Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/12/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I too love what Erwitt notices and how he presents it to us. He notices visual irony at a very sophisticated and humorous level. He has a unique and uncanny ability in noticing what he does. "Photography is simply a function of noticing things. Nothing more." - Elliott Erwitt Ridiculously glib. Probably (hopefully) taken out of a larger context. All photographs "notice things." True enough. So what? Noticing unique and/or universal qualities in a subject; precise relevant moments; whether humorous, tragic, elegant, ironic, or whatever; the convergence of lines, shapes and forms into striking compositions; the balance of tones and/or colors; the use of textures and rhythms; then putting those notices onto a two dimensional surface in a way which actively communicates to the viewer of that piece of paper what, with a bit of why, you noticed; goes well beyond "simply a function of noticing things." And none of the above touches on the technical skill set required to achieve, in print, that which we "simply noticed." Fond regards, George george@imagist.com http://www.imagist.com http://www.imagist.com/blog http://www.linkedin.com/in/imagist On Dec 23, 2008, at 8:59 AM, David Rodgers wrote: > I love Elliot Erwitt's work, in particular all his dog shots. And > yes, they don't seem as technically great as Ansel Adams' > landscapes. But consider Erwitt's somewhat famous image of a > scampering dog suspended over a puddle with a person in the > background. Dramatic tonal contrast helps makes that image what it > is, IMHO.