[Leica] RE: was Multiple Bodies, now cropping-phooey!

[feli2 at earthlink.net (Feli)]

On Mar 6, 2005, at 4:43 PM, Ted Grant wrote:
>
> "Yeah he's not bad but I wonder if they have Gene Smith's beautiful 
> real photography around here?" Denis the younger, blurted this out 
> just loud enough that someone complained about those two "over their 
> being derogatory about the Master!" So we were asked to leave! Damn, 
> they were serious and we'd hardly said a word.  Only the truth! :-) 
> The Brits and Ansel groupies have no sense of humour and take all this 
> "great photographer" stuff way to seriously.

A friend of mine and I once got thrown out of a health food store in 
Munich, for making fun of wheat germ and blended grass drinks, while 
each of us gnawed on a large, greasy Bratwurst...
8-)

>
> Hell he was just a photographer like everyone else, but without 
> question the best damn darkroom guy I've ever seen in my life.

AA was the best at what he did, no doubt about that. Very well composed 
shots and technically perfect. I like some of his shots very much, but 
for the most part they tend to leave me cold. I find them rather... 
sterile. I guess it's a matter of taste.


> On the way out, escorted to the door of course, ;-) we passed a huge 
> stack of Ansel books for sale, when Denis says out loud, "Oh wait 
> there's a book I want."  Then walked right by the Ansel books taking a 
> large copy of the Eugene Smith book, "Let Truth be the Prejudice"  and 
> once again out loud, "Now this guy really knew how to take pictures!"  
> Smiled as he got his money out to pay for it. I couldn't resist went 
> over and got a copy for myself. :-) Sacrilege! ;-)

I got that book for Christmas this year. You rarely see the picture of 
the Japanese mother bathing her child, as big as it is reproduced in 
that book. To be perfectly honest it choked me up a little. Damn it was 
Smith good. Nutty as a March hare, but a damn genius.

Feli


> ted
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