Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/12/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Well! Hasn't this opened up into a wonderful reflection on the history of our beloved art and craft. Thanks Bob - very cool addition. Fond regards, George george@imagist.com http://www.imagist.com http://www.imagist.com/blog http://www.linkedin.com/in/imagist On Dec 23, 2008, at 5:27 PM, Bob W wrote: > Worth remembering, though, that in their time the pictorialists were > cutting-edge, and realistic. PH Emerson's photos are well worth > looking at > from a documentary point of view. They were in revolt against the > establishment of the time and the practice of photographers such as > Henry > Peach Robinson, who constructed their photographs, in much the same > way that > some people do now with Photoshop. There's a very, very good book > about PH > Emerson called The Old Order and The New which I can recommend very > highly > for a reappraisal of Emerson, a great photographer. > > http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/emerson/ > > The problem with pictorialism was that it went much the same way as > the > rocks and logs school of f/64 with a mass of untalented people > following > slavishly to the point where any originality or creativity was long > gone and > all that came after was trite cliche. > > Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. > > Bob > >> >> Very nicely articulated Peter; great context. >> The only piece you missed: Adams and Weston et al >> also worked (somewhat in harmony as the f:64 group) >> revolting against the pictorialist's romantic view >> of people, places and things; making them >> cutting edge and going against the current trends. >> >> Fond regards, >> George >> >> george@imagist.com >> http://www.imagist.com >> http://www.imagist.com/blog >> http://www.linkedin.com/in/imagist >> >> >> >> On Dec 23, 2008, at 3:22 PM, Peter Klein wrote: >> >>> George, you're right, Erwitt's jab *is* ridiculously glib. Let's >>> try to >>> put it in context. >>> >>> We have to remember that Adams was a generation older than >> Erwitt. >>> In the >>> 30s and 40s, both Adams' almost Wagnerian interpretation of the >>> American >>> West and the level to which he quantified the process of >>> photography were >>> relatively new and unique things. By the time Erwitt came of age, >>> an Adams >>> landscape was an established norm that newer artists were reacting >>> against. >>> >>> The Zone System was just a codification of things Adams had worked >>> out in >>> practice. His followers turned it into a One True Faith. Of course a >>> photographer like Erwitt would find that nonsense--by the time you >>> could >>> think "N-1," the moments that most Erwitt images captured would be >>> gone. >>> Plus, Erwitt wasn't interested in grand landscapes. He was >>> interested in >>> people, dogs, oddball moments and quirky juxtapositions. >>> >>> Lots of photographic trends become ridiculous at the hands of the >>> faithful. Remember the "I never crop" fetish of the HCB followers, >>> which >>> included filing black border space into your negative carrier? >>> Then we >>> found out that HCB did in fact crop. >>> >>> My own way of photographing is much more like Erwitt's than like >>> Adams, >>> but I appreciate Adams, too. >>> >>> I had the good fortune to see an exhibit of Adams' prints (in Las >>> Vegas, >>> no less!), along with some of his equipment and letters. In his >>> letters, >>> I found a man who was as much an emotional artist as the most >>> unablashed >>> Romantic. It's just that he developed a painstaking method that >>> gave him >>> the best chance of capturing what he saw. >>> >>> Here's a good article placing Adams in perspective: >>> <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/ansel-adams-but- >>> is-it-art-749574.html> >>> >>> I remember an article in the old "Camera 35", probably by David >>> Vestal. He >>> had a dream where he was trying to photograph a subject with >>> particularly >>> challenging dynamic range. The Adams' ghost appeared to him and >>> whispered >>> in his ear: "Bracket." >>> >>> --Peter > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information