Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/09/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Yes, BD, when you say fiction, it is a very easy topic to decide. I suggest that the "truth" is at least somewhat subjective. I did not see that "muddy" sky you refer to, so I cannot say how much modification was done. Maybe you saw something I did not. Neither do I believe that a RAW file would tell you what the truth was any more than any particular film/developer combination of focal length will render an objectively "true" vision of a scene. Certainly the journalist has a responsibility to be the community's eyes and ears, but that doesn't require lowering their vision to the lowest common denominator. (That would be those televised city council meetings on public access TV.) Neither does artistic vision necessarily invoke the creation of fiction. ANY artistic expression (no matter how lacking in artistic talent) is a personal interpretation of an event. I should hope we are not discussing the extremes of fiction versus visually banal recording of reality (security cameras). That would really be a waste of our time. How much interpretation is acceptable is a matter of taste, audience, and policy. It is NOT an objective reality. Ric On Sep 29, 2006, at 8:27 PM, B. D. Colen wrote: > Well I'm not a high roller, big time photojournalist either, Ric. > But I do > think that both writers and photographers have a responsibility to > be the > community's eyes and ears, taking them to places they either can't > go, or > haven't chosen to go. Both writers and photographers bring whatever > perspective and skills they have to the job of observer. The writer > is going > to write his or her story in a way they think will catch and hold the > reader's interest; the photographer is going to shoot the image, or > story, > in the way he or she thinks will tell it best, using whatever artistic > skills they have. However, both writer and photographer have a > responsibility to tell the "truth" about an event. If it's okay > with you for > the photographer to turn the sky from dull muddy brown to bright > orange > because the photo will be more dramatic, am I to assume that you > think it > would be okay for a writer covering the fire where the photo was > taken, who, > like the photographer saw a muddy brown sky, to include a line > reading - "As > he hauled the hose up the 40 foot ladder, St. James Wright was sharply > silouted against the bright orange sky." Me, I'd call that writing > fiction, > and say that a reporter who intentionally changes facts in that manner > should be fired on the spot. And so should a newspaper photographer > who does > the same thing with Photoshop. ;-) > > > On 9/29/06 5:41 PM, "Ric Carter" <ricc@mindspring.com> wrote: > >> Okay, I'm no high roller, big time photojournalist. I used work for a >> little daily (10,000 circulation). Now I do an infrequent newsletter >> of modest circulation (bimonthly/50,000 circulation). >> >> I get good reception from the readers (viewers). They never tell me >> they appreciate me being their eyes somewhere. What they enjoy and >> mention is my perspective. They enjoy that I see things that they >> don't on the same street they walk or at the same event they >> attended. >> >> Journalists are NOT observational robots. We are artists who share >> our perspectives with readers. If readers don't think we do better at >> it than they, we have failed. >> >> Ric Carter >> http://gallery.leica-users.org/f/Passing-Fancies >> >> >> >> On Sep 29, 2006, at 5:09 PM, Philippe Orlent wrote: >> >>> Op 29-sep-06, om 23:06 heeft B. D. Colen het volgende geschreven: >>> >>>> But obviously we're going >>>> to have to agree to disagree on this one. >>> >>> >>> That is so obvious! ;-) >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information