Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/04/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]A friend of mine says he pursues "verisimitude" in his photos. He has published several books and his work has appeared in highly respected publications. He shoots color. He used to shoot archival slides and make Cibacrhomes from them. He had his own lab in his house. He went digital in 2001 and continued his pursuit of "verisimitude." I know what he means when he says he wants to reproduce things the way they are, but that is impossible. The type of film, paper, the type of lens, influence the outcome. I don't think there is such a thing as "verisimitude." Nor do I think it's a goal worth pursuing. At least my?aesthetic doesn't embrace that. My feeling is that the craft and art of photography come from how one manipulates the image. Ansel Adams certainly did this. That famous photo of the moonrise over the graveyard is an example. That photo could not have been taken in the light it seems to have been taken in. You just can't get the sun to stand still for as long as it would had to get the exposure Adams did. The photo was taken in brighter light and Adams burned in the sky. He interrupted the negative. Color photography poses different possibilites and problems. I prefer black and white photos to color by and large and I prefer color film photos?over digital. Given the control that Photoshop provides, I find I disturst digital photos. If you don't like a bird in the sky of your digital image, you can use the patch control and get rid of it and who?will ever know. In this respect, digital photography?can be a vice, but if you look at what Photoshop allows you to do creatively, it can be a virtue. Instead of trying to re-create what?he saw, the photographer with Photoshop can create what he feels and sees. ?Painters have been doing this forever. I have yet to find a blue horse like the one Fanz Marc painted. Wie kann das sein? Doug