just be overwhelmed by it,
> and then go on to the next and next... And I know that Salgado has left
> Magnum, which I believe was due to controvercies on whether his photos were
> PC or not, the argument was they didn't show the poor as victims but as
> strong and proud people, that he glorified manual work which you shouldn't.

I believe this to be utter tripe. Certainly there are those who
criticize him - not for glorifying manual labor, but because, they
contend, his photos are so 'beautiful' the distract the viewer from the
plight of the subjects. 

> 
> Or say Larry Towell, who I believe, does everything with a Leica and a 28.
> Does it show in his work?

First, I don't think he only uses a 28 - at least the photos certainly
don't look it. And does the fact that he uses a Leica and Leica 28 show
in his work? I don't know. I admire his work a great deal. But I
seriously doubt that I would be able to look at it and tell you that it
was shot with a Leica, or shot with an EOS - except for the fact that
there are clearly some situations in which he shoots that firing an EOS
would be like firing a .38.
> 
> Or take a non-Magnum photographer like William Klein, who I believe just
> uses M and 21mm. Could he have taken those pictures with another camera and
> lens? 

Of course.

I know he started when there was no other option but there are other
> options now... I also know that he has done a lof of films and commercials,
> but I beleive he used the Leica for his photography.

I really don't get your point with a lot of these examples. It's hardly
shocking that someone begins working with a particular tool, loves the
tool, goes great early work with it, and then sticks with it.

> 
> I don't know what Koudelka uses, I know that he did panorama view photos
> with something that obviously couldn't be a Leica. Did he use a Leica for
> his pictures of the invasion of the Soviet Union in Prag?

Why do you care what he or anyone else uses. They use what works best
for them. I use what works best for me. You should use what works best
for YOU and for no one else. For every one photographer who swears by
Leica, there many, many, more who swear by Canons, by Nikons, by
Hasselblads, by Rolleis, by Fujis - by any serious equipment you can
name that out sells Leica. It all comes down to what the individual
photographer works best for him or her, for any number of reasons -
noise level or lack there of, dependability, quick service by the
manufacturer, a particular lens they like, a vast array of lenses,
ergonomics, etc. etc. etc. 
An example: Eugene Richards uses an Olympus OM3 for the sole reason that
Olympus makes a 21 (20?) f2 lens, and he loves the lens for its speed.
He says the cameras keep breaking on him, but he loves the lens so he
puts up with the bodies.
> 
> I'd love to hear your (and others) opinions on it.

You have..:-)
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