Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/03/31
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Eric, Nathan and all, It seems to me this has been discussed before. The fact that a subject makes eye conatct with the viewer through the photographer does not contradict the documentary nature of a pic. Loads of Salgado and HCB pics (to name our usual references) work thanks to this type of interaction. The absence of eye contact makes it more difficult for the viewer to relate to the people that are being photographed. In this case, the efficient picture will be the one that shows intensive interaction between subjects, or that captures composition/tonalities/attitudes/expressions that are powerful enough as to be capable of compensating the absence of direct contact. That is the talent of the masters... Alan On mercredi 31 mars 1999 15:05, Eric Welch [SMTP:ewelch@ponyexpress.net] wrote: > And I would submit that this is better. Nothing I dislike more than > pictures that masquerade as documentary that have people staring right into > the lens. That's not documentary photography as much as it is portraiture. > Perfectly legitimate, just seems to me, often, to be the only option when > people are too rushed to stick around and get a real candid picture.