[Leica] Black and White

[philippe.orlent at pandora.be (Philippe Orlent)]

I don't think B&W has anything to do with traditionalism.
Just think 'Nachtwey': I'd call his work more timeless than
traditionalistic.
Not that I have anything against color, but in this case it seems to add an
exotic sense to the photographs, and I'm not sure if that is what Tina wants
to convey.
Karen's work is a different kind of photography: most of the photographs I
looked at have a very neutral, almost cold, color range,  which sticks
better to 'reportage' IMO than the vivid colors I see in Tina's work.
Maybe desaturating and shifting the colors a bit might help to keep the
'more realisitc' feeling one has looking at them in B&W.

> From: "R. Clayton McKee" <leica@rcmckee.com>
> Organization: Freelance Photojournalist
> Reply-To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org>
> Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2005 12:58:28 -0500
> To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org>
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Black and White
> 
> On 12 Oct 2005 at 13:06, Tina Manley wrote:
> 
>> So far, the vote is 14 for B&W, 7 for color, 4 for Sepia, and 4
>> undecided (including me).
> 
> I'm gonna vote "Yes" and argue that "better" or "Not Better" says
> more about the viewers than the photographs, all of which are to one
> degree or another exceptionally fine.  I don't think I can
> comfortably make a statement that the group as a whole should be one
> or the other; many I like both ways -- though they do seem to have
> different meanings, when treated differently.
> 
> I think perhaps BD came close, that B&W is Documentary, but I'd think
> that in this case the degree of intimacy and comfort in the photos
> suggests that the color set is more akin to perhaps Karen's idea of
> photoethnography than to it is to tourism.  The color sense in the
> pictures isn't secondary, it's an intrinsic part of the indigenous
> culture and mindspace.
> 
> It's not surprising that of the LUG would go for B&W, though; with
> the possible exception of Kyle we're all to one degree or another
> traditionalists and this is a classic execution of traditional B&W
> subject matter.
> 
> Thanks, Tina.  
> 
> --
> 
> 
> R. Clayton McKee                           http://www.rcmckee.com
> Photojournalist                               rcmckee@rcmckee.com
> P O Box 571900                           voice/fax   713/783-3502
> Houston, TX 77257-1900                   cell phone #  on request
> 
> 
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