Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/09/28

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Subject: Re: Ralph Gibson--Leica photographer
From: "Howard S. Greenberg" <hsgreen@erols.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 21:28:57 -0400

Joe Berenbaum wrote:
> 
> At 18:32 28/09/97 -0400, you wrote:
> >He's somewhat legendary. He's been known since the mid-sixties. Has a
> >number of books out. Was just looking at "Infanta" the other day. He's a
> >colleague and contemporary of Mary Ellen Mark, if that puts it into
> >perspective for you. In any event, he's uses Leicas (I pretty sure
> >exclusively) which for an art photographer may be somewhat unusual.
> >However, I like the grainy look. His work is an inspiration to all who
> >want to use the Leica as a fine art tool.
> 
> I suppose this is as good a place as any to ask- could someone fill in this
> gap in my knowledge with a short definition or explanation- what exactly IS
> fine art photography? I have a very vague idea and I'd really like to know.
> It sounds like I might want to do it.
> 
> Joe Berenbaum
the easiest way to answer that question is look at books by Ansel Adams,
Edward Weston, etc. Compare their work to the work of the legendary
photojournalists like Capa, Eisenstadt, Salgado, or Mark Ellen Mark. In
studying those works you'll begin to formulate an answer that means
something to you, not one provided by someone else. If someone held a
gun to my head I would just say, fine art would be representational,
stressing form, while documentary and photojournalism would stress
content.