[Leica] Eisenstaedt's The Kiss

[tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant)]

B. D. Colen said:
> I'm willing to bet that, like everyone else except HCB, he shot what he 
> felt
> was the most appropriate camera for the job - Leica, Contax, Rollei, 4x5,
> Nikon F...Some people don't spend their lives obsessing about a single 
> brand
> of equipment - they obsess about getting the shot. And oddly enough, 
> they're
> the photographers people remember. ;-)<<<<<<

Hi B. D.,
In 1950 at the beginning of my life playing and working in photography, 
equipment was perceived to be what was necessary to be successful! However 
how wrong one can be.

Anyone with the right amount of money can buy all the gear in the world, but 
if they can't see picture moments the equipment and all the dribble that 
goes with it is meaningless!

Early on I attended a seminar with Ralph Morse of LIFE magazine. What an 
experience because he set me on the right path for the following years.:-)

The main thing from his teaching? "All the money and all the gear"  doesn't 
mean diddily squat in the hands of someone who didn't see photographically. 
However the person who can see light, understand it and feel the photo 
moment will shoot the "own everything gearhead's ass off" with one camera 
and one eye! ;-) It was all about seeing and damn little about equipment.

Sure I amassed a fair amount of gear over the years, but each piece was a 
tool for a specific use, not to buy it because it was a Leica lens or 
whatever. And I learned how to make use of 5 or 6 cameras at the same time 
as though they were one. Simply because I never wanted to miss a moment that 
caught my eye if I didn't have the right lens!

"Jeeeeeeeeshhhh look at that!!! Click!" :-) And that's what it's all about!

And like you, I bet the photojournalists of the past were far more concerned 
with seeing and capturing the moment than what the heck camera they were 
using. Despite what the advertising says.

ted