Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/09/29

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Subject: [Leica] film vs. digital in my brain.
From: bd at bdcolenphoto.com (B. D. Colen)
Date: Fri Sep 29 17:27:20 2006

Well I'm not a high roller, big time photojournalist either, Ric. But I do
think that both writers and photographers have a responsibility to be the
community's eyes and ears, taking them to places they either can't go, or
haven't chosen to go. Both writers and photographers bring whatever
perspective and skills they have to the job of observer. The writer is going
to write his or her story in a way they think will catch and hold the
reader's interest; the photographer is going to shoot the image, or story,
in the way he or she thinks will tell it best, using whatever artistic
skills they have. However, both writer and photographer have a
responsibility to tell the "truth" about an event. If it's okay with you for
the photographer to turn the sky from dull muddy brown to bright orange
because the photo will be more dramatic, am I to assume that you think it
would be okay for a writer covering the fire where the photo was taken, who,
like the photographer saw a muddy brown sky, to include a line reading - "As
he hauled the hose up the 40 foot ladder, St. James Wright was sharply
silouted against the bright orange sky." Me, I'd call that writing fiction,
and say that a reporter who intentionally changes facts in that manner
should be fired on the spot. And so should a newspaper photographer who does
the same thing with Photoshop. ;-)


On 9/29/06 5:41 PM, "Ric Carter" <ricc@mindspring.com> wrote:

> Okay, I'm no high roller, big time photojournalist. I used work for a
> little daily (10,000 circulation). Now I do an infrequent newsletter
> of modest circulation (bimonthly/50,000 circulation).
> 
> I get good reception from the readers (viewers). They never tell me
> they appreciate me being their eyes somewhere. What they enjoy and
> mention is my perspective. They enjoy that I see things that they
> don't on the same street they walk or at the same event they attended.
> 
> Journalists are NOT observational robots. We are artists who share
> our perspectives with readers. If readers don't think we do better at
> it than they, we have failed.
> 
> Ric Carter
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/f/Passing-Fancies
> 
> 
> 
> On Sep 29, 2006, at 5:09 PM, Philippe Orlent wrote:
> 
>> Op 29-sep-06, om 23:06 heeft B. D. Colen het volgende geschreven:
>> 
>>> But obviously we're going
>>> to have to agree to disagree on this one.
>> 
>> 
>> That is so obvious! ;-)
>> 
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> 
> 
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Replies: Reply from ricc at mindspring.com (Ric Carter) ([Leica] film vs. digital in my brain.)
In reply to: Message from ricc at mindspring.com (Ric Carter) ([Leica] film vs. digital in my brain.)