Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/08/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]While the various manipulations for which Smith is now known would be verboten for photojournalists and documentary photographers today, we shouldn't forget that he was working in a very different time - in a day when many "candid" photos were posed - including those in Life photo stories; and a day when Presidential sexual proclivities were well known to the White House press corps and never reported. ;-) B. D. - -----Original Message----- From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of tm Sent: Sunday, August 11, 2002 1:33 PM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: Re: [Leica] Eugene Smith's problems There is a fascinating article in a supplemental magazine issue from the publishers of Photo Techniques Magazine, "Mastering The Black & White Fine Print" (special issue #11) about W. Eugene Smith that I highly recommend reading. Besides discussing Smith's mental problems, it reveals how his most-known prints/images were not straight prints; rather, via photographs included in the article, the author of it reveals how Smith used darkroom tricks to comlete a lot of his prints even though his fans never realized (until this article) that this was so. One of the photos in the article shows Smith with two Leica screwmount bodies and lenses around his neck. The most surprising finds in this article for me were how he manipulated his famous "Spanish Wak" print and his "Tomoko in her Bath" print to arrive at the finished products. Having first seen both of these images in my youth, I was shocked upon reading this article at what he had failed to communicate to us about said manipulations, for I always assumed they were from original negatives exposed by a fortunate photographer. This does not mean I am attempting to vilify him herein, however. Terry - -- 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