Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/06/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Do you guys and gals realize this stuff is a great big crock of bull shit! I apologize to the ladies for my use of BS! But in reality, do you people have any idea how stupid and Mickey mouse you sound to the rest of the world? After all, this is an international list, not some hick town group of USA people who think the world revolves around the values of the USA! Get real, despite what your President may think, the world has no interest in Bob Shell and his unfortunate situation, which none of you have the ultimate details to make any comments, regardless of the unfortunate out come of this situation. Right or wrong! Look if you want something worth discussing that has some meaning and thought, try this for a moment. ======================= The value of our photography! This isn't about using a Leica, although the photograph was taken with a Leica, an M6 at the time. It's all about 1/30th of a second of captured time and what it means 15 years later to someone you've never met. Sometimes we never relate to our photography in it's potential of giving great joy to others. I had a phone call from a young man asking if I might have taken a picture of his father while I was shooting my first medical book, "This is Our Work.The Legacy of Sir William Osler." ? As he'd found his father's name listed in the book as one of those in the "thank you credits" although he did not find a picture of his father. And, was it possible I might have a picture of him in my files from the time of the shoot? His father, a doctor, anesthetist, had past away when the lad on the phone was 16 and he admired his father immensely and now he, the son, was enrolled at McGill Medical School in Montreal following in his fathers footsteps. Consider the thousands of medical frames exposed at the time and try to say, "Oh yes I remember him etc etc." An impossible task. I suggested if possible, he send a scanned/JPEG picture of his dad and I'd have a look at the contact sheets and see if he might be there. Obviously in my mind not holding out much hope after all these years. When his father's image appeared on the screen I immediately knew the man in the picture, there wasn't any question. The son's photo of the father wasn't in OR garb, but there was an immediate recognition for the doctor I knew. Although not published in the book, we had made a B&W slide of him during an operation and used it in many lectures to photo students and professional photogs. My immediate response was, "Hey, that's the doctor with the flowered mask and glasses in the Montreal Children's Hospital!" It was like discovering gold! I immediately e-mailed a JPEG for confirmation. The response was a phone call of a very tearful son who'd never seen his father dressed in OR garb for an operation. Here he was looking at a 1/30th of a moment in time of his late father. He was completely over come, obviously from our conversation there had been a wonderful relationship between father and son. We now have copies of the photo on the way for his mother, grand mother, younger brother and himself. You know, sometimes we as photographers capture something so meaningful it's beyond words to describe what our 1/30th or whatever has done, not for us in the satisfaction of a completed picture. But what we have on film has such great meaning for others whom we've never met. Because we are the recorders of our times and those around us, that sometimes I think we forget what we are doing in our quest for the ultimate 1/30th moment and what it may mean to those who follow us. Our role in life isn't what camera / lens we use, we may at times think it is. It's really about everything we live for, see and save on film for future generations. Many of you may not believe that, but it's true simply because all we have to do is understand that each exposure we make is a record of our times. No different than those old timers with their wooden cameras, glass plates and horse drawn wagons who went before us. It only takes one moment of a young lad looking for a picture of his father to open our eyes and heart to realize the importance of what we do in recording the life and times in our lives. Let's not forget, we are the visual record makers of the world. Small and large. Sorry it's a bit long, however, I hope I've got across what this boy gave me in his request, "Do you happen to have a picture of my dad?" And yes I cried along with him when we realized there was a picture. Now don't you think this has greater meaning than gnashing your teeth over something you don't have any control over, nor all the details to make a comment about? If you should unfortunately totally disagree with me, please do not respond. Thank you. ted - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html