Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/02/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi, Ted - The weird thing about this list is that I am, when all is said and done, a slightly left of center "liberal," but this crowd somehow manages to so push my button that I find myself ready to sign up and join Castro in the Sierra Madre...oh, right, he hasn't been there for about 40 years. Well, you get the idea. What rock do some of these people crawl out from under? It is really quite scary. On the other hand, I do find that in responding to these insane posts I am thinking through a lot of issues and ideas that will be helpful in my course.;-) Cheers... - -----Original Message----- From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Ted Grant Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2002 7:22 PM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: [Leica] WAS: Salgado Revisted NOW: questions answered Matthew Powell asked: >>> Ted, though I admittedly haven't read your book, only seen some of the > photos on your website - were you telling a story, so much as showcasing >the work and acts of doctors?<<<< Well I wasn't telling a story paragraph by para, nor was I looking at any given storyline to show only the good. I was as part of the scene physically, be it OR, consultation you name it and I was shooting everything and anything I was "motivated by" as a photojournalist. > But if you had followed one patient - perhaps a cancer patient, or someone > without health insurance - and their medical visits, do you think it would > have been as completely separated from the politics of the issue (cancer > funding, drugs, treatment, lack of healthcare for millions)?<<<<< Sure! Why not? I'm a photojournalist shooting what happens, not a politician trying to gain brownie points everytime they look at something. I suppose viewing the final production, those with a bent for misery or good could read whatever they wish, but that's not what I'd be shooting. Certainly not the wishes of others, good, bad or ugly. A good photojournalist stands out side the circle and is the recorder of the event, not part of the event. And if your there looking only for the good, and shooting only that, then you lose your clean objectivity as a photojournalist and become a propagandist. And if you do not work in a clean manner, recording all the motivating images before you, then your "photographic eyes are blinkered to everything going on... good, bad or ugly." And that's never been my style, I record everything and anything that I'm motivated by. I suppose I've been allowed in places others do not get because of years of doing just that, shooting everything before me............ if it's motivating I shoot it. And working with absolutely no flash and only Leica M's and R's, you capture quietly many things without people having any idea you were taking pictures. I trust this answers your questions. ted Ted Grant Photography Limited www.islandnet.com/~tedgrant - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html