Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/11/09

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: Lenswork Magazine
From: DFangon@aol.com
Date: Sat, 9 Nov 2002 20:17:49 EST

In a message dated 11/9/02 3:57:02 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
bdcolen@earthlink.net writes:

<< So we come back to the question of what is or isn't documentary
 photography.....I believe that if one sets out to "document" a
 situation, be it the lives of failing farmers in the dust bowl and
 "okies" on the road, or the daily life of a middle class family, one is
 obligated to "document" - preserve - things as one finds them, and not
 set up photos to tell the story one had in mind. >>

Where would you classify Salgado's work then, since he seems to seek and 
record human misery in his body of work almost exclusively?  It would appear 
that that is his "point of departure" most of the time.  Would you consider 
his work "slanted?"

If one is out there to record the death and destruction of war, for example, 
then one will go home with prints full of images depicting horror and death 
and blood and misery.  One would not be tempted to point one's camera at 
soldiers singing and playing banjo in front of a campfire during a lull in 
the fighting, would one?

Dante
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