Re: [Leica] More blind shooting discussion

["abc" <adisoon@pl.jaring.my>]

I couldn't have put it better !! Bravo. 

- --adi 

- ----------
> From: David Miller <LeicaM6@webtv.net>
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: Re: [Leica] More blind shooting discussion
> Date: Saturday, December 20, 1997 11:33 PM
> 
> Eisenstaedt DID on occasion "shoot blinded" (your term).  I quote from
> his book, "Eisenstaedt's Guide to Photography", copyright 1978, Viking
> Press.
> 
> "It is always a challenge to take pictures of people unobtrusively.  For
> the photographs on this page I waited in front of a cafe-bar in Paris
> with the camera hung around my neck on a short strap.  When I saw an
> expression I wanted, I just pressed the shutter release without raising
> the camera to my eye as I did not want to draw attention to myself.  I
> use a wide-angle lens for this technique because it gives better depth
> of field and, since I can not compose in the viewfinder, its wide angle
> of coverage allows me to crop unnecessary details in the final print"
> 
> "The flower vendor, opposite, was one of many people I photographed to
> illustrate an essay on the Parisians.  While walking along a street
> looking for candid photographs, I often carry the camera in my hand
> rather than around my neck where it may attract more attention"- A.E.
> 
> Eisenstaedt also used a similar technique with his Rolleiflex to
> photograph departing soldiers at Pennsylvania Station (NYC) during WWII.
> I quote from the book, "Eisenstaedt on Eisenstaedt" copyright 1985,
> Abbeville.
> 
> "To photograph American soldiers saying farewell to their wives and
> sweethearts, I used a Rolleiflex 21/4/ X 21/4, not a Leica, because you
> can hold a Rolleiflex without raising it to your eye; so they didn't see
> me taking the pictures.  I just kept motionless like a statue.  They
> never saw me clicking away.  For the kind of photography I do, one has
> to be very unobtrusive and to blend in with the crowd" -A.E.
> 
> This term, "blind shooting", pertains to those who do not (can not)
> connect what they see with their mind, emotions, and physical control.
> Waiting for an action or expression is not blind shooting.  This comment
> of "having the balls to raise the camera" is about as stupid as I have
> heard in aong time.   Succesful pictures are not about machismo, it's
> knowing when to fire away.  The technique we use to "fire away" is as
> diverse as we are.  What matters if your are a photojournalist is that
> your photo editor is left with photos that can used.  What matters if
> your are a gallery photog is that your work sells.  What matters if you
> compete is that your photos win compeitions.  So on and so on.
> 
> Re-read Eisenstaedt's comments.  How he shot was not "blind".  He saw,
> and captured.
> 
> David Miller
> (resident Eisiephile)