[Leica] Leica Sighting at Nachtwey gathering

[Donal Philby <donalphilby@earthlink.net>]

Bee Lian wrote:

>...just came back from a local
gathering of photographers called PhotoNight. Guest speaker was James
Nachtwey presenting slide material from his book INFERNO. 

I was there too.  Good lecture.  Met him at the PhotoNight 3 years ago. 
Nice to see a full house (500?) to see his presentation.  Too bad one of
the projectors was malfunctioning.  But his talk was excellent,
discussing the why and wherefores, though sometimes the questions after
seeing such pictures seem rather vapid.  He is often (as last night)
billed as a war photographer, but he seldom shoots war, but certainly
has done his share of human tragedy including the aftermath and results
of war.  

Significantly, he did mention spending 6 months covering the election of
Mandela in S.Africa and the mostly peaceful changes there as a
"positive" story.  Done in color.

I was there with a friend who has shot side by side with Nachwey in
Bosnia, Haiti, Somalia and other places and who has the greatest respect
for Nachwey's talent.  Says he is so quiet and gentle in his movement
through a situation.

I was struck by how few "decisive moments" he shoots.  More he seems to
do tableaus.

Powerful, none the less.

As for his use of Canons, ask how many such photographers does Leica
support??

donal
(who had his M6 hidden away, anonymously) 
__________
Donal Philby
San Diego
www.donalphilby.com