Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/04/04
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Luggers,
After reading three days worth of digests, I have caught up on all this
discussion.
The fired photographer had over 20 years experience. The fact, the LA
Times chose to send him to Iraq, tells me, he must have something on the
ball.
However, he deliberately lied with this photograph. If a word
journalist, deliberately lies, he/she/it is automatically fired. I fail to
see how anyone can claim a double standard. I hold myself as a
photojournalist and others photojournalists to the same standards of
integrity as any pencil pusher.
Cropping, burning and dodging, etc. whether in the darkroom or on a
computer screen, are part of the language of photography. Properly used they
help convey the reality of the situtation. Improperly used, they lie.
Comments were made about Gene Smith's Albert Schweitzer photo with the
hand and saw added.
According to Jim Hughes, a friend of Gene Smith and his biographer.
Smith never told the LIFE editors the photo was from two negatives. He
claimed the negative was flaired and he had a difficult time printing it. In
John Leongard book "Celebrating the Negative," the original negative is
shown and it is an easy printer.
If the LIFE editors had found out about the double printing, the photo
would NEVER have been used, and since he didn't tell anyone about it, he
would have been dismissed on the spot.
FYI- Jim says there are about seven slightly different versions of the
Schweitzer/hand/saw photo. The exact position of the hand and saw vary
slightly. In my collection of Gene Smith books, I found five.
Happy Snaps,
Sal
Sal DiMarco, Jr.
Philadelphia, PA
Web Site: http://members.fcc.net/sal.dimarcojr
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