Brad_ Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Agree with Ray... www.citysnaps.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nkag Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 "On the plus side they were taken on real traditional B&W film with a Leica thread mount lens on an LTM compatible camera. Sometimes I even stick that 15 on one of my M bodies. Isn't that what it's all about?" Not really - but, as Brad mentioned before, you keep beating that drum... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad_ Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Below is an email just in from Al. Kind of sad...<BR><P> <I>On Aug 28, 2005, at 12:18 PM, PREACHERPOP42@aol.com wrote:<BR><P> Cool! Did you email all your friends or are you now posting under a bunch of accounts?</I> www.citysnaps.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r s Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 #1 is good, I like it a lot actually. Dark and leaves some for the imagination and the odd angle adds something here as well. <br><br> The other photos I feel I've seen before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nkag Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Al, to clear it up, I'm Kei Nakamatsu and Brad's Brad. Haven't been contacted by Brad either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nkag Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 BTW, the 1st photo's interesting, but the others have passed the point of repetition...and yet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex_Es Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Fun stuff, Al. Keeping going. James, nice girl. James, I'm sending you a CD of the shot I wanted to send you. Scanned off the negative, all work under my control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian blacklaw richardson Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Al, Very glad that you have weathered the storm. This picture of Joan Baez appeared in the Times this week. Is the young photographer? in the centre foreground your good self?<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmwhee Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 I enjoy looking at the super-wide pictures in the series. For one thing, I like the ordinary, day-in-a-life approach to the subject matter; in fact, I like the every-dayness of the pictures themselves. To tell the truth, these pictures interest me more than most of the high-impact, award-winning images in the "Top Photos" gallery. At the risk of seeming completely off my rocker, I would end by saying the pictures in the series seem artful, as in well-seen and well-crafted, to me. Besides, they're just pictures. What's the sweat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_baker6 Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Al---It's all good---looks to me like you have an interesting life indeed. Thanks for sharing it with us and don't stop !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_chamberlain Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 I respect the idea of a photographer wanting to show the world his image <i>in situ</i>. I personally wouldn't mind seeing one of these kinds of photos taken by every regular on this forum, just to get an idea of what they and their world are like.<br><br>On the other hand, a series, especially a multi-installation series such as this, requires much more to be interesting. A series done over a long period of time, such as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881337189/102-0278533-6353715?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=507846&s=books&v=glance" Family>Family</a> by Friedlander, or a series done in locations that tell an actual interesting story over a short period of time would be in my opinion more successful than multiple slapdash presentations of minimal coherance or relevance toward a specific goal (unless of course the goal is that which has been previously mentioned by other forumers). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted August 28, 2005 Author Share Posted August 28, 2005 Ian, no, that's not me. I used to sport a liberal growth of hair on my upper lip in those days. I don't think I was ever photographed with Joan, or at least not that I was aware of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douglas k. Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 I'm not Brad, but I agree with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beepy Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 I'm not Brad, and I'm not sure I agree with him. But the argument that an image shot with film on a Leica is inherently better than say a original digital capture - particularly when we're arguing about web-based images, seems to be stretching a bit. An image works or it doesn't - if it works, then I am perhaps interested in the technical details. If it doesn't, I've already wasted enough time. <p> All that aside, I'm not sure any of the 15 mm self-portraits stand on their own - I would have to look again. But as a sweeping whole they border (to me) on the surreal - exhibiting an obsessive self-interest in the subject (which is good). But their strength doesn't arise primarily from technical details (other than the lens field of view and the B+W choice) but from the subject chosen and the compositions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtk Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Al, you're the man. Time to bulldoze Mt Rushmore. Suggestion: earring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochen_S Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 I still like it, Al. Everybody among the bored should kick his own butt and try to look better in similar situations and maybe we could have a peaceful egomaniac forum splitted. The series is at least pushing the Leica system. - I don't dare to pull out a huge SLR lens at McDonalds yet, while I'm having my solitary meal in the crowd. I'm waiting for my first results with that 14mm and believe I could learn from your project; the technique seems good for a few occasional shots once in a while. (If I sound OT: today a used CV 15mm went for 506.22 Euro on ebay.de - a bit out of my range at the moment) - I understand reasons of those who are bashing you, because the old ordinary stuff you posted came closer to pictures which the average guy would like to have taken. - I still like to thank you for teaching and inspiration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belledeux diana Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Both are respected artists. But a fan of either, coming across the other, might be disappointed. I think Al is not the Hieronymus Bosch of the self portrait, and if he had reported the Cantebury Tales, we would know nothing of the Miller, the Nun, or the Knight. <P> Look at Robert Crumb, and you might see the photos of Al fall into place, and the big picture emerging. Al, Mr. Natural,...they don't think like the "rest of us". You can't look at Crumb asking Bosch questions. You gotta look at Crumb for Crumb. <P> Then you find your answers. Some are trying to see Kerouac, some are trying to find Camus, at times, but you're digging with the wrong spoon. Try the Crumb Spoon. See what you come up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_r._fulton_jr. Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 <I>The Great Henry Aaron hit a home run 755 times in his career, but failed to do so almost 12,000 times.</I> John Szarkowski on Garry Winogrand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james mitchell dc Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Thank you, Ray and even Brad. I still like these pics, because they are fun and done by a friend of mine telling his own kind of story. Al, do I get prints of those that I'm in? Or maybe just the second one. Also, I like the first one a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmwhee Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 All along I have viewed Al Kaplan's super-wide angle series of pictures, as I do others' pictures on this site, as examples of another member's work. It's all amateur stuff to me--that is, pictures taken by those who take pictures because they enjoy taking pictures. I like pictures that stand on their own well enough; I also like series of pictures that accrue meaning as a series. Part of my enjoyment in viewing the development of this particular series of pictures arises from watching Kaplan's "juggling" of pictures, his adding one picture after another to the series, without dropping anything. As someone else said, Fun stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james mitchell dc Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 I mean the first overall pic--the dark one with the spidery hand on the truck's wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_waldroup3 Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Another great set of shots Al. I really enjoy this series. Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael s. Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 First one scared me so badly I haven't yet worked up the courage to look at the rest. Kept seeing reruns of "KAPLARACNOPHOBIA." Gotta put an appropriate parental advisory on shots like that, Al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trixshooter Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Actually, these images are a lot of fun. I find it highly interesting to see Al's life. Something that is unique and something that I have not seen elsewhere. As for those that bash the technical aspects, get a life, these are posted in fun for fun. Lighten up and enjoy. Al, keep up the fine work. I enjoy your images and postings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trixshooter Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 One more thing.....I would MUCH rather see these images of Al's that to read another inane and brain dead post regarding Bokeh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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