RE: [Leica] HCB Did It All First

["Buzz Hausner" <buzz.hausner@verizon.net>]

Well, Slobodan, let's look for a moment at H.C.-B.'s photograph of
Giacometti crossing the street in the rain (Paris, 1961), in which
Giacometti takes on the aspects of one of his own sculptures.  To my
eye, this picture clearly surpasses what you call the "vanity of
celebrity photography."  Now, consider his iconic portrait of Matisse
and his birds (Vence, 1941) which, besides being a wonderful portrait
was also part of a major photographic essay on the artist in old age.
Cartier-Bresson produced many seminal photographic essays on singles
topics and entire books on Balinese dance, Russia, America, China, and
India, for which sins I suppose you would call him "just" a travel
snap-shooter.

My personal favorite single H.C.-B. photograph is the three aged priests
leaving midnight mass ( Abruzzo, 1953).  This picture conveys to me all
the dense mystery of religious practice and, at the same time is a
brilliant composition of multiple layers of objects in sets of three.  I
am not sure how this picture relates to extruded pasta, but I would be
interested in learning why you consider this one particular photograph
insipid.

Now, let's look at his picture of the Palais Royal (Paris, 1959) which
is a shot on a rainy day of several rows of formally planted alles
behind which is the palace whose rows of windows reflect the formality
of the rows of trees.  In the fore ground, a single human figure crosses
between rows of trees.  To me this photograph counter poses the
formality of the building and plantings with the random movements of the
people.  You might call it insipid landscape photography, I would not.

I could go on and on in this vein but will not.

Cartier-Bresson is brilliant and the father of us all in many genres of
small format photography.  Extruded pasta, Slobodan?  Put your evidence
on the table.

	Buzz Hausner

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Slobodan
Dimitrov
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 6:08 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Re: [Leica] HCB Did It All First

I wouldn't go that far! Looking at his material reminds me of one trick
ponies. Or more pointedly, the work has the high and lows of extruded
pasta. Putting the aside the vanity aspect of celebrity photography,
what else is in the work? 
Slobodan Dimitrov

bdcolen wrote:
> 
> I've been spending a fair amount of evening time lately with the new
HCB
> compendium - and on more than one occasion my reaction has been, 'oh,
> f*&* it, time to put my equipment on Ebay.' :-)


- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html