[Leica] Luis and Steve

[photo at frozenlight.eu (Nathan Wajsman)]

Hi Jayanand,

I second your high opinion of Lluis's book. I will just address the economic 
issue you raise. The protests were not a political movement in the 
traditional strength which was at the time seen as a strength but it is now 
clear that without a coherent political programme, providing answers to 
questions such as the ones you raise, the movement is in the process of 
fizzling out. As Lluis himself noted, towards the end of the sit-ins there 
were increasingly just various bums and hoodlums rather than the idealists 
of the early days. If you asked, you would get many different answers. 

Also, I must say that the fundamental problem in Spain is not the debt (much 
lower as % of GDP than Italy or Greece) but anemic growth. So what is needed 
more than anything else are reforms of the economy to make it more 
competitive, allowing the country to grow its way out of trouble. In the 
case of Spain it is possible. Difficult, but possible. In the case of Greece 
it is not.

Cheers,
Nathan

Nathan Wajsman
Alicante, Spain
http://www.frozenlight.eu
http://www.greatpix.eu
http://www.nathanfoto.com
PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog

YNWA







On Jul 19, 2011, at 4:47 AM, Jayanand Govindaraj wrote:

> Sorry - by mistake I posted this on the forum yesterday - it is about two
> books...
> 
> I received two books at the same time yesterday - Luis' 'Indignats' and
> Steve McCurry's 'The Iconic Photographs'. Both are exceptional and highly
> recommended, and have a common thread close to my heart - in both the books
> the central subject is human beings.
> 
> Luis' has really brought a book of street photographs - though I have seen
> many of them before, their impact, taken as a whole, is considerable.
> Beautifully and coherently done. It really brings his talent in capturing
> human beings to the fore. Blurb seems to have improved its B&W printing as
> well, it looks quite neutral to my eyes.
> 
> I just want to ask a question of Luis:
> 
> If, as I think is the case, Spain's long term bondage to French and German
> Banks can only be solved by defaulting and leaving the Eurozone, because 
> for
> obvious reasons neither France or Germany are going to do anything to
> constructively help Spain ahead of their own banks, what would the
> protesters do in that case - would they want the Eurozone subsidies to
> continue, and exist in that bondage for a generation or two, or go through 
> a
> period of severe transition for a possibly better life for their children?
> It is all very well to protest, but I want to know what they are protesting
> against.
> 
> On to the second book - a very apt name - iconic photographs indeed, 
> printed
> beautifully and LARGE, in a limited edition of 3000 copies. This 
> magnificent
> book is all of 20"x15" and weighs 16.2 lbs! I actually just strained my
> shoulder trying to manhandle it onto a bookshelf! I love McCurry's work,
> probably because it is very easy for me to culturally identify myself with
> his work, as most of it is in our neighborhood. I bought this book because
> it has a free signed print! When I wanted to buy one of his originals, he
> wanted US$1500 for a 16x20 print. This book includes a free print of 
> 18"x12"
> size of 'Flower Seller, Dal Lake, Kashmir, 1996'. I think, despite the high
> price of GBP160 that I paid for it, (luckily Amazon UK has free shipping to
> India at present), the sheer quality of the printing and the original 
> signed
> print that you get with it, makes this book a bargain in my eyes.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Steve-McCurry-Iconic-Photographs/dp/0714856339/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310995138&sr=8-1
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers
> Jayanand
> 
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