Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/03/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The important thing to remember is that Smith was able to communicate via his magnificient vision. This is what all great artists are able to create, whether the media be photography, music, painting, etc. - and our lives are enriched as a result. ----- Original Message ----- From: "brad daly" <brad@bradbrad.com> To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@leica-users.org> Sent: Monday, March 07, 2005 8:51 PM Subject: Re: [Leica] Ansel > > On 7 Mar 2005, at 6:45 PM, Slobodan Dimitrov wrote: > >> Then again, I've seen Gene Smith printing. >> It came no where near what the boys in the LIFE lab could do with his >> negs. > > i remember one of my early photography teachers making the comment that > smith was a notoriously sloppy printer, so i've always thought of him that > way. i know his work best through books, though, and am not sure i have > even seen a print. i tend to think of folks like smith as > "photojournalists" and folks like avedon, adams, weston as "fine artists." > this is not to make any sort of value judgement at all; just to say that > their purposes and intentions were different. this is by all means an > artificial distinction, and there is nothing at all wrong with comparing > them or arguing that the aesthetic conventions of one "type" shouldn't or > couldn't properly be used by the other. > > saying smith's printing is bad is not the same as saying his pictures are > bad. > > gary winogrand, as i understand, wasn't very impressive in the darkroom > and generally didn't give a damn about technical aspects. > >> Probably the best printing I've seen to date, has been done by the >> individuals did the work of Penn and Avedon. > > avedon was a notorious perfectionist, and his proofs are painstaking; i > doubt i would be able to figure out the proper order in which to make all > his dodges and burns and still end up with the right exposure, let alone > have the mechanical skills to do it. he arguably did the same photograph > of himself over and over his entire career, which i guess is more > monomania than perfectionism. > > -- > brad daly brad@bradbrad.com > http://www.bradbrad.com > > > "People say 'Iraq had the fourth largest army in the world.' Yeah, maybe, > but you know what, after the first 3 largest armies, there's a REAL big > drop-off. The Hare Krishnas are the 5th largest army in the world, and > they've already got all our airports." > --Bill Hicks > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information ---------------------------------------- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users. It has removed 367 spam emails to date. Paying users do not have this message in their emails. Try www.SPAMfighter.com for free now!