Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/09/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The whole point is that that is a very ideologically driven point of view. We all work hard, yes (well, I do) - but to suggest that the hard work of a factory owner and the hard work of his labourers are essentially the same is to cancel out the political and economic power differentials between them, and that is the defining aspect of their relationship. No doubt the supervisors and the toilet cleaners in a railway station all work hard, but to suggest that their work has the same economic and political value is to ignore the very identities of both players. One is a west indian toilet cleaner and the other is a white supervisor. They all have sweat on their brows, but that sweat has a completely different taste for both of them. We are all the same can only be true if you discard all power relationships to start with. So, FOM was so significant, coming as it did when Western intellectuals were celebrating the End of Ideology - precisely because it was cancelling out the power relationships (the history) that underlie its subjects identities, replacing them with a bland , unarguable natural order. That is a strongly ideological stance. R. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dizel" <webmaster@fucha.pl> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Sent: Monday, September 02, 2002 8:36 PM Subject: Re: [Leica] So many issues, so little time > > There are good human beings, good causes, good movements...But that doesn't > > stop the Family of Man being naive propaganda > > Undeniably > > > suggesting that we are all the > > same in all respects > > 'all respects'? We are all human beings - the idea behind FoM is to show > the smallest common things that are universal. This doesn't mean that > FoM shows that we are identical.. > There are some basic things all people share - and FoM shows that these > are _universal_ things. Nothing more than that. > > > -- just take a look at the photos of people voting...in > > the U.S., China, and the USSR, implying that in each of those nations we all > > have an equal say in choosing our governments and leaders.... > > Thats why I said FoM is naive. But please, look at other photos too - > for example photo of man drinking water, spilling it on his face - > shows the universality of hard work everywhere. And FoM succeeds in > showing that. And thats what counts :) > > > There are some really fantastic photos in that collection, but there is a > > reason that it was the most successful photo exhibit in history...and that > > is that it wasn't a photo show, it was a political show.... > > Political? Made by who? Reds, Anarchists, India National Congress? :) > One of Steichen's close cooperators, Wayne Miller, made also a very similar > in idea album - 'The World is Young'. It does also show universality > of some things - happiness, anger, friendship.. And FoM is very similar > to it. I used to think that Steichen was just a hopelessly > idealistic humanist :) > -- > St. > > > -- > 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