doris_chan

Historically, it would be a mistake to forget his disco years - 77 to 80 - when he was a key

figure at Studio 54. I'm sure somebody will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the line

"Halston, Gucci, Fiorucci" in the Chic/Sister Sledge classic "He's the Greatest Dancer" was

inspired by his sharp dancefloor look.

Michael, I'll be as light or as dark as you want.....

"I think he opposed Parr, maybe for several complex reasons. HCB was born of wealth, Parr

was educated in Upper Crust English universitys. HCB's formative years were involved in

eglatarian social and political movments. Parr and his photography reflect a disdane for

the middle class and some would say a mean spirited willingness to make people look

bad. Perhaps HCB felt it derived from an elitist point of view which he felt was not proper

for Magnum"

It's just as likely that he opposed Parr for very simple reasons. Firstly, that Parr's work can

be seen as mocking. Secondly, and perhaps more likely, that the approach of Parr is a

reproach to the simplistic traditions of "concerned" photography that Magnum is (or at

least was) known for. Are you sure about Parr's "Upper Crust" university days, I thought he

went to a "polytechnic" - as far removed from an Ivy League style education as you can get

in the UK. As for his disdain for the "middle class", that's his own class......

"I am fairly certain that Cartier-Bresson would turn over in his grave if he were to read this

thread."

What gives you this certainty? Were you a close friend of the man? Why, in the unlikely

event of his corpse being in any way sentient, would he care about the witterings of people

on photonet?

"Is a quiet person less influenced by emotion than one who acts out?"

Why would they be? I don't think I've suggested that. I've also not put a higher value on

passion over dispassion in imagery, I've just stated that I find HCB's work dispassionate.

Cool detachment can be a very powerful thing if you're making images, there are few

things worse than schmaltzy overemotion.

"In the best of his work, there's a feeling of wonder expressed about the world in

general......Not sure how you can be more emotional than that."

I guess we do read his photographs differently. Strong though many of his images are I

find it difficult not to see the detached view of a very rich man - all the world is just one

big photocall for the patrician guy with the Leica.

Ray, I think we have different dictionaries, I believe that he was "not influenced by strong

emotion". I don't believe he was misanthropic, but I do believe that he was more interested

in the form than the emotion of peoples lives - he was a benign, but uninvolved observer.

Interestingly, he was appalled by the work of Martin Parr and fought against him being

admitted to Magnum.

Ray, look in a dictionary for definitions of the word "dispassionate". The simple act of

photographing people doesn't contradict the notion that HCB was dispassionate.

It's difficult to make a rational assessment of HCB because of the power of the myth, and

the avalanche of adulatory material. Clearly he was very talented, but not uniquely so, and

not even for the era in which he was working. As to whether he was "dispassionate",

maybe Ray can link to some of his more "passionate" images - I'm open to being

convinced. To me, even his pictures at the time of the Paris liberation are curiously cool

compared to those of his contemporaries. His refusal (for fear of reprisals from the French

government) to allow Magnum to market the Taconis material from Algeria also suggests a

dispassionate, cool figure.

The importance of HCB has been massively overplayed by the media, photographers

working today have been much more heavily influenced by people like Frank, Klein,

Eggleston......

I think Barry is right in surmising that HCB was a dispassionate photographer. His

detached approach to photography/life/politics even led to the resignation of (the deeply

passionate, deeply "concerned") Kryn Taconis from Magnum.

I simply can't believe that Al has been banned - since when was it a crime to post

misinformation and malice round here? I'm much more inclined to go with the theory that

he's seen the digital light and is far too busy photographing with his 5D and 16-35 to

find time to

post.

There's something not quite right here. A digital thread without the one true voice of

knowledge, rationality, and reason. Where's Al Kaplan? Has there been an unseasonal

hurricane in Florida? Is he OK.......?

Bob, how dare you? In the immortal words of Lisa Stansfield "I may not be a lady, but I'm

all woman". Enough of this nonesense, let's get back to the good doctor's mighty Leica

machine.

"the viewfinder's focus screen's hand-etched lines are perhaps 3 or 4 degrees off from the

horizontal.....Is this an acceptable error?"

You're clearly new to digital. This isn't an error, it's Leica cleverly responding to what's

known as the angle of digital abberation. If it isn't corrected it leads to the unpleasant

"plastic" skin tones that render Canon digital cameras virtually worthless to the serious

photographer.

"I think it is great that Leica are prepared to honour the cover on this item even though it

is not from a current range"

Trevor, they're just ecstatic that anyone is prepared to buy any of their products right now.

Having said that, I've always found Leica service to be really good - if you trash something

covered by their passport scheme they immediately replace it with no questions asked.

"This is why we pay the big bucks."

To make sterile images for the purpose of "testing"? Sadly, you may well be right.

I think that we can all learn a lot from the following exchange (Helsinki 2003) between two

of

the greatest men of our age:

Dalai Lama: "My dearest Nelson, please think carefully about what I am about to say. If a

man chooses to walk like Frank. If a man chooses to talk like Frank. If, indeed, a man rubs

a white eraser on his Leica M6 in the very manner of Frank. That man, he should not be

surprized if he is perceived to be Frank."

Nelson Mandela: "Your Divine Holiness, has anyone before told you that you are the

absolute spitting image of Sergent Bilko?."

One man standing tall amongst the chaos, with his single Leica in one hand and his

pleasingly Germanic white eraser in the other. Maybe you can share with us how you're

getting your images out of the rubble, landslides, and bomb sites. Processing on the spot,

scanning, and uploading via satphone? FedEx? Or are you using a rare prototype digiM?

Enquiring minds would like to know, otherwise they could be forgiven for imagining that

you're photojournalism's answer to Frank Granowski........

Mathieu Kassovitz, who made the film La Haine (Hate), has posted some interesting

comments on his website about the current situation:

http://www.mathieukassovitz.com/

For those not fluent in French there's an English section.

Just to make my position clear, I'd prefer that RSF didn't take government funding from the

USA or France. Having said that, it makes them far from unique - even MSF took US

funding until very recently. What matters most is whether an organization like RSF

achieves it's stated aims of highlighting abuses against free speech and protecting

victimized journalists. I think, by and large, that it succeeds. It hasn't backed off from

highlighting the appalling behaviour of the USA in Iraq, it provides body armor loan to

freelance journalists, and (in the absence of adequate coverage from media organizations)

it acts as a broker to provide affordable insurance in conflict zones (again in the absence

of adequate coverage from employers). One of Roger's links from Wikipedia suggests that

the CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists) is a more credible and independent body, but, in

reality, they're little more than a front for the big American media players to posture about

press freedom and ethics.

"Reporters Without Borders is an US government funded organization"

Care to elaborate?

"It's far different from "Medicines sans Frontieres""

Yes, one organisation campaigns against the intimidation and murder of journalists and

one provides frontline medical care. To say that MSF is "far different" to RSF is about as

relevant as pointing out that a camel is far different from a carrot.

RSF play a really positive role in fighting censorship, including that implementeded by the

USA in Iraq, and I'd encourage people to have a look at their website (www.rsf.org) and

make up their own minds. Even countries with beautiful people and great music can be

guilty of appalling state sponsored crimes.

Stephen, the Marais may not have been burning last night but it reached Republique (15

minutes away by foot) and

the 3rd. Nobody knows what happens next, there's a massive underclass in Paris (and

other French cities) with absolutely fuck all to lose. The ball is in the court of the

authorities.

"I want to upgrade my equipment so that i can start selling my work"

The key to selling is upgrading your images rather than upgrading your equipment. If the

images are strong enough then a 20D provides a big enough file for any editorial use.

"It's different being in the right place in Santa Monica with the right drunken people and

being in Normandy during the D-Day or in Vietnam during a Napalm bombing."

Sure it's different, but it doesn't follow that one type of situation inherently has more value

than another. I'd rather look at serious images of a trivial subject than trivial images of a

serious subject.....

Eric, you've seen it in a gallery and not liked it, but it'd be a mistake for others to come to

any conclusions from the weblink alone.

"Over inflated dollars for "art" has always been the farthest thing to enter my occupied

mind"

You raised it.

"There's something terribly wrong with the world if people are spending 300k on 8'x10'

backlit tranny's"

There's plenty in the world that's terribly wrong, but artists making a good living ranks

fairly low on the scale of wrongness.

"The ACD has some issues of its own. Pink around the edges - and not having a very good

white. This is the first generation (plastic-rimmed) ACD, the newer aluminum wrapped

versions might be better - don't know."

The aluminum version is worse, much worse. Startlingly magenta, and with the added

bonus of a muddy yellow band down each side. Nice.

Looking at 2inch by 1inch web pix might just not be the ideal way to decide whether Jeff

Wall has any talent. The Tate retrospective looks really interesting - regardless of whether

Wall has blue blood, red blood, or blood of any other color. Regarding the prices he

commands, would you really be happier if they were lower?