Re: Seeing (was: Blind test)

[creadick@mindspring.com (Nowell Creadick)]

>Oddmund -
>
>While I often agree with, and always enjoy, your postings to this list, I think
>we all need to be more tolerant and open-minded about why we enjoy photography,
>Leica or otherwise.  There are many reasons why each individual gets pleasure
>or satisfaction from photography -- no one should judge another's basis for
>enjoyment.
>
>I have a good friend, for example, who knows MUCH more about lighting, film
>exposure/development, and printing than I do.  But I rarely see this fellow's
>pictures.  He loves Phil Davis' book Beyond the Zone System, he measures his
>negatives with a densitometer, he can produce the "perfect" print.  Bottom line
>is my friend may get more satisfaction from solving technical lighting,
>development, or printing problems as he does from "seeing" the world, taking
>pictures, or hanging prints on the wall.  He enjoys these technical challenges,
>and who is to say that he is into photography for the "wrong" reasons.
>
>Some people like Leicas because they are beautiful machines.  They appreciate
>the camera's design and construction.  Some people like Leicas because they
>have a history ranging from HCB to Capa.  Some people see the camera as simply
>a tool that helps them to see the world, etc.  It's ok to be an engineer, or a
>collector, or a humanitarian with regard to Leica.
>
>If someone wants to take snaps with their M6, who knows why they want to do
>this, and frankly, who cares?  Maybe they like the "click" of the shutter when
>they press it.  Maybe they "wear" their Leica as a status symbol -- a worse
>case scenario.  But even here, so what, they may actually enjoy using the
>camera.
>
>I enjoy hearing about how and why you use your Leica and your Contax.  This
>list benefits from your perspective.  But it's "ok" to not be like you.  We
>don't have to have the same reasons for using our Leicas that you have for
>using, or not using, yours.  It's a greater error, in my opinion, for Leica
>owners to feel that they must pretend to own Leicas for the "right" reasons
>(i.e. to record the world's travails like Salgado, etc.) than it is to be
>honest about owning a Leica for a less than noble reason.
>
>John McLeod

A BIGGER OVATION!!!!!!!!!