Re: [Leica] VII

[Robert Schneider <robslaurat@earthlink.net>]

Thanks for taking the time, but it just looks like a lot of words to say
you that you don't like what's out there but can't offer anything
better.

Ho hum.

My dead eyes like what they see on the VII site.  I also suspect that
the members of VII don't hate their jobs or the fact that they might
have to use a digicam to get a pic in a magazine.

September 11 certainly seems to indicate that people are as hungry for
still images (if not hungrier) as they are for on-the-spot video.
Magnum apparently has sold out the first 100,000 press run of their 9/11
book and I'll readily acknowledge that it's generally OK photojournalism
but nothing more.  And certainly nothing special.   People want the
pix.  Now convince the editors.

And just because someone has already taken snaps of third world/first
world/my world/your world misery doesn't mean someone else shouldn't do
it again.  I think people should be bombarded with images of the
suffering in this world until they wake up and do something about it.
You got a better project?

Shrug.

Happy holidays,

Rob Schneider
- ------------------

Slobodan Dimitrov wrote:

> Robert Schneider wrote:
>            I need some decoding help:
>
> Before we enter the Massacre of St. Bartholomew zone, you have to
> remember that these are personal opinions and are not holy writ. If
> there is quest for an immutable certitude on your part, then I won't be
> able to help you there.
>
> In reference to my comment on the NGO style, for want of a better term,
> a very lucid and apt description that applies to today as well, can be
> found in Ortega y Gasset's book, An Interpretation of Universal History.
> In particular his three succinct commentaries, in the first chapter, on
> international information somewhat befits our own current presentational
> methods. I, for my part, distrust any entity whose services can be
> subcontracted by a government or its agents. It's as thought they are
> the modern version of the privateer, where a distance is maintained for
> whatever reason. Historically, the mendicant was always a precursor of
> the knight crusader. Somewhere in there is also the age old issue of
> patron/client relations. The issue of patronage, and its problems, as
> been a constant source of anxiety. These issues, that go into antiquity
> are as valid today as they where then.
>
> Photojournalism dying as stale news somewhat misses the point. Not
> making better pay is rarely the issue with individuals who have taken to
> it as an avocation. What has become the issue is the changes brought
> about because of new technology. No question that the change of media,
> i.e. digital, and the portable laptop has a been a key in the
> rethinking. The push for streaming media as events unfold has placed a
> demand that the still photographer can't compete with. A photographer's
> visual capabilities can be tied to the equipment at hand. A change of
> technology can be an alienating factor to a photographer. We've seen
> that time and again with the displacement of workers in other fields as
> new equipment leans out the work force.
>
> Concerning J. Stanmeyer going from hawking schmatte to being a purveyor
> of third world misery. What is that about? Yes, what is that about.
> Good question, should we contact him and ask? His input might be interesting.
>
> As far as concrete examples, I'm waiting with baited breath myself. I
> certainly won't look for it in the current visual syntax that we call
> photojournalism. The role of streaming news with a whole new usage of
> visual technology by a generation that is learning it from the street,
> so to say, is making for a very exciting time.
>
>    Slobodan Dimitrov
>

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