Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/03/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Ken's post is on-list, it's here: http://www.leica-users.org/v38/msg16385.html. I don't quite have the hang of GMail yet but I can tell the difference between a post and an off-list message - that's one thing the interface gets right. Steve asks a very on-topic question about the kind of photography people do with their Leicas and Leica-like cameras. To me, Jim's photos are characterised by irony (in the true sense - where the literal and the actual implied meanings of the photographs are opposite or fundamentally incongruent) and poking fun at western society. Anywhere where society is fundamentally different (as it is almost everywhere else in the world) a person doesn't have a sufficient context to poke the same kind of fun. You can see this in my photos of Russia: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/freakscene/Russia/ and Japan: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/freakscene/Japan/ which (to me) say more "this is really forgeign and that amkes it different" rather than "look at this weirdness". The side of life that many of Jim's photos point out as humorous are dependant on wealth and a relative lack of self-consciousness. The following examples are from my experience and might vary depending on where you go in a given place. In Japan, for instance, people maintain a very careful public image most of the time, making these kinds of shots impossible. In a lot of parts of Scandinavia, almost everyone is very fit and attractive, removing one of Jim's obvious sources of humour. But more than anything, walker Evans' old nemesis, prosperity, removes a lot of the good-natured aspects of public life. People become more self-conscious, change how they act and look and take on a more serious general demeanour. This interferes with the kinds of scenes Jim captures. Adelaide is the least economically developed Australian mainland city of its size and in many ways its residents are very natural and lack self-consciousness. A lot of obviously incongruous things happen. I doubt Jim would do very well in the middle of Sydney or Melbourne. Analysis is always personal; anyone who posts a themed body of work to the LuG gets a lot of attention and analysis from me. I don't always post about it, but I am always looking and thinking. Marty On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 9:14 AM, Steve Barbour <kididdoc at cox.net> wrote: > > On Mar 22, 2009, at 3:34 PM, Geoff Hopkinson wrote: > > Seems like Marty accidentally replied to the list about an off list joke >> from Ken. Then Steve replied thinking also he was off-list! Whoops! >> Check the headers. You guys are in soo much trouble! >> > > hey, let's get back on track... > > regrets... > > mille fois... > > > Steve > >> >> >> >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: Steve Barbour <kididdoc at cox.net> >> Date: 2009/3/23 >> Subject: [Leica] Even more Adelaide photos from Brian's visit >> To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org> >> >> >> >> On Mar 22, 2009, at 4:37 AM, Marty Deveney wrote: >> >> No, but we're trying to get him to visit. There's plenty of fruitful >> areas >> around here for Jim's style of observation. >> >> a very interesting comment Marty, it really got me thinking. >> >> Is there a place in the world not fruitful for Jim's style of observation? >> Then I realized that it varies a lot...with some places much less >> fruitful...even in the civilized world. >> >> we don't have to get into that right now... >> >> but my very simplistic impression is that the very unfruitful areas may >> be limited to third world parts of the globe... >> >> I wonder if that is seen by veteran travelers as an oversimplification, >> somehow unfair, >> >> >> Steve >> >> >> >> >> Marty >> >> On Sun, Mar 22, 2009 at 9:14 AM, Ken Carney <kcarney1 at cox.net> wrote: >> >> My God that's an ugly dog :). Has Jim Shulman been to Adelaide? >> >> Ken >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >