Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/10/12

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Subject: [Leica] Black and White
From: philippe.orlent at pandora.be (Philippe Orlent)
Date: Wed Oct 12 12:00:04 2005

And following the exotism reasoning, I don't think sepia is the way to do it
either, for it does exactly the same.
Cfr. the last page of National Geographic: this always gives me the feeling
of looking at images that are
1: Long gone
2: Very patronizing, as if documenting animals in the zoo.

But this is really my 2 cents.


> From: Philippe Orlent <philippe.orlent@pandora.be>
> Reply-To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org>
> Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2005 20:53:51 +0200
> To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org>
> Conversation: [Leica] Black and White
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Black and White
> 
> 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
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
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>> 
> 
> 
> 
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> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> 



Replies: Reply from lew at fastmail.fm (Lew) ([Leica] Chromed M4)
Reply from images at InfoAve.Net (Tina Manley) ([Leica] Black and White)
In reply to: Message from philippe.orlent at pandora.be (Philippe Orlent) ([Leica] Black and White)