Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/11/22

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange present the truth - Bush presented a fiction.
From: Tim Atherton <tim@KairosPhoto.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 13:55:52 -0700

>
> I would urge that we not paint with such broad brushes.
> To "classify" and "label" careers, especially based on a few key
> year's work, does not aid in our understanding of concepts like
> documentary work, propaganda work, and jounalistic work.
>
> While agree that much of the government sponsored photography
> fits a particular definition of propaganda, the photographers in
> question worked before that hire and after that hire.
>
> I'd further suggest that they and many of us produce strong
> documentary work while under contract to produce "propaganda (as
> here defined)."
> This I see most especially in the work of Evans. A vary large
> proportion of his documents, while under hire by the gov,
> actually do little in the way of propaganda for new deal
> programs; while they do an amazing job of documenting life,
> architecture, signage, fashion, et al.
>

my point was that Evans didn't classify himself a documentary photographer,
but what he called "a photographer working in the documentary style" which
is rather different.

tim

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