Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/06/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]As an admirer of HCB and a host of other photographers, well- and not-so-well known, I will take my life in my hands and step momentarily into this Slobodan-induced maelstrom. It seems to me that there are essentially two kinds of photography. One I may call contemplative. This is large and medium format and, to some extent, SLR photography (don't jump on this, Doug; I recognize that wildlife and sports photography is long lens SLR work). The second I may call action. The 35mm RF is the paradigm tool for this work. Of course many if not most of us do both. To be successful, i.e. to produce images that touch or move viewers, requires an eye. The photographer, in either area, must be able to see and, indeed, to some extent, to foresee the image that he/she wishes to preserve. In contemplative photography there is ample time and space to manipulate the (prospective) image by changing the light, the lens, the subject's orientation or by moving to a different viewpoint. In action photography the photographer has no such luxury. He/she rarely can truly foresee the desired image by more than a moment and must rely on what in the sports world we call eye-hand coordination. I've played all of the racquet sports almost all my life. Accurately striking a ball moving at over a hundred miles an hour requires lots of eye-hand coordination. This is perhaps a long-winded way of describing the decisive moment. HCB's work exhibits an extraordinary eye for the image as it is creating itself (i.e. the action creating the image-opportunity) and extraordinary eye-hand coordination in capturing that action with his right index finger. my 2c. Seth LaK 9 - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html