Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/06/18

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Subject: [Leica] Are we Anal or what? "The Puddle Jumper" / Re: How about this one?
From: imagist3 at mac.com (George Lottermoser)
Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2012 13:19:09 -0500
References: <CC04E3B6.11ECC%manolito@videotron.ca>

On Jun 18, 2012, at 12:55 PM, EPL wrote:

> Robert Meier wrote:
>> 
>> I see a profound difference between the photographer who watches and 
>> observes
>> life and takes pictures of the world around him as it unfolds, and the
>> photographer who directs people and events, turning them into models who 
>> are
>> following his script.   The results might look superficially the same, but
>> they aren't the same.  The artificial creation might sometimes be 
>> superior in
>> many ways -- lighting, design, composition, gesture and expression -- and 
>> at
>> other times it might not come up to the level of the genuinely captured
>> moment.   But it is not the same and is not, in my opinion, to be judged 
>> by
>> the same criteria.
> 
> Well, that eliminates our admiration for many of the great photos in
> National Geographic magazine, for example. Many many are "orchestrated" to
> some degree (the word "staged" is to be avoided), despite the appearances 
> of
> spontaneity.
> 
> And I'm thinking too of lots of press-type photography of famous people or
> major events where the particpants (from athletes to the Dalai Lama) are
> media-savvy performers. Nature or nurture?
> 
> We all have a few of those single-shot success story images from when our
> instincts and our reflexes and the Gods conspired in our favour. But in my
> opinion, those are exceptions and not the bread-and-butter of photography
> and need not be mythologized as such either.

It takes an astute observer of life
to properly "orchestrate" a convincing "slice of life"
photograph, short story, novel, play, opera, short or feature film.

And even if all we're orchestrating is our own position
in relationship to the subject - we are director/producers 

Regards,
George Lottermoser 
george at imagist.com
http://www.imagist.com
http://www.imagist.com/blog
http://www.linkedin.com/in/imagist







In reply to: Message from manolito at videotron.ca (EPL) ([Leica] Are we Anal or what? "The Puddle Jumper" / Re: How about this one?)