Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/08/30

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Talk amongst yourselves...
From: "Alan Hull" <hull@telia.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 23:46:44 +0200
References: <5.1.0.14.2.20010821170924.0230d130@xsj02.sjs.agilent.com> <5.1.0.14.2.20010828212121.02fba4e0@127.0.0.1> <3B8D4191.CE66828@rabiner.cncoffice.com> <3B8D43E6.6C714462@earthlink.net>

About war photography.

> inability to capture on film the essence of what I was witnessing.
> Words, though open to different interpretations by different people, at
> least allowed me greater opportunity to explain was was happening, if
> only to myself.

Well said.  IMHO that old statement that a picture is worth a thousand words
is BS, especially in ACTION war photography. Words are a thousand times more
effective. Witness the war poetry of Wilfred Owen (Anthem for Doomed Youth),
Seigfreid Sassoon (They died in hell, they called it Passchendaele), Rupert
Brooke (corner of a foreign field), Robert Graves, etc.

I believe that war photography has its greatest impact when still scenes of
the aftermath of an event are taken.  The burned and wounded.  The hollow
eyed exhaustion of the survivors, the lines of body bags.  They show the
horrible result.  The viewer of a "good" war photograph should either puke
his guts out, be angry, or at least feel saddened.

Then there are the famous and harmless photos such as the raising of the
flag at Iwo Jima.  The conference at Yalta(?) Battleships in line astern.
More documentary than war I suppose.

Alan

In reply to: Message from Jim Brick <jim_brick@agilent.com> ([Leica] Re: [Lieca] LUG and AOL)
Message from Tina Manley <images@InfoAve.Net> (Re: [Leica] Noctilux for Rabs)
Message from Mark Rabiner <mark@rabiner.cncoffice.com> (Re: [Leica] Noctilux for Rabs)
Message from "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net> ([Leica] Talk amongst yourselves...)