[Leica] That McNally Book!

[S Dimitrov <sld@earthlink.net>]

I finally got to see the book "Faces of Ground Zero." What a piece
of...oops...forgot we're in gentile company. It is by far the worst
example of portraiture I've come across in a long, long time. I have
seen better examples of children's books that portray 'mom and dad's' occupations.

I can see why the LA Times review was guarded, given the inflamed
sensibilities at the moment. An then of course with Bushkrieg going on,
it makes for a touchy issue. However, as a photographer, and a
portraitist, it is very, and I mean very hard to sit silently on a
sideline while this kind of tripe is larded on us. It just reinforces my
opinion that he is nothing more than a mere wall decorator, i.e. a
decorative photographer. But then considering the publications that hire
him, which are about as challenging as a lemon meringue pie, I'm not surprised.

What incenses me, is that those people which he photographed, deserved a
whole lot more than what he was capable of. Now, sitting there for all
of history to see, is this tawdry little trifle, imbedding itself as a stain
from some kind of excretion. Even the Rolling Stone photographer did a
much better piece, albeit itself a bit timid and too grounded in
convention. At least the subjects were portrayed with a a sense of life,
and with a personality emanating from their eyes.

A redeeming part of the trip to the book store was seeing Tina's piece
in PF.
Slobodan Dimitrov
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