Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/04/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Excellent words, excellent picture. Well said, Kyle. I have done some modeling and, indeed, some nude modeling and you could not be more on target than when you say that your subject trusts you to create something beautiful and/or meaningful. If you go into each of your photo shoots bearing that in mind, it is not a wonder you get the beautiful images you do. Lea - ----- Original Message ----- From: "kyle cassidy" <kcassidy@asc.upenn.edu> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2002 2:38 AM Subject: [Leica] what we talk about when we talk about women : >Well said Photo Phreak ... on a subject that is : >"taboo"... to a point that a woman's beauty, is : >becoming politically incorrect to comment on. : : there's nothing wrong with commenting on a woman (or anyone's) physical : attractiveness. it is the derisiveness of some of these comments which : bothers me. when you say "wow, nice tits doll" you are not commenting on : someone's beauty, you're deriding them. : : while i'm certainly guilty of objectification of my subjects -- and i don't : think that's necessarily wrong -- i do respect them. they're human beings, : they're my friends, and they've trusted me. it's a betrayal of that trust if : they then become the victims of oafish commentary. like the photographs or : dislike them, but realize what risks models take when they put themselves in : front of our cameras, especially when we ask them to take off their clothes : first; they're making themselves vulnerable because they trust us to make : something beautiful or meaningful -- as photographers and (hopefully) : artists we are influencing how people around us think and how they behave. : this is an awesome responsibility. i hope that i do justice to my subjects : when i represent them. there are enough girls out there every day getting : run over by the modeling industry, who get talked into doing things they : don't really want to do by unscrupulous people, i don't want to contribute : to that. : : and please remember, this mailing list isn't ted and b.d. and me and marc : and whoever sitting on your back porch drinking beer at 1:00 in the morning : at a hunting lodge in the remote wilderness of wyoming, it's a worldwide : forum with thousands of people listening and a searchable archive. whatever : you think you may be saying to just a few other people is going into the : mailboxes of many. : : i may not be serious about much, but i'm serious about how photographers : treat their models. and if i've taken someone who trusted me with the image : of their own self worth and opened them up to mockery, i've failed in that : contract and i need to go back to photographing bugs. : : i would suggest that when commenting on someone's physical appearance, even : when you think you are complementing them, (and by this i mean the royal : "you," meaning "all of us") imagine someone else is saying it about your : wife or daughter before you commit it to the public record. because that's : who we're talking about -- we're talking about the way that we, as artists, : are conditioning the world to look at all women. : : i happen to think that's a beautiful shot -- and were i to see colleen, i'd : say "hey, you look great." : : just my .02 : : kc : : : : : : : -- : 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