Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/03/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 09:53 PM 3/20/99 +0100, you wrote: >I don't think HCB is an enemy of the wilderness, Eric. I think what he >thought was that, as photographers, Adams and Weston were self-indulgent and >escapist, and that a photographer needs to be in the world and of the world. The WERE in the world, and of it. Ansel made a living shooting living bras, Kodak Coloramas, Japanese internment camp victims, mines and University brochures, as well as his "art." Weston, well, he like to hang out with the ladies. He had a more pure esthetic than Ansel, but it was his choice in life. To imply that what they photograph is not THE WORLD shows the same unfamiliarity with what I'm talking about. Just because they choose to photograph one aspect of the world that Europeans are probably not equipped to appreciate, the way we who grew up with the big trees and rocks understand, doesn't invalidate what they do. Remember Weston photographed Charis wearing only a gas mask as a critique of War - HCB wasn't looking! Weston did nudes out the wazoo. Toilets. Portraits. Anyone who criticized either of these photographers for being rock contemplators is just ignorant of what they were about. Cartier Bresson is, in this case, guilty of ignorance. As great a photographer as he was, he was not a prophet. Eric Welch St. Joseph, MO http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch We have enough youth, how about a fountain of SMART?