Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/01/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Jan 7, 2008, at 9:25 AM, bob palmieri wrote: > On Jan 6, 2008, at 11:07 PM, Steve Barbour wrote: > >> both my wife and I being medical people, we felt a huge lump in our >> throat as we discussed this and came to this caption... >> >> we were being staggeringly insensitive, but we felt that this image >> says something quite different from the usual caring, both verb and >> adjective... >> we apologize, but feel justified in arriving at this spectacularly >> unsympathetic conclusion... >> we each (MD and RN) have been through many harrowing medical >> situations, and possibly have a sixth sense, what we saw and reacted >> to in your image, you have described as caregiver fatigue... >> seemingly not caring. >> without being too analytic it's all there... >> >> as such it's an effective image in that it reveals a certain lack of >> caring...distancing...lack of human emotional interaction, imho. >> >> But, on the other hand, what I found amazingly revealing and moving >> in >> your photo Bob, the man's shoes on the floor are "backwords"... >> this reminded me of John F Kennedy's funeral, seeing the boots in >> the stirrups of the riderless horse turned backwords... >> >> such a small thing yet... >> >> in fact, after all the talk is done, maybe the right photo has won >> recognition for "caring"... >> >>> One of the things we see in this is a certain "caregiver fatigue" - >>> in fact a somewhat darker take on "caring" than one might normally >>> shoot for in photos for this theme. >>> >>> And in fact, when Brian announced this theme I thought to myself >>> "Well... why should any of us bother entering when it's clear that >>> Steve's gonna have this one locked up. In fact, we oughtta just >>> give him an honorary win based on his previously posted body of >>> work." (Although then we'd hafta give one to Tina, too...) So I can >>> see why you might be bugged to not have your name among the named. >> >> sure, I can handle that... >> >> I submitted this image... >> >> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/barbour/paw2008/care.jpg.html >> >> a mother, and her infant on life support... >> >> I'm proud of it... >> >> >> >> thanks for not being outraged at our scandalous subtitle... >> >> Steve > > (I know I said I'd shut up but...) > > Steve - > > Thanks for your revealing, heartfelt & detailed response to my > post. In fact the two people in the snap are my wife's parents, and > Marianna has been tirelessly devoted to Rex's needs for quite some > time. uh ohhhh... and I was afraid of that....so sorry Bob, but what we saw... allowed some sort of dark medical humor to overcome us... > There's a good chance that some of the reason I shot when I did, at > an instant that appears to show a small crack in her armor was a > projection of my own feelings that I'm not sure I could be as > devoted in a similar situation. > > The thing with the shoes I didn't notice at all. A lucky catch. > However, this has some relevance to the part of the discussion about > the clutter in this shot, and to documentary photography in general. this part I found very moving, almost brought me to tears... > We'd all like to feel that we're quick enough to find the > significant elements in a scene and present them in a graphic & > efficient way within the frame. In fact, I usually try to do this > kindof thing; the great majority of my shot show a bias towards > making things simple for the viewer by leaving "distracting" > elements out of the frame. I believe I too tend to do this... > However, there's also the approach that "I ain't quick enough (or > smart enough) to pick up on all the elements and find an angle that > gets in all the stuff I think contributes to the shot and leaves out > the rest so I'm gonna take in a lot of the environment and let the > viewers be more of the bosses of what they see." > > And in fact you and other viewers (Bill Larsen pointed out some > specific elements) found small things in the shot that have a story > to tell. > > So, I'm going to continue dabbling in this less control-freaky, > looser, more wideangle way of shooting certain subjects. > > And hope to continue to "get lucky" ... of course you were not lucky at all... paradoxically your image now seems far better, after all this talk... I am more than glad that Brian encouraged it...as we need discussion of these images, both before and after the judges rule... thanks, Steve > > > Bob Palmieri >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information