Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/10/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Don't you think that seen from outside - i.e. from the point of view of a non-practitioner - these various disinctions might seem less important than they do to the photographer himself? And more fruitful if taken as an interacting whole? It seems to be a feature of photography discussion lists (and photographers) that they focus on a particular style or method of taking pictures and despise all others. This is a necessary part of one's self-definition as a photographer, I suppose, but it seems it could be worthwhile crossing a few boundaries from time to time. I thought the article was quite interesting and made some good points. As for "Sontagian vomiteria" - I was pretty sure we'd get a quick dig at Sontag somewhere on this thread. Surely you can do better. - -- Rob http://www.robertappleby.com Mobile: (+39) 348 336 7990 Home: (+39) 0536 63001 All outgoing email scanned by Norton AntiVirus (TM) 2003 Professional Edition. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Slobodan Dimitrov" <s.dimitrov@charter.net> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Cc: <Letters@washingtonpost.com> Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 6:41 PM Subject: Re: [Leica] The Decisive Moment is gone > The poor wretch Gopnik is about as clueless as they come. Confusing the fine > art photographic process with the commercial press photography of HCB, and > then throwing in street photography, a more or less grass roots > photographic form, for good measure had me ROTFL. > I suppose that when documentary photography was melded into the fine art > school of thought, such an excretion from a staff keyboard ponder like > Gopnik isn't too surprising. > The usual "compare and contrast" methodology, so typical of this kind of > '"critic," reminds me of some of the strains found in Sontagian vomiteria > which we are now so familiar with. > Slobodan Dimitrov > > > > ---------- > >From: Tina Manley <images@InfoAve.Net> > >To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us > >Subject: [Leica] The Decisive Moment is gone > >Date: Thu, Oct 30, 2003, 7:44 AM > > > > > LUG: > > > > An editorial about how the decisive moment is no longer relevant in current > > photography: > > > > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31924-2003Oct28.html > > > > In part: > > Fine photography, awkwardly renamed "photo-based art," is now about using > > your film as an art supply like any other, with a highly planned, complex, > > fully conceptualized picture as the end result. Photographic artists are no > > longer hunters, prowling the world for the most beautiful or striking prey > > they can find. They've become taxidermists and diorama makers, using > > manipulated bits and pieces of the world to make a studied point about how > > it works, or doesn't work, or might work if the rules were changed. > > > > Explanations like this remind me of the Calvin and Hobbes strip about > > art. The article even mentions Leica so it's on topic! > > > > Tina > > > > > > Tina Manley, ASMP > > www.tinamanley.com > > > > > > -- > > 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 > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html