Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/05/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Robert - who is Elsa Dorfman? ernie On May 17, 2009, at 10:30 PM, Robert Meier wrote: > From a review of Bosworth's biography by Elsa Dorfman: > > > The book abounds in what I suspect is improvisation, hearsay and > undocumented speculation. The standards of language and accuracy > (let alone interpretation) are very low. > > Bosworth keeps on reminding us that Arbus was only interested in the > aberration, off-beat sexual practices, tortured sexual identities, > and physical and mental deformities of her subjects. She suggests > that Arbus was purposely exploitative and sensationalistic. > Ironically, this is precisely Bosworth's own approach to her > subject. She is obsessed with real and imagined aberration, > speculates about what she considers offbeat sexual practices, > imagines tortured sexual conflicts...Diane Arbus eludes Bosworth > completely. > > The interesting questions are left unasked, let alone, unanswered: > How did this woman, brought up in the most constricting, > conventional environment, come to have such a unique personal vision > in which style and subject-matter were perfectly matched? How did > she produce so much valuable work in just eleven years? Why was she > so insecure and uncomfortable with her talent? Was her insecurity > and lack of self-esteem (as reported, I suspect accurately, by Studs > Terkel) related to her narrow, ungenerous vision? Was she afraid of > her own success? And finally, why did she, like Sylvia Plath before > her in 1963, end her life? > > > > > > On May 17, 2009, at 5:43 PM, Charcot wrote: > >> Robert - if you come up with the discredited parts or Bosworth let >> us know. I read it and assume that it's true so anything you come >> up with I'd be interested. >> >> ernie nitka >> On May 17, 2009, at 3:13 PM, <photo.forrest at earthlink.net> wrote: >> >>> That's what I was going to say, why does it really matter what >>> cameras she used? Contax, Nikon, Leica, Mamiya, whatever. She's >>> Diane Arbus and her images are some of the most beautiful ever >>> made. She could have used a Diana & they would have been just as >>> powerful. Its just a box with a hole on one side and a recording >>> medium on the other. >>> Phil Forrest >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> >>> From: Michiel Fokkema <michiel.fokkema at wanadoo.nl> >>> Subj: Re: [Leica] Arbus revisited >>> Date: Sun 17 May 2009 4:59 pm >>> Size: 1K >>> To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org> >>> >>> Who cares? Why a keypoint? >>> It's the image that counts. >>> >>> Cheers, >>> >>> Michiel Fokkema >>> >>> Robert Meier wrote: >>>> I think Bosworth's biography has been discredited on many key >>>> points, >>>> but I don't know the details. Needless to say, whether she used >>>> a Leica >>>> or not would be a very key point. >>>> >>>> >>>> On May 17, 2009, at 2:21 PM, Tina Manley wrote: >>>> >>>>> At 03:00 PM 5/17/2009, you wrote: >>>>>> Found this on photo net: >>>>>> " >>>>>> Diane Arbus never used a Leica for her work. >>>>>> The guy gives off the air of knowing what he's talking about. >>>>>> I mean when you get that specific.... >>>>>> >>>>>> Mark William Rabiner >>>>> >>>>> From her biography by Patricia Bosworth: >>>>> >>>>> page 108 ?hated the big 8 x 10 camera; she preferred the Leica. >>>>> page 124 ?anyway-she always had a camera, usually a Leica, in? >>>>> page 127 She would still record the sessions with her Leica for? >>>>> page 195 ? Leica for years, but in 1962 she changed to a Rolleif? >>>>> page 231 ?cameras. She still missed the lightness of her Leica,? >>>>> page 246 ... D I A N E A R B U S novative work with a Leica >>>>> (that sm? >>>>> >>>>> Searched on Amazon. >>>>> >>>>> Tina >>>>> >>>>> Tina Manley >>>>> www.tinamanley.com >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Leica Users Group. >>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more >>>>> information >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Leica Users Group. >>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more >>>> information >>>> >>>> >>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >>>> >>>> >>>> No virus found in this incoming message. >>>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >>>> Version: 8.5.329 / Virus Database: 270.12.32/2118 - Release Date: >>>> 05/16/09 17:05:00 >>>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>> >>> --- message truncated --- >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information