Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/01/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Jan 24, 2006, at 6:23 AM, Lee England wrote: >> the world is unaware of all this (see above and below... ) . People >> are out there taking photos in Iraq and Niger, and many other God >> forsaken places... so forget the mud.... and get out there and get >> some quality photos... >> >> I believe you are missing the chance of a lifetime... >> >> Steve > > > > Steve, > > I think part of the problem of photographing the devastation in > New > Orleans is the enormity of it, the awfulness, the lives lost. The > camera > just seems like a useless thing in your hand. It's like there're some > things photography just can't handle. Oh, I can try, and I will. > I'll post > some as I get them printed. You might get an emotional reaction to > them, > but it'll be nothing like mine. It would be like someone who has > been in > violent military combat trying to tell someone else what it's > like. After a > minute he gets quiet because he can see it's no use; the feeling > can't be > conveyed. It's like the first time I walked into the Rouen Cathedral; > photography just can't convey that feeling. It can convey some > feeling, but > not the one you are feeling. I understand fully Lee, just when the camera seems useless is when it must be used... I can't tell you how or what, but I have confidence that photographs can do it... they have always been able to tell the important stories... and when really good... to have overwhelming impact. Often a focus on the small things, the symbolic things, reveals the big picture... Believe me, I can feel the terrible emotional drag that is such a barrier to this momentous task... If the camera can't capture the important things, then tell me...what good is it...? Steve