Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/08/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Kyle: I'm printing your words out and posting them on my wall - WOW!? I need the reminder and inspiration/challenge. Rick ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kyle Cassidy" <kcassidy at asc.upenn.edu> To: lug at leica-users.org Sent: Friday, August 20, 2010 11:08:46 AM Subject: [Leica] Seen God One of the most important things that I learned from Mary Ellen Mark trashing my portfolio, setting fire to it, and jumping up and down on the ashes is that a photo needs to be able to exist on its own; that if it needs to be propped up with words, it's success as an image is incomplete. ?The most common example of this, I think, is when we see photos of relatives "this is my son," or "this is my grandfather who is the best man who ever lived" - the photographer adds in words what exists in their heart but possibly not in the photograph. Cramming all the things that exist in your heart into only the visual box of the photo is the difficult, but paramount job of a photographer. How hard is it to get "this man saw god" into a photograph without words? It can be done, and I think it just wants a little more time spent. What I, as a viewer, need to see from this image is to see an interaction between myself and this man, I want to realize through his expression, his demeanor, and especially his eyes, that he has experience something profound which has changed him. ?What I do see is a really wonderfully exposed and processed photo of an old man who looks like he's talking to someone else. All of the elements are here - the guy is great, the light is right, the framing, the technical skill is there, but (imho) the moment is missed. http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Rainforest/_JGR3863bBWP2.jpg.html It might require spending more time there and it might also require getting "up in someone's face" - seeing this photo made me grab Eugene Richard's "Cocaine True, Cocaine Blue" off the shelf and look to see if he always caught subjects looking at the camera - and he doesn't, but there are two things I noticed about these most amazing of American documentary photos, one is that regardless of whether the subject is looking at the camera, or looking away, there is the look of a profound moment - as though you can see into someone's head and know what they're thinking, sometimes this is relayed directly to the viewer through eye contact, sometimes it is relayed specifically because the subject is looking away. The second thing I noticed is that he REALLY fills the frame. I think you might want to have been a whole step closer here. Stay as long as it takes, get as close as you can, when you leave, your world should move a little because you've met someone who saw god. I think in documentary photography it's not good to be a voyeur, standing back in the place where we all feel comfortable, you need to be inside the bubble of intimacy. That's my two cents, take it for what it's worth. Hope this helps. kyle ________________________________________ I had gone into the rainforests of the Western Ghats mountain range, at a place called Valparai in Tamil Nadu (the state which I belong to, and stay in), mainly to see the endemic flora and fauna (including leeches!) during the monsoons. At a beautiful view point - the day was very wet and overcast, so the landscape shots had to wait for another day - I met this man, Velu, who claimed to have seen Murugan, one of the Hindu pantheon of Gods at this spot in 1983. Since then, for the last 27 odd years, he has been coming to this spot at 11am to extol the glory of God. This has become a part of local folklore, so much so that the spot is nowadays officially called "Seen God". Here is Velu explaining to us the circumstances under which he saw Murugan. There are psychological connotations as well - "Vel" means spear in Tamil, and Murugan is always depicted with a spear in traditional religious iconography, and Velu is a popular name for the God. He seemed slightly unbalanced in a peaceful sort of way, but he spoke good English as well as Tamil, which probably shows an educated background. http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Rainforest/_JGR3863bBWP2.jpg.html C & C always welcome! Cheers Jayanand _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information