Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/12/06

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: [Leica] Re: I commend to your attention
From: "SonC (Sonny Carter)" <sonc@sonc.com>
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2001 08:58:21 -0600
References: <SIMEON.10112060810.B@sova-walt.unt.edu>

From: "Walter S Delesandri" >

> Then I thought about something I was told years ago, and I've passed
on to friends
> and students since.....it's VERY possible that individual
'snapshots', shot for
> family/hobby/etc....will (in a coupla hundred years) be the MOST
valuable document
> of "how we lived/worked/shopped/dressed/etc"....these photos, to the
historian,
> will be worth many times the cultural/social value of the current
"sensitive/socio/
> political/artistic bullshit that passes as "serious" photography.
>
> Is it "art"?...I don't know or care....I just know that long after
the victim/
> artist/abused/suffering persons' MFA project is in the trash, these
"honest"
> photos will be around to tell our descendents "HOW WE LOOKED"...

Walt,
You make some good points.   I work in the Cammie G. Henry Research
Center at NSU (former football foe of NT),   We own several thousand
photographs from this area.  The collection is not nearly catalogued
yet, but it includes pictures from the Farm Security Administration,
and the Federal Writer's Project. What's more, we hold the prints and
negs from two professional photographers and a large newspaper.

We also own thousands of photographs from the area that people have
entrusted to us from their family albums, estates, and other sources.

Guess what?  The vast majority  of researcher's requests go right past
the pro stuff, and want to see snaps of people, how the village looked
in 1927, and stuff like that.

In the 1930's one woman got all of her friends to bring their
home-made quilts to her home.  They hung them on the clothesline and
took pictures of them.   Simple idea, huh?  Dumb subject?  Those pics
are on our high request list, and have been featured in three national
publications in the last two years.

You know, last week we had a guy visiting from Houston.  He's an
engineer.  He was saying to me, "I really like this quaint town.  It
is so beautiful and unhurried, and I like the brick streets and old
buildings."  Then he said, "One problem I've noticed, is that you
really need to four-lane some of these streets and put in some timed
traffic signals so things will move a little better."

(sigh. . .) some people just don't get what we're trying to do.

Regards,

Sonny





- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html

In reply to: Message from Walter S Delesandri <walt@jove.acs.unt.edu> (Re: [Leica] Re: I commend to your attention)