Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/11/21

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Subject: RE: [Leica] XXX of the YYY? WAS (something else) (fwd)
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 14:49:02 -0500

Hardly the first time Crose dominated his show...;-)

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Kit
McChesney
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 2:39 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: RE: [Leica] XXX of the YYY? WAS (something else) (fwd)


Actually, Chomsky was quite fine, soft-spoken, and eloquent as always. I
was wishing the whole time that Charlie would just shut up and get out
of his way so that he could talk. Constantly interrupting him in the
middle of a thought, Charlie seemed to want to show off all his
knowledge, which, I have to say, was not impressive next to Chomsky. I
kept waving my arms at the television screen, trying to push Charlie
away, and I must have said, "Well, Charlie, if you'd shut up, he could
answer the question you are asking him!" (He must have felt like a LUG
member!).

Kit

B. D. Colen said:

BTW, Kit, how could Charlie have possible gotten his ego in the way of
as monumental an ego as Chomsky's? That must have taken some doing.;-)

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of B. D.
Colen
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 1:33 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: RE: [Leica] XXX of the YYY? WAS (something else) (fwd)


Didn't watch Noam Chomsky - But DID watch the ABC News special on the
JFK assassination, and I have to say - as a believer in one of the
multiple shooters conspiracy theories - that it built an incredibly
convincing case for Oswald as lone gunman. Really amazing.

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Kit
McChesney
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 9:24 AM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: RE: [Leica] XXX of the YYY? WAS (something else) (fwd)


As-bo-lute-ly. So the difference between the two types of propaganda is
in their underlying motives and messages. The work of Evans and Lange we
appreciate, because at some basic level, it strikes us as benevolent,
because it helped move a country towards doing something about poverty.
The other instance we find abhorrent, because it glorifies a president
who apparently fabricated a scheme to move the country towards a war it
now has to reconsider. 

By the way, did anyone watch Noam Chomsky on Charlie Rose last night? It
was a good interview, and would have been great, had Charlie not
insisted on putting his ego in the way! (I've already written to him to
complain!)

Kit

==

B. D. Colen responded to Eric:

"Easy, big guy..:-) I wasn't criticizing the photographers - many of
whom are among the Greats - or the work, which speaks for itself. I was
simply pointing out that the work IS propaganda, produced for a
government propaganda agency, and needs to be considered on those terms.
That was NOT what we would today call documentary work or
photojournalism. Those photographers weren't told - go document life in
America during the Great Depression; nor were they told to go document
the lives of people in the Midwest and West during the Great Depression
- - they were told to go get photographs of poor people which would move
the great mass of people and put pressure on Congress to pass a very
specific set of social programs. And that doesn't strike me as any
different from putting a banner that says "Mission Accomplished" on an
aircraft carrier onto which a formerly AWOL Texas Air National Guard
pilot will be flown in a flight suit so that he can make a victory
speech to the American people. ;-)

B. D.
Stirring the pot every few days keeps the food for thought from sticking
to the bottom!"

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Eric Welch
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 9:39 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Re: [Leica] XXX of the YYY? WAS (something else) (fwd)


Well, for one thing this happened before there was any kind of 
formation of those concepts as we understand them now. Even so many of 
the photos were close enough considering the development of the 
profession in those days.

On Nov 20, 2003, at 10:38 AM, B. D. Colen wrote:

> Yes, they produced gorgeous work - but it
> was NOT documentary photography or photojournalism is any sense that
> those terms are commonly understood;

Eric Welch
Carlsbad, CA
http://www.jphotog.com

Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco. - Will Rogers.

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