Re: [Leica] Noctilux Lore!

[Malcolm McCullough <blayne@mbox2.singnet.com.sg>]

Shooting at f1? Earlier this year I was on the way back to Yangon (Rangoon)
on a ferry at night. There were a lot of construction workers on the boat.
Three of them were laikin' about (fooling around). I pointed at the M6 and
Nocti in my hand and gave my ususal open-eyed 'may I use it?' expression.
They consented, laughing, and carried on as before. After a while they
decided it was time for a formal portrait, so they lined up along the
railing, but were disappointed to find I had no flash. I had already taken
a couple of snaps (f1, an eighth, EPJ (320T) pushed one - work out how much
light that is!) before one of them took my arm and dragged me across to a 4
ft fluoro tube, explaining that there wasn't enough light anywhere else.

I was touched by their concerned offer of advice and assistance, and
grateful for the opportunity to accept it with thanks. Apart from the M6
and Nocti, I was carrying a 35 'lux asph, a 50 'cron and a 75 'lux, as well
as a Minolta Spotmeter and Colormeter. It struck me that it would have
taken 200 years of one of those guy's entire wages to buy that lot. The
Burmese are gracious, charming and friendly, despite the poverty and
oppression. More than ever before I wondered what the hell I was doing
there, what right I had to fly in to their country, take some photos of
them and their religious places (no matter how 'sensitive' I might hope to
be and how much respect I have for the agency) then fly back out. I flew
back to a world of crass materialism and loneliness with my photo of three
laughing guys who knew something I didn't. I resolved to stay in the places
I am invited to (most of the time anyway - see footnote) and the country I
was born in. Thank goodness some Burmese people asked me back. 

Malcolm
Singapore

footnote: Except if I intend to do harm. Someone said that the
documentarian's fundamental responsibility is to do no-one harm
unintentionally.