Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/09/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Maybe we should all go out and invent some history, then. Profound, of course - without any bokeh. All the best! Raimo photos at http://personal.inet.fi/private/raimo.korhonen - -----Alkuperäinen viesti----- Lähettäjä: Dan Cardish <dcardish@microtec.net> Vastaanottaja: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Päivä: 08. syyskuuta 2000 20:55 Aihe: RE: [Leica] Re: LUGPhoto Quotes To Brighten Your Day >For me the past doesn't exist. All I am aware of are photographs, >drawings, movies, written descriptions and vocal recitations (for the very >recent past) made by people who were very selective as to what they were >recording. So in this sense, these records define the past for me. And >photographs are a very effective means of making these recordings. > >I think the quote is quite profound. Certainly more so than discussions of >lines per inch and bokeh. I have the book but have never read it. Maybe >it's time... > >Dan C. > > > > >At 01:19 PM 08-09-00 -0400, you wrote: >> >>I did read the book, and while I do not necessarily wish to champion Ms. >>Sontag, I would nevertheless suggest, as a general rule, that we all do >>better not to conclude too readily why something is just nonsensical or >>preposterous, but rather to consider possible ways in which it might make >>sense. The case against Ms. Sontag seems a bit vociferous. Surely the poor >>woman might have an idea or two worth thinking about, and surely the quote >>put forth is not devoid of all sense if we consider it (which does not mean >>that we must agree with it). >> >>Just a thought! I could be wrong. >> >>Art Peterson >> >> >>-----Original Message----- >>From: Jem Kime [mailto:jem.kime@cwcom.net] >>Sent: Friday, September 08, 2000 9:58 AM >>To: 'leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us' >>Subject: RE: [Leica] Re: LUGPhoto Quotes To Brighten Your Day >> >>Chandos, >>I'll rise to answering this. >> >>It sucks of 'psuedo speak', something which sounds profound but is in fact >>merely a cleverly phrased set of superficial words. >>If the statement is analysed the b/s becomes apparent. Photographers do not >>'invent' the past, nothing 'invents' the past, the statement is empty and >>futile in its nonsense. Facile in its preposterousness. The past is past, >>it can be recorded, not invented. Events can be staged or manipulated but >>this happens in the present, these events can be recorded withphotography >>but that doesn't mean they're invented. >> >>If you look to Stalinist Russia you'll recall that it was Pravda that >>recorded, one might be tempted to say 'rearranged', and came closest to >>'inventing' the past. But mere photographers? By themselves? No. >>America more than perhaps any other country values its freedom of speech so >>highly that (I contend) it would be impossibile to 'invent' the past >>contrary to real events. >> >>She's trying to say something which isn't communicated well. If she were a >>better writer we would understand what it was. Alas, all I see is >>psycho-babble. >> >>Jem (who tried to read the book once but couldn't manage it to the end - >>this may speak more of me...) Kime >> >> >>-----Original Message----- >>From: Chandos Michael Brown [SMTP:cmbrow@wm.edu] >>Sent: 08 September 2000 14:29 >>To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us >>Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: LUGPhoto Quotes To Brighten Your Day >> >>What, precisely, is objectionable about this passage? >>Chandos >> >>At 08:17 AM 9/8/2000 -0500, you wrote: >>> > In America the photographer is not simply the person who records the >>past, but the one who invents it. >>> > > Susan Sontag >> >>Chandos Michael Brown >>Assoc. Prof., History and American Studies >>College of William and Mary >> >>http://www.wm.edu/CAS/ASP/faculty/brown >> >>