Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/12/11

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Subject: [Leica] Ted, May I beg to differ?
From: walt at waltjohnson.com (Walt Johnson)
Date: Sun Dec 11 11:07:51 2005

Ted,
Appreciate the nice comments on  recent uploads but must disagree on one 
thing. Having worked for quite a few dailies over 30 years and several 
reasonably big-time  photo agencies taught me at least one thing. There 
are no rules, except one I taught myself. Honesty. Be honest and every 
thing else falls into place. Be honest in your approach, be honest with 
your self and most importantly be honest with your subjects.

Eye contact with a subject certainly doesn't automatically denote a 
set-up. Of course, even a set-up photograph does not (at least to me) 
mean dishonesty. Unless it's hard news most images we see are arranged. 
I'd guess about 60-70% of what we look at in  the major news mags is set 
up. They give you an assignment, you go do it. Done it many times, and 
never thought I was faking it.

The little girl with the cross wandered over to see what I was doing. 
She looked at me, I looked at her and managed one frame with an old 
Nikon F. She was part of a very poor community near South Phoenix and 
the families has sort of a potter's field for their departed.


Here  is a prime example of "eye contact" by  Jake Engel which speaks 
quite well of  honesty. Hope he doesn't mind me illustrating a point 
with it. Eye contact that seems to take us right to the heart and soul 
of a subject. Absolutely beautiful and real.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/engelpaw2005/steph27

And if I may beg to illustrate eye contact one more time and then get 
back to my Sunday chores  :)

http://gallery.leica-users.org/Images/beg

Walt




Replies: Reply from bdcolen at comcast.net (B. D. Colen) ([Leica] Ted, May I beg to differ?)
Reply from dlridings at gmail.com (Daniel Ridings) ([Leica] Ted, May I beg to differ?)
Reply from cochranpr at mac.com (David Cochran) ([Leica] OT The Polaroid Book)
Reply from rangefinder at screengang.com (Didier Ludwig) ([Leica] Ted, May I beg to differ?)
Reply from phong at doan-ltd.com (Phong) ([Leica] Ted, May I beg to differ?)
Reply from tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant) ([Leica] Ted, May I beg to differ?)