Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/07/08

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Photo whores {was Life magazine}
From: Alan Ball <AlanBall@csi.com>
Date: Wed, 08 Jul 1998 10:41:39 +0200

Eric Welch wrote:
> ....>CUT>.......
> One group knows good pictures and sweats it out to make them. As Ansel
> Adams said, "A set of 12 good negatives in a year has been a good year."
> (paraphrased)
> 
> The other group thinks that because a person gets a picture - any picture -
> of an important or interesting place/person/situation means it's a good
> picture. Not true!

As a professional editor myself, I'll suggest a 3rd group, the one that
thinks that if the readers, the publisher, the interviewed parties (and
shall we mention the advertisers ?) are happy with the column and the
illustrations, that means, in that context, that the column and the
illustrations (pictures included) are good. I'd suggest a little
modesty: in my professional eyes, pictures are just a part of the
illustrative material of a column, with no less and no more importance
than computer generated graphics and screenshots. Of course in my
hobbyist eyes, pictures are an art form and/or a great form of testimony
and expression. Their relative importance is directly related to the
magazine's or newspaper's profile. 

Friendly regards,
Alan,
Brussels-Belgium