[Leica] paris update

[Guy Bennett <gbennett@club-internet.fr>]

lugnuts,

just a quick update of things leica-like and photographic from paris...

saw an interesting exhibit of helmut newton (not one of my favorite
photographers) and his wife alice springs' work entitled 'us and them'. it
included dozens of surprisingly frank self-portraits of both photographers,
each others' portraits of each other, and both of their portraits of other
people, all in rather large black and white prints, taken with a variety of
cameras, many of which are visible in the pictures. these ran from pentax
slrs to olympus point and shoots, the only 'leica' being a cle! the work
was, i felt, wonderful in that it gave a revealing glimpse into the lives
of two people caught up in the strange world of fashion and superstar
photography. the use of black and white contrasted nicely in mood and
atmosphere with the usual dazzle of his color work, and the occasionally
somber pictures of either one or both in hospitals and hotel rooms, looking
more sick, worn out and otherwise less than a little unglamorous, showed an
interesting flip side to the photographer / model equation. the show runs
through september 5 at the maison européenne de la photographie.

*

leica sightings: on the corner of the street which houses la chambre
claire, an excellent bookstore for titles on photography, a man, leaning
against a building, shooting passers-by (as it were) with a black m6 and a
summicron 35...

in le souk, a fantastic north african restaurant in the 11e, a photographer
with 2 m6's around his neck, one with a summicron 50, the other, with an
elmarit 21 or 24 (couldn't tell which in the low lights of the room),
shooting (once again, photographically speaking) a large party of diners
and using no flash...

have yet to come across any screw mounts, but will keep an eye (maybe both)
open.

*

also, picked up in la chambre claire, a copy of 'leica saga' that someone
recently mentioned on this list. a decent, inexpensive book useful for
identifying and distinguishing all sorts of leicas, m's, r's, p & s's...
they also had a copy of marc's book, two very expensive, 400+ page books by
filippo giunta ('leica screwmount cameras - a systematic approach' and
'leica m-mount cameras') which seem more geared toward collectors than
users, but were very interesting none the less. (does any one have opinions
about the latter two books? i'd consider picking them up, if some one feels
they are worth the $60./$120. they cost...)

*

i've been running around with an m6, 24/35/50 combination, taking mostly
'stree' pictures, but with the occasional monument or landmark (sometimes
it's hard to avoid 'em) somewhere in sight. i've been shooting only b & w
(by the way, anybody know of a good lab to have the film developped and
contacts made?) and have been enjoying myself doing so. gotta say, however,
that that bag with m6 + lenses in tow does begin to weigh on the shoulder
by the end of the afternoon...

guy