the genius of photography

has anyone seen this series,and if so,what do you think?looks like there is

nothing on ansel adams....but we do have martin parr....

I've been watching in Ovation TV, it's very well done. It's on all day today.

Ha, I thought this was a thread about me for a minute ;)) (only kidding of course).

 

The series is being shown here but unfortunately I haven't managed to catch a single edition! I'm hoping it will be repeated.

I think that much of the series has simply been arty-farty drivvel, featuring too many people who ain't geniuses and who mostly can't/didn't produce engaging images. Plus rather too much self gratification and self-congratulation by pretty talentless people .... Even the programmes on the historical 'greats' (Lartigue, Cartier-Bresson, Capa, etc) have been somewhat pre-occupied with 'art-crit' interpretations (and re-interpretations) that were quite often pseudo-intellectual, irrelevant and vacuous. Apart from that, it's a great series for 'media studies' students, but not particularly enlightening for 'Joe Public', who were ostensibly the target audience. AC

I Tivo'ed it and watched parts of all 6 episodes. I tend to agree with Alan, I didn't really care for it. To me it seemed very depressing, the creators concentrated on how photography was used to portray documenting war, poverty, propaganda, and random human interaction stuff like street photography.

 

My favorite photo is Earthrise by the Apollo astronaut Bill Anders. This photo is both inspirational and shows how humanity is connected to the rest of nature and the universe.

 

With 6 hours of run time I figured they would spend at least 10 minutes on Ansel Adams but they only mentioned him in passing when showing Adams prints for auction and a quote later. I saw nothing about landscape or nature photography. Nothing about the link we have between nature photography and environmentalism and groups like the Sierra Club.

 

To me photography is about getting away from human interaction and enjoying nature.

Absolutely superb series, first rate. Unbelievably good for television.<br>

Some interviews and commentary have been over the top and some have been juxtaposed interviews with opposite opinions, but then I find most of that either refreshing or funny or both. <br>

I don't recall whether AA was there, they certainly missed out Julia Margaret Cameron.<br>

They made some mistakes too.<br>

However, they have crammed an awful lot into these short TV programmes, can't really complain at what they've left out.<br>

Unlike some of the above commentators, I thought it was excellent and steered away from the arty side of photography and showed more of the use of photography to record events. One of the best set of photos they showed were the scene of crime photos shot by police photographers. Really strong images if you can forget the body in the shot! Nothing arty-farty there and it shows how you don't have to have an artistic stick up your backside to take good pictures. Lartigue was just a rich kid who photographed his friends, but he has left a legacy of what life was like in his time. For me pictures of people will be remembered long after landscapes have lost thir interest, because they tell us something about our history. Great photographer though he was, I think it was correct to pass over Adams.

 

regards

 

Alan

I agree with Alan Ginman here - I think the series is amongst the best shows I have ever seen on TV. Sure, it won't match with everyone's taste, the topic is too subjective to be otherwise. But I think it got the focus right, about the creative thinking behind photography and about unusual and wonderful results. I very much appreciated that it didn't just go into popular cliches but instead followed photography as a means of expressions and seeing different things beyond the obvious. And it's right to associate photography with the history and events of the last century - how can you see it otherwise? Yes, I'd agree it's not for the "Joe public" at its lowest common denominator, but for anyone that is interested in something more than landscapes and pretty pictures it's a brilliant show. This kind of series is one of the reasons why I'm still happy paying the TV license to the BBC.

I found it to be excellent as well Alan. But why on earth would you think it "correct" to pass over AA? Has it become THAT politically "correct" and fashionable to discard one of the most important and influential photographers of our time?

I'm hoping they'll put the series on DVD.

Me and you both Chris!

The book is available from Amazon, if anyone is interested.<BR>

They timed the series and book very well for christmas,I thought.<br>

I might even write to Santa this year and see if anyone takes the hint.<br>

I don't have a TV. So,every program I have to watch must be typed into my computer in google video. I tried getting google video to download

The Genius of Photography series,but to no avail.