william_hahn1

I'll help you do more research. If you haven't already done so, read an interview with her here:

<a href="http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/cunnin75.htm">Oral History Interview</a>.

I gave a copy of her "After Ninety" to my 82 year old mother, and it was the best gift ever.

But what is YOUR point of view about her work?

Look at the book "Walker Evans: Photographs for the FSA 1935-1936" - there are some surprising clinkers. (E.g., vignetting, shadow of photographer in frame, etc.) I think at least some of these were done to put the subjects as ease for the later "real" shot, or maybe at the request of the subjects themselves....

Of course, Evans managed to drop the lens for his 8x10, and this left some damage on the lens which didn't apparently affect its performance.

This according to the next photographer to get the 8x10, Jack Delano, as

reported in his autobiography "Photographic Memories"...

Simon,

My post was a tongue-in-cheek response to the post previous to mine,

and it's my fault for not making that clearer. I *like* Dali, not only his work but the work he helped facilitate, like Phillipe Halsmann's

"Dali Atomicus".

-Bill

A true artist can sell his pet's excresence as art:

<a href="http://www.robertwernick.com/articles/dali_lives.shtml">Dali</a>

(look for the word 'nuisance'...)

I work near the <a href="http://sudbury.ma.us/trail/

13wadsworthcemetery.htm">Wadsworth Cemetery</a>. The tombstone there for

Captain Wadsworth and his soldiers is a treat, with soldiers spelled "soulders", and words

careted in by the carver when things didn't fit.

If you do a google search for "Sudbury Fight", you can read about the day the Indians came

to Sudbury and the resulting fight.

I love photographing in New England cemeteries....one day, when I don't waste 3+ hours a

day commuting, I may actually post some....Once photographing in a cemetery I was

worrying about getting the exposure correct, when I looked down on a tombstone and saw

the family name: "Brackett".

I've probably recommended this more than once on photo.net, but here goes:

"American Ruins", by Camilo Jose Vergara

I was browsing through this book when I turned the page and the hairs literally went up on the back of my neck --- in that ruined, shell of a building I remembered working in 1968. My mother, a librarian, almost cried when she saw the picture of the tree growing up through the floor of the Camden library....a place she knew in a happier time.

This answer assumes you want to look at the work of others, as opposed to a series of "how-to" books.

May I suggest that you look at the masters of photography series of

Aperture books? (www.aperture.org -> books ->masters of photography).

They're cheap, and will give you a chance to look of lots of different photographers.

Then, when you find photographers you like, you can start buying the more expensive coffee table books. For example, if you find you like Walker Evans, you can then buy "The Hungry Eye" for a more complete sample of his work....

Thomas,

Here's a partial list I posted on another forum:

"Richard Avedon: Darkness And Light" DVD

"Alfred Stieglitz: The Eloquent Eye" DVD

"Paul Strand: Under the Darkcloth" DVD and video

"W. Eugene Smith: Photography Made Difficult" DVD and video

"Walker Evans' America" apparently video only

"David Plowden: Light and Shadow" DVD and video

"American Masters: Ansel Adams" DVD

"Remembering Edward Weston" video, don't know if it's available on DVD

(Brief footage of Cole, Brett and Charis Wilson)

"Brilliant Fever" video made in Pittsburgh by Kenneth Love about W. Eugene Smith's Pittsburgh project.

"The Adventure of Photography" - 2 DVD set, I believe originally done on French TV. Lots of historical nuggets, and some errors.

"90 degrees South" - DVD made of Herbert Ponting's presentation of his still and moving (!) pictures from the 1911 Scott expedition to Antartica.

"Dorothea Lange: A Visual Life" - apparently video only

Hope this helps...

Gene,

Congratulations on the mention of your website (re: found film) in Jim Hughes' column in Camera Arts magazine....

Trevor,

I *love* the flaking blue paint.

I use a Leica 6 and love it.

I use a Canon Digital Rebel and love (ok, maybe just like!) it.

Many of the late model film SLR's are fiddly too, you know. I like to

tell people (who have probably bought a more complicated camera than they

need) the "TV trick". Put the camera on "TV mode", set the shutter speed to

125, and they can use the thing like a point and shoot....

You may want to look at Donald Norman's book "The Design of Everyday Things". (There was

an earlier version called "The Psychology of Everyday Things".) Plenty of examples there for

both analog and digital designers to be ashamed of....

If you think the analog world is better, you don't remember trying to setup up a film projector

in the 60's....

It's not in print, and used copies are expensive, but I would

recommend "A Way of Seeing" by Helen Levitt (foreword by James

Agee). Wonderful shots of children at play.

There is one photo showing a rough circle drawn on a wall, with an arrow drawn to it with a message like "Push here for magic secret entrance".

I found myself leaning forward to press the button....

Great thread.

I found that I disliked Shore's images when I viewed them online, but

liked them very much when I viewed them in the book....

>Belchertown. The worst town name north of Hicksville (New York).

Oh, I don't know - do you know the old joke about the three Massachusetts towns named for former governors? Peabody, Athol and Marblehead....

The chess player is probably Murray Turnbull - see this

<a href="http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2001/05.10/05-turnbull.html">link</a>

I've been using Dorian labs (www.dorianlab.com) for 5 years and have

been pleased with their service.

Gene,

Very moving pictures - I frequently photograph old tombstones, the oldest I found (this is U.S. I'm speaking about) is in the South Wadsworth Cemetery in Sudbury, Mass - for the three captains and "about 29" soldiers killed in the Sudbury fight in 1676 during King Philip's War. "Soldiers" is spelt "Soulders" on the stone, and some words in the inscription were originally omitted and then inserted with a caret, just like the old "Think Ahead" joke signs.

<a href="http://sudbury.ma.us/trail/13wadsworthcemetery.htm">Monument</a>

-Bill

>...we used to call them "Bubble Cars".

See the movie "I'm Allright Jack", early 1960's B&W film with Peter Sellers and Terry-Thomas, for an example of the car and this nomenclature....

Sorry, I should have indicated that the MClassics bag was discussed on the Leica

forum in the past three months, and you can find that discussion there under

"Miscellaneous" under older messages. Sorry for the mistake, I thought this question

was under the Leica forum, not the camera equipment forum...

Look for this topic under "miscellaneous" under older messages.

I bought the bag recently and I have come to like it a lot - the only thing

is that is doesn't have a lot of padding, so I added some to the bottom of

the bag in case I drop it.

Both the mclassics company and I are located in Massachusetts. I ordered it

online at 10 am, and at 2pm a gentleman showed up at my office door with

the bag - he was in the area anyway, and was curious to meet one of his

customers. He followed up later with email and we had a nice e-conversation.

I impressed with the service....

Hope this helps,

Thought I would add this data point about the M Classics Company.

I ordered my bag this morning online, and about 2:30 this afternoon someone showed up at my work address (my specified delivery address) with the bag. This was a special service inspired, I suspect, by my proximity to them. Still, I was impressed.

I have a bunch of polaroids of that building in Turner's Falls - from the initial meeting of the Western Mass Large Format Photographer's group. Thought it looked familiar....

-Bill