Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/02/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]SD, First, do keep in mind that the Life editors, who were foisting off one jolly middle-of-the-road everything's-going-great-in-America-and--the-West story after another, largely disliked Smith or worse. He made nothing but trouble. When he was sent to Britain to cover the elections in 1950 -- because Henry Luce badly wanted Labour to lose to the Tories -- he came back with the famous pictures of the Welsh miners. You can imagine how pleased the editors were. And on and on it went. Second, Smith was "isolated" in the 1970s largely in Minimata Japan where he became a lasting national hero to the Japanese by chronicling the effects of mercury poisoning on the citizens of that sea-side town, due to industrial waste poured directly into local waters by a local corporation, which eventually after much legal wrangling (also covered by Smith, over four or five years living on no money in the village) was held liable for its abuse, the first time this ever occurred in Japan. He was physically ever more of a wreck -- much of the self-medicating and subsequent addiction had its foundation in the injuries to his neck and back that he suffered in the war, the same neck and back he was hanging six Leicas off of in the 1940s and 50s. So perhaps those who testify about his skill as a printer are hagiographers and perhaps he was mediocre; no matter now. We are left with the prints reproduced in books like "Dream Street" and "The Jazz Loft Project" -- prints made over years when he was broke and had a smattering of girlfriends and acolytes assisting him on an irregular basis -- he used up people the way he used up film -- and these are subtle and magnificent prints, judging by the reproductions. So we'll enjoy them without being doctrinaire about their production. VP On Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 12:32 PM, slobodan Dimitrov <s.dimitrov at charter.net>wrote: > Granted on the issues of the visual essay. It's an area that vexed him to > no end. > However, on the printing issue, he wasn't especially brilliant,or anything > approaching the level of a genius, as the current wave of celebratory and > fawning 'scholarship' likes to intimate. > In the mid 1970's, I interviewed one of his old editor at LIFE. I wish I > had the presence of mind to have saved the notes. His name currently > escapes > me. > However, I will be in Santa Monica this afternoon. I'll try to swing by the > house, where the interview took place. Maybe the family still owns it, or > the current tenant might know who lived had lived there. > Anyway, he said he kept an eye on Smith while he stepped off the LIFE > reservation. He made sure he was hired back in 1944. > A number of comments stand out from that nearly 3 hour conversation. > According to the editor, the key reason over the earlier disagreement with > LIFE, came up over Smith's refusal to use a larger format than the 35mm. > Another interesting point was his dismissal of Smith's printing > capabilities. He recounted, how one day Smith went to the LIFE lab to have > a > print done. He had spent days on it, with little success. He showed the > head > printer what he done so far, and asked if he could do something with it. > The > printer came back 15 minutes later, and asked Smith if that''s what he had > in mind, as he showed him the print. Smith just looked at the print, > nodded, > and walked away. Apparently not very happy at not being to able to have > solved the negative's issues with that kind of ease, according to the > editor. > Lastly, he mentioned that it was in Smith's contract that he wasn't allowed > to use strobes. However, he did use a small strobe in the shot of > Schweitzer > at the his desk with the oil lamp. Smith bounced the light off the floor, > to > the left of Schweitzer, to separate him from the dark background. > Apparently > all the contracts were tailored to each individual photographer. What > applied to Smith might not necessarily apply to Capa, etc. > That's all I can remember so far. > During the 70's Smith wasn't especially known for his printing. It was just > general knowledge. > In those years I made a point of trying to meet as many of the > photographers whose work I admired. > But, by then Smith was an isolated tragic figure, who was no longer > accessible. > The editor was the closest I could come. > S.d. > > > On Feb 21, 2010, at 7:38 AM, John Edwin Mason wrote: > > > Vince, ditto to everything you said, especially this about the Pittsburgh > project: > > > >> He went and spent most of two years in Pittsburgh taking pictures that, > >> given the original low-paying assignment, probably required less than a > >> week's work. They are some of the greatest American photographs of the > >> post-war years, absolutely astonishing. They were finally gathered > >> together in significant number only a few years ago and the book he'd > >> long dreamed of came into being. It's called "Dream Street." Definitely > >> worth owning. > > > > "Absolutely astonishing" is right. > > > > The story of the project, which is well told in the introduction to > "Dream Street," is equally astonishing. As you know, he was driven, > obsessed, compulsive, and deeply addicted to meth and booze. He suffered > tremendously, and so did many of those closest to him. The book is still > in > print, btw. > > > > He was printing and editing the Pittsburgh project at the same time that > he was living in the NYC loft and creating the photos and sound recordings > that make up the Jazz Loft Project. The musicians who knew him remember > him > as a very cool cat--generous, easy to be around, and always, always, always > working. > > > > --John > > > > ****************************** > > John Edwin Mason, Photography: > > http://www.JohnEdwinMason.com > > Charlottesville and Cape Town > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 >