On Being Famous

[Brad_]

<I>The BIG winner is my Mamiya TLR........women love that thing ;o)</I><P>

 

Hmmm... Ok Tom, that endorsement might be enough for me to to bring out my Arca-Swiss.

:=)

[rj]

Wait a minute, if I use a long lens I'm afraid of people? If I don't bring a book of my photos around when shooting and discussing my excellent photos with a stranger I'm not engaging the subject?

 

Sometimes photographers like to yak about different gear when talking to each other. Its not an indication that those photogs are posers, or afraid of others, or not capable of engaging a subject. Its just not that big of a deal to have a conversation about cameras.

[thomas_sullivan]

well, I dunno brad......there's big and then there is BIG....but there was this guy named Eugene Atget....I think he did fairly well...heh.....worth a try.

[Brad_]

<I> Its not an indication that those photogs are posers, ...</i><P>

 

Why are you brining up the notion of <I>posers</I>?

[Brad_]

<I>Wait a minute, if I use a long lens I'm afraid of people?</I><P>

 

No, not necessarily. But I think better sp is done close, within a few feet, rather than from

across the street. If you feel better shooting from across the street, one might ask why?

[john_r._fulton_jr.]

I was exiting an American Airlines flight a few weeks ago with the M6 on my

shoulder.<P><P>I heard from the cockpit, "Gosh, old camera."<P><P>As I walked toward

the terminal I was just glad he hadn't said, "Gosh, old photographer."

[rj]

"If you feel better shooting from across the street, one might ask why?"

 

To flatten perspective, to pick single elements out of a scene and to blur background, to stack elements in a scene or just to be a little different since quite a bit of street stuff is shot wide angle in-your-face style.

[Brad_]

RJ, do you feel you get good sp results from across the street?

[ray .]

Brad, fwiw, I shot with Andy for a couple hours and he's way

more engaging and talkative with people on the street than I am.

But who cares? I don't think that's the only way to make good

photographs.... there are different ways to skin the cat. <p>

 

I like Andy's work a lot - some of it of course- same as with your's

and Jeff's.

[Brad_]

<I>But who cares?</I><P>

 

I agree with you Ray. <P>

But it was Andy's point, that having a small book of your work to engage people was

somehow perverse. And the comment "carrying a book to shove under strangers' noses to

hear their opinion," and, "the image of you two whipping out your mini portfolios on the

sidewalk is pretty funny," was, well... Where's that coming from Why does he care. Just seems

like some kind of anger to me.

[ray .]

I think he was just getting back at you for picking on his little

story-which he admitted from the beginning was only "mildly

amusing," poor fella... ;)

[rj]

"RJ, do you feel you get good sp results from across the street?"

 

You are inferring that I only shoot street from across the street and I do not. I don't know why I would limit my perspective to only wide angle, close up. I think that you can get good street shots from across the street, from the rooftops, thru fence posts, out of the windows of moving cars ect. ect. I think good results can be had from lenses from 24mm to 200mm (the lengths that I have at my disposal) or any lens length, depends on what is shot and how.

[ray .]

I think good street shots are more difficult with longer lenses

because the tendency is that the viewer feels more removed

from the scene, but there are exceptions- like this one of Andy

Piper's, done with a 90mm:

<p>

http://www.photo.net/photo/336038

[jack_lo_..._t_o]

Isn't this the Leica Forum, and shouldn't it be ok for someone to tell a story about the Leica Legend and how it manifests itself in a social setting?

 

Brad and Jeff you must each have that response down in your files so you just have to push a key or two to bring it up, or you'd be liable to carpal tunnel syndrome from the sheer effort of typing over and over and over again the same dreary message. In the context of this forum, and this thread in particular, your "contribution" is that you are not contributing. More like sneering.

 

Andy's portfolio stands up to anyone's here, Brad and Jeff included. He is probably aware of the fact that it's all about images and not machinery. But you see, this is the Leica forum, which I believe means you can talk about Leica cameras.

[Brad_]

Jack, what the heck are you ramblling about??? Who said anything (other than Andy) about it

being the photographer, not the camera? I, Jeff, Tom, Eric, and a whole lot of others carry a

book of prints. Andy seems to have an issue with that. That's OK. What is so bizarre or

perverse about that?

[erin.e]

Kiss, kiss, smooch, Pete you are just too kind for an Aussie and brave in showing your gentler side, KICK, THUMP, BELT, BASH, would not even get the point across to some of these argumentative Leica boys.

 

Perhaps the new Australian new age man that is emerging is the reason why you have such a shocking national rugby team at the moment, the "Wallys" aren't they called? Oh yes, I will send you the charred steak and warm flat beer you asked for soon ;-)

[al_kaplan1]

Hey, I thought I was famous enough when strangers at the mall started calling me by name. I guess it really helps to get close and engage people in conversation while photographing them, but carrying around my 60+ year old toy Monkey helps too;-) Still, I had no idea just how famous until somebody emailed me this link they googled up. Yeah, it's in Spanish. Scroll down to "Comments". Maybe somebody can translate it?

 

http://cuchufletas.blogspot.com/2005/08/autoretratos-15mm.html

[jack_lo_..._t_o]

Brad since you are famously not a Leica user, your response sounds partly defensive, and partly a put down. Like you're a high school kid saying "Well that's nothing--here's what I do. It's way more gratifying". And Jeff with his "That's me, I guess, I just wows 'em with my photographs-camera talk don't mean nothing to me".

 

 

 

I take you at your word that you don't mean your initial response as snarky. But I'm undoubtedly not the only one who read it that way.

[Brad_]

Jack, it would help if you would try and understand not everyone is the same, shoots the

same way, has different experiences, etc. Being "famously not a Leica user" is sych a bizarre

label. But I expect even that comment will be twisted into "it's not the camera..."

[bart feliciano]

<center>Are you guys done? <br><br>

<img src="http://static.flickr.com/42/83748627_b871d422d9.jpg">

</center>

[nels]

Uh...I guess we're waiting for dessert to be served.<div></div>

[saotome_genma]

<i>"Scroll down to "Comments". Maybe somebody can translate it?"</i><P>They say you look like a pervert. ROLF

[working camera]

Bring Back the Biff eh, Pete.

 

It's high time we got our biff back.

[beatrice_flowers]

I've had people take it for some crappy East-German brand; a Trabant among cameras. They pronounced it Leesa. I was not happy.

[janne1]

The biggest change was when i changed from canons to leicas, is that i am no longer consired been from local newspaper, people would allways ask which paper you are from. Now they only sometimes notice the camera

and we would exchange some nostalogic stories, and i take some pics while chating :)