Salgado, whale, tale

<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/salgado/image/

0,15021,1478353,00.html">A beautiful recent shoot</a>

Switched from Leica to Pentax.

Beautiful series no matter what gear he used. The prints must be stunning. Thanks for the link, Paul.

<i>Switched from Leica to Pentax.</i>

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Huh? Are u sure about that? Where did u read it?

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Switched from shooting humans to whales? :-)

There's a long and excellent article on Salgado in the april 18, 2005 "New Yorker." "The Guardian" has also written about his Genesis Project. He's into medium format and nature now. It seems the last 20 years of his epic wanderings have left him a little shell shocked.

Of course, whenever I hear "Genesis Project" I think of Khan and his "from Hell's heart I stab thee" speech. Plus Chekhov with that scorpion in his ear . . .

Marvelous photograph. Yes, I read somewhere that Salgado is now using the big Pentax 6x7 SLRs for this long term project of his. I was surprised that the recent exhibit at the Leica Gallery in NYC had photographs by many notable Leica-using photographers in the past several decades but none by Salgado. I wonder if it had anything to do with his quitting Magnum and starting up his own agency, Amazonas?

I have 2 copies of that movie. Kirk's greatest moment was when he yelled, "KHANNNN! KHANNNN!" ;*)

I read that he was using the 645N, not the 6x7.

Stunning. This man could photograph anything and turn it to masterpiece. To me, he is the greatest photographer alive today. I love his style, whether he shoots human condition or the Genesis...

Thank you Mister Salgado!

He could be using a 645N also, but the New Yorker article, which covers the trip that Salgado (and the reporter for the New Yorker) took to Antarctica, makes a fairly big deal about the size and sound of the three Pentax 6x7s that Salgado carries around with him. And the tripod.

Paul,

 

When I looked at those shots in the Gurdian mag today I did have the

sneakiest suspicion that Salgado might have done even better had he used a

motor drive. Those Pentaxes aren't the quickest MF cameras on the market

and a lot of the shots, to me, look like he just 'missed' an even better photo.

 

Maybe this has more to do with the choice of photos but I have this nagging

feeling that a 645 camera, with motor drive, rather than the 67 might have

been a better bet.

 

Wot you think?

Those shots sure look like medium format to me. Not a bad shooter, is he?

Why would he need a tripod? He's on a boat. =) (j/k, that stuff's heavy).

Almost all photos of breaching whales are taken after "the moment".

"looks like he just 'missed' an even better photo. "<p>

Ha, maybe! But if it were me, I'd probably have got so fired-up I'd have left the

lens-cap on. The images, though, have beautiful texture and quality - and, Bill,

most people know Salgado's moved on from Leicas, but I don't see why we

can't still comment on his work. <p>

I note others believe Salgado's current world-view is naive - save the whale

etc - I disagree. I've owned books full of war photos by Capa, McCullin and

Larry Burrows, and I believe you can shoot beautiful, inspiring events without

evoking the memory of Athena posters. As long as the soundtrack doesn't

feature songs by Yes, that is.

Agreed, there is a lovely quality to the photos especially the cover. One of the

advantages of MF I guess but still worth discussing here I hope.

 

Another photographer who seems to have stopped using Leicas, at least for

the time being, is Luc Delahaye. Personally, I think that Delahaye's work is not

as good as it was. I feel the recent work, on display at the Photographers'

Gallery, isn't a patch on something like Wintereise which I reckon is one of the

best photo books of the last five years.

 

As the reference to Yes, I still think the organ break in 'Roundabout' is one of

prog-rock's finest moments which, admittedly, are rather thin on the ground.

Huge generalisation, I know, but I've lost count of the number of shoots I've

edited where the MF images were better quality, but lacked the excitement of

the 35mm shots - hence we ended up using the technically inferior shot,

where the image was a bit more grabby. Why should this be? Because the MF

is a bit slower to use? (I wouldn't know). I've recently come across one

photographer who does what looks like great reportage with a Hassie, but it

takes him a lot of work and preparation to get natural-looking images (he

photographs in jukejoints, but uses light setups that replicate the existing

lighting in the club!). <p> To resort to the music analogies which invariably

muddy the waters here, it's a bit like the way it can be impossible to replicate

the excitement of an 8-track demo in a 24-track studio. Just listen to Beck's

latest album for an example. I'm sure if Geffen let him use the trashy studios in

which he made his name, rather than opt for a plush 24- or 48-track, he'd sell

more albums...

There's always a trade off between image quality and ease of use. The only

MF camera that comes close to a 35mm camera, in terms of handling is the

H1, IMHO.

 

Of course, you can work pretty quickly with any of number of MF cameras if

you're working within a pretty controlled environment. For formal portraits I

love using my Mamiya RZ bolted onto the most back breaking tripod. For

candids, say in a pub, the M3 (with the 40mm Cooke Speed Panchro of

course!) is going to win every time.

 

I won't comment on Beck too much because the new stuff harkens back so

much to early stuff like Odelay I can't really get excited about it. Now, I AM

excited about the new Four Tet CD. Can't wait for that.