[Leica] More on Walther Benser

[Afterswift at aol.com (Afterswift@aol.com)]

Photographer Articles from 'LPP News' 
Walther Benser - Issue 78 http://www.lpp.org.uk/lppnews.htm 
'Walther Benser never wanted to make a career out of taking photographs: 
like 
many adolescents of the 1920s, moving pictures were his passion. "I was much 
more interested in film," he says. "I thought Leica were developing a new 
movie camera and they were looking for young people to work there." 
"Call me crazy if you like but I get a kick out of photographing what I'm 
not 
supposed to. Leicas are true to the subject," he told me, "I like things 
which are close by, things you can touch, and a photograph taken by a Leica 
can 
let that be so. It's true to the old ideals. A really good photograph has 
always 
depended on the photographer being really close to the subject" 
Talking to Benser, it became obvious that this need for close proximity to 
his subject is deeply ingrained in his technique. "It is something that 
Henri 
Cartier-Bresson told me at a very early stage, 'The true photographer should 
only need two lenses at the most - one, a 50mm, and maybe sometimes a 
35mm.'" 
As we said our goodbyes and I tried to absorb what the veteran photographer 
had told me, he took my arm and gave me one last piece of guidance. 
"I didn't invent the Leica, but I would say to everyone who knows the camera 
and knows how it works, that they should stand by it and do what they want. 
The camera should be like your instrument. You shouldn't have to obey the 
rules 
of your camera, it should obey you."'