Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/05/31

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Subject: Re: [Leica] New Street Photos from Hanoi. - BACK ON PHOTO RELATED TOPIC
From: Ted Grant <tedgrant@shaw.ca>
Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 08:50:14 -0700
References: <MBBBJHIBKCKEAEOKKBPOAEGDDMAA.bdcolen@earthlink.net>

B. D. Colen wrote:
<<But this is one of those examples of someone being in a setting,
observing, feeling, smelling, hearing everything about it, taking a still
photo, and then thinking that the viewers of that photo will observe, feel,
smell, and hear everything the photographer did when he pushed the shutter
release.
>
> The only thing that's ever in the photo is what's in the photo. ;-)<<<

Hi B.D.
You couldn't have explained it more meaningfully. People constantly read all
kinds of things and feelings into a photograph far beyond what the
photographer did or felt as all he or she did was .... simply expose a
moment on film.... sans absolutely everything he or she was feeling at the
moment of shutter release.

I mean, look at the comments about Steve Barbour's latest child photograph
of a kid in a hospital for example.  There was fear of a needle to the
typical reactions of native peoples to a camera and several other imaginary
things in their own minds which had absolutely nothing to do with the
photograph.

When in reality, it was a sick or recovering child in the hospital. It
could've been any child. What Steve did was a capture  a moment of stress
any child has in a strange environment when they're ill.

There are a couple of things photographers shouldn't do... well OK lots more
than a couple,  but these will do.  Pre-conceiving before you get to the
shoot site and putting imaginary feelings into a photograph with no
relevance to the reality of the moment of exposure.

However, quite frankly none of us being perfect, we do it all the time. But
that doesn't make it right, as generally it screws-up what the pictures can
be or are.
ted
Ted Grant Photography Limited
www.islandnet.com/~tedgrant


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In reply to: Message from "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net> (RE: [Leica] New Street Photos from Hanoi. - BACK ON PHOTO RELATED TOPIC)