[Leica] a rant: altered photos/ journalism. long but. I do have a point here

[Sonny Carter <sonc@sonc.com>]

In my world, there is a town with history and myths.  In my world
people trace their heritage from 1714. That's not a long time on the earth, not a long time in Canada,certainly not a long time
in Africa, nor China, even Europe and the UK.

I take pictures in my town, of people, of events.  I try to make them
look like they belong in this unique  corner of the universe.  I
do not alter what they do in my pictures.  I see the picture I am taking.  What comes out is
almost never a surprise.  I always know what is on the other end.  Sometimes
I know it has flaws when I push the button.

Then I take the film and scan it, or I load the file to PhotoShop, and
I try to show you what I saw when I picked up the camera to make the
exposure.

Usually it requires only a tiny bit of work; sometimes though,
I wasn't looking at that little branch when I shot the picture, or I
could not have moved to a place where it does not show, so I took the
picture anyhow, and showed you the picture I saw without the branch.

Yeah, I fix shots.  But wait!!

I was an award-winning photographer in another life, NPPA spot news
3rd place,actually. (1972 if you want to check the archives)  I won
AP, UPI, New Orleans Press Club and other trophies. Even shared a
Peabody with some other talented people a couple years later.

All of those pictures were edited for order and the video was adjusted
to make levels broadcast quality.

How can I tell you how stupid I find this thread?  I took film of
firefighters getting killed fighting a fire in a building that should
have been rebuilt or condemned, and become for a while the most famous
photographer in New Orleans. I almost was killed myself that Christmas
Day, but for a firefighter who gave me the cue to get the hell out of
the path of the falling building.

Here's the deal folks.  You go out there and take pictures. You do it
because that is what you do.  You do not think about why you do it,
Then you share it in some way.  You may make
money for the sharing; you may get famous, you may make a propaganda
point. The motive doesn't matter.  The only thing that matters is that
the picture was made.  You don't need to judge your work.

If you are lucky, history will make the judgement.



Regards,
 Sonny
 http://www.sonc.com
























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