Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/06/02

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Subject: [Leica] An extraordinary collection of 40's Leica images
From: s.dimitrov at charter.net (Slobodan Dimitrov)
Date: Thu Jun 2 15:30:45 2005
References: <2867578BB7767E45B3C9E3CBA9C5A65F593C75@smskpexmbx3.mskcc.root.mskcc.org> <429695C0.6050007@comcast.net> <0c6850af8724aa5729d008b40b0b9ef4@earthlink.net>

I recently dug up a stack of New York Times magazines from just prior  
to the digital switch. What a difference the tools make in  
visualizing and execution. We'll never see those days again. In some  
way I'm relieved, as the younger batch of shooters didn't have access  
to cheap film to burn through in order to develop their vision and  
style.
It's not uncommon now for someone to take over a 1000 exposures in  
one day with little inhibition for the material cost. I think we've  
yet to see the really creative wave coming out of this.

Slobodan Dimitrov
http://sdimitrovphoto.com



On May 26, 2005, at 8:53 PM, Feli wrote:

>
> On May 26, 2005, at 8:36 PM, David Rodgers wrote:
>
>
>> Christopher,
>>
>> You may be right. But I'm not so sure the digital side of things is
>> merely a push of the button, even with a high quality neg.
>>
>> What these photographs bring to mind for me is that we moved away  
>> from a
>> unique look that was present from the 40's to the 70's. Maybe it  has
>> to do with the fact that films really started evolving then,  
>> driven in
>> part by the huge spike in silver prices. (We can thank  the Hunts for
>> the demise of the traditional silver rich films and papers?. :-) )
>>
>> This is just speculation on my part. But I think there's definately a
>> different look to 35mm photographs made pre-70's. And I wonder what's
>> behind it. Is it technology related? (i.e.changes in  film and not  
>> just
>> more recent digital). Or is it technique related? Or is it a  
>> combination?
>>
>
>
>> DaveR
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> I think there are several factors involved:
>
> I believe the switch to zoom lenses had a huge impact on the way  
> shots are composed.
> Shooting strictly with a 50 or 35, makes you see the world in a  
> very different way.
>
> The abandonment of the traditional canons of art in schools  
> affected composition.
>
> The introduction of automated cameras affected the 'weeding out'  
> process of the talent pool.
>
> The introduction of built in spot / averaging meters has had an  
> affect on how scenes are
> exposed. There is a noticeable difference in look, between using a  
> average reflected
> reading and a incident reading, when shooting a scene.
>
> The loss of magazines like LIFE etc. which affected the pool of  
> staff  photographers,
> who had years to hone their skills etc.
>
> Feli
>
>
> ________________________________________________________
> feli2@earthlink.net                 2 + 2 = 4                
> www.elanphotos.com
>
>
> no archive
>
>
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>

Replies: Reply from feli2 at earthlink.net (Feli) ([Leica] An extraordinary collection of 40's Leica images)
In reply to: Message from saganicc at mskcc.org (Saganich, Christopher/Medical Physics) ([Leica] An extraordinary collection of 40's Leica images)
Message from drodgers7798 at comcast.net (David Rodgers) ([Leica] An extraordinary collection of 40's Leica images)
Message from feli2 at earthlink.net (Feli) ([Leica] An extraordinary collection of 40's Leica images)