Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/06/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Dan C wrote: > Why would people be proud of their tools looking ugly? I think many would disagree with you. "Ugly" is an aesthetic judgement and thus personal (and social) and subjective. I think the M5 is one seriously ugly camera -- many disagree with me. The reason people are proud of "ugly" tools (in this sense meaning worn) is because they show use. They bear the mark of the people who have used them. The effort of use, the care, the technique, has left physical imprints on the tool. The physical manifestation of this history, what you refer to as the "uglyness", has a symbolic function: it shows the tool's usefulness to its owner, it shows the owner's care, skills, and dedication in tool ownership and in their exercise of the craft for which the tool is used. If someone takes pride in what they do, and do it with care, they typically also take pride in their "ugly" (i.e., worn) tools used in pursuit of that activity -- because they serve as physical manifestations of that sense of pride of craft. It's the difference between something that says "a camera" and something that says "this is a camera that has been lovingly used and maintained by someone in a pursuit. And that someone is me". M. - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html