[Leica] Picture of the Year Controversy

[ken at iisaka.org (Ken Iisaka)]

Manipulation of photographs have existed ever since photography was
invented.  Even a picture of Pierre Trudeau with a surfboard was
manipulated to bring out discernible details of the subject from an
underexposed image.  Ansel Adams...  Use of Velvia...???  The transfer
function between the subject and the final image was never, and never
will be linear.

However, as much as I feel that the jury was foolish to disqualify the
images for the reasons stated, I would have disqualified them purely
on the basis of taste.  The heavy, HDR-like quality, as if a Velvia
transparency was printed on Cibachrome (sorry, Ilfochrome) itself is
objectionable, and I found them to be quite tasteless, as most
"journalistic" photographs these days are.  Particularly, I find
photographs that were taken with the widest or the longest lens that
the photographer could afford to be uninteresting, although the
unusual perspective and distortion may be eye-catching to the
uninitiated.

So, how about if we require all photographs to be taken with a 50mm
(or 35mm on a Leica M8) lens and judged based on RAW files?  How about
Kodachrome 64?  Where is the line drawn?

Ken Iisaka

(just an amateur so don't take me so seriously)