Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/05/19

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Subject: [Leica] Re: Looking at Pics
From: benmarks2005 at gmail.com (Benjamin Marks)
Date: Fri May 19 11:33:55 2006

>>>> Looking at still images is an inculturated activity. Without
>>>> grooming  the next mass audience, still photography could be
>>>> considered spent.

Pontification coming:

Correct in premise, but incorrect conclusion.  I think Gene Smith's Minimata
photo of the mother bathing her child would affect any feeling person who
saw it.  Would they all have the same reaction?  No. But that hardly
detracts from its impact.  The appeal of photography is that images of
people are instantly intelligible regardless of culture.  Or history.  Do
you not recognize images of people in cave paintings as representatively
human?  Of course you do. As long as there are humans, they will react
emotionally to images of other humans.  We can't help it.

Respectfully,

Ben Marks

Replies: Reply from kennybod at mac.com (Kenneth Frazier) ([Leica] Re: Looking at Pics)