Leica School class, 11-13 Nov. 1963

so this is the James Bond class for macro photography and other photographic black arts.....hmmmmmm

Bill, You can tell all that just from looking at this photo? Damn, we'll have to start looking for other disguises now! Thanks for the 'heads up'. Best, LM.

Youngns these days can never compare with the handsome lot seen here!

Michael, Thanks for stopping by. At about this time the Beatles were coming on strong and, if you remember, they dressed pretty conservatively also. (haircuts excepted; my military bias showing) Just a sign of the times I guess. Look at the skinny ties, also a sign of the times. Best, LM.

I was but a wee lad then, Len, but did get on the long hair wagon only to jump to disco a decade later - my misspent youth. :-)

 

Love these pictures, and makes me realize the importance of people photography. Today's happy snaps become tomorrow's treasures.

Recognize anyone here? I would dearly love to hear from you if you

do. From my folder "Leica School, Nov. 1963" There are about 40

shots posted from that experience, most taken on a single 36 exp.

roll of Plus-X on the same day while on a walking tour of Wetzlar,

Germany. Cameras and lenses and film courteousy of the Leica

School. Best, LM.

Len, I am a little bit younger than you (I was born in 74) but I appreciate (and envy a bit) values and way of life of a half-century ago because my parents, my grandparents and all my teachers tranferred them to me. Both my violin teachers, that were like second dads for me, lived through the II WW and everything followed after that and I spent so much time with them and, in general, with people two generations older than me that I got very confortable with that "world" that might seem so ancient and "out of style" to the younger generations. I am so sorry that I could not have lived in first person many experiences of the time... I mean, the Beatles changed the music world forever like nobody today is able to do... Look at the work of photographers from the past and today, there is no comparison as far as the humanity and true feelings involved in their works... Many people tell me "today we have a better, healthier life and there are many new values that in the past people didn't have" and stuff like that but I think they are all excuses to justify the emptiness that we live today in every field. Anywhere I look I see great appearence and very little substance. Everybody today is so worried about their carreers that they value more than life itself and everybody has to be fast and go fast and fast that there is no time to think and appreciate anything. Art cannot be born from greed and egocentrism and it requires patience, time, struggle etc. That's why today is probably the worst moment for art in the history of the human being. I am sorry for this burst of frustration with today's world but looking at this beautiful picture I saw true smiles and fun, excitement, friendship and sharing of good moments toghether that sometimes I miss very much in my life. Thank you for your patience and I will catch you later!

Antonio, When I, a Canadian soldier attached to an armoured regiment, was in Germany, I was blissfully unaware that at any moment thousands of Russians were only a short distance away & ready to overrun us on their way to the sea. Cannon Fodder, I think is the term. :-( As luck would have it that scenario never unfolded. This photo was taken just a year after the Cuban Crisis and just a few days before JFK was murdered. Every generation has it's challanges & yours is no different. Don't worry about things that haven't happened. Enjoy the ride. Though the Beatles were very popular I doubt it was because they were musicians on a par with the classical greats, rather that they made music FUN. Big difference! Photograph for your own enjoyment & through your posts people from all over will catch a glimps of life in your time, as you saw it. That's the best most of us can do. Thanks for your input. Best, LM.

I am enjoying a little foray through your Leica School file and enjoying it very much. It does bring back memories seeing the style of clothing, cardigans, narrow ties and those polished shoes.

 

You mentioned under another photograph that you were a newbie and whatever good there was, was sheer luck but I think that certain people have an affinity for certain things and you definitely had an eye for photography even back then, a "natural" it would seem. The exposure is great and contrasts are stronger in the foreground. The old buildings in the background do a great job at situating this shot. I bet there is a photo out there somewhere just like this one with you in it . . .

 

It is interesting to see how the different people posed in this shot, how it could be a reflection of their personalities, conform and be part of the group or stand apart from the rest. It does look like a male dominated class and happy to see a female join in. She probably kept all you guys on your toes!!!

 

Kim, The style of clothing was appropriate for the times, the shiny shoes mostly a product of military discipline. (all of us, that is, except Mr. Beret who, I recall, was naturally tidy) In case I misunderstood your post, that's me on the extreme right. (see 'Details') The young lady in question probably did play a role in suppressing some colourful language which would surface from time to time in normal conversation between military types. (but then she too was U.S. military & could probably have held her own with us though I don't recall that she did so) The experience was a lot of fun at the time and still pays dividends some 45 years later. Thanks for taking the time. Best, LM.

I had not read the "details" and so I didn't know that you where in this shot, Mr Stand Apart From The Crowd :-). Thanks for the heads up.

If the student on the far left didn't have an M meter attached to his M3, I would hazard a guess and say he was HCB. Happy looking bunch.

I don't think anyone here, except perhaps Mr. Beret, even knew HCB existed. This shot was taken by our instructor & who wouldn't be happy with a state-of-the art Leica and an available assortment of Leica lenses, plus the afternoon to photograph whatever caught your eye in a very photogenic town. Sounds like Hog Heaven to me! About 10 days later the smiles would turn to frowns when JFK was murdered. As we do today, we then lived in interesting times. Best, LM.

I like this group shot Len: the conspicuous one woman next to the old timer and the rest of the fellows and the two guys crouching as if in a typical soccer team photograph… ;-). Terrific stuff! But then I’m a sucker for older shots and the value they acquire if enough times passes, the ephemeral longing that goes beyond nostalgia, the picture a time capsule, evidence of how everything is transient…

 

 

I enjoyed your Leica School class. Be well, Carlos

 

Thanks for taking the time & effort to dig deep & comment on this one. Of course, it wasn,t taken by me, as I'm in the group. (just there to round out my portfolio). I've just recently discovered some more of my B&W treasures from the late 60's & early 70's & will be posting some when I can get the negs scanned. Stay tuned. Best, LM.

I've looked through the entire slideshow of this folder and the sense of nostalgia is overwhelming. This is hard to explain. I once had a collection of Life Magazines from the third issue in 1936 through the early war years of 1942. As I'm sure you are aware, Life Magazine employed many of the great names in photography and these photographs evoke some of the same feelings I experienced when I thumbed through those old magazines and viewed the history of the times frozen in photographic moments. They made it look so easy but in retrospect, that was their truest accomplishment. The pictures never seemed forced but simply a natural (and workmanlike) extention of themselves and their world filtered through individual personality and captured with great compositional and photographic skill. Perhaps it was simply a different time but there seems to be something embracing and inclusive - even humanistic - about a lot of the photography of the early/mid 20th century. There is a directness and unselfconsciousness about the pictures of that time that I find missing in much of contemporary photography. Thanks for sharing this portfolio of those distant years when anything and everything seemed possible. I enjoyed it a lot.

Thanks for stopping by and for triggering a bit of a trip down memory lane. Those old timers from Life & similar magazines of the day did set the bar high. There is still much produced today of similar high quality but it's harder to dig out from the chaff as that element seems to be in endless supply. The increasing popularity of colour and, in the past decade or two, of digital, I believe is responsible for that increase. I've recently discovered an old shoe box with a small amount of work from the late 60's and early 70's that I will massage in PS & post once I am able to scan the negs. (all 6x6 & I only have a 35mm scanner). Glad you got something from my folder. Makes it all worth while. Best, LM.