[Leica] Why we photograph, artists who photograph, and HCB - golden mean

[s.dimitrov at charter.net (Slobodan Dimitrov)]

Everyone has a fallback position, in case whatever notion one start's  
with won't work in a given situation. You're not far off in looking  
for a common denominator in HCB's output.
HCB graced us with a very clear description of how and why he did a  
majority of his work, and in some cases even addressing certain  
images. But he did it in a methodological mannerism most people  
aren't not familiar with, that being in the apophatic tradition.  
Given his background and classical French education, it's not too  
surprising for him to do this.
My main concern with his work, is his participation in colonialism  
and never repudiating it. Keep in mind that photojournalism was  
created to reinforce the colonial experience as a positive force for  
the European reader and viewer. It makes an inquiry into the subtext  
of his work even more pivotal for any critique to be credible.

Slobodan Dimitrov
Studio G-8,
Angels Gate Cultural Center
http://sdimitrovphoto.com





On Apr 11, 2006, at 4:54 PM, Jeffery Smith wrote:

> Bob,
>
> In looking at many of HCB's photos in the documentary, I detected  
> that HCB
> seemed to be looking for angles (one part of the documentary had  
> HCB talking
> constantly of "geometry"). The placement of subjects seemed to be  
> invariably
> on one side of an angle as I have collected here:
>
> http://www.400tx.com/HCB.html
>
> Even if these images aren't compellingly "golden mean" (I couldn't  
> find
> little thumbnails of all of the examples they showed in the film), HCB
> almost never places his subjects in the center of the frame, and  
> when he
> doesn't have an obvious diagonal, he often has a rule of thirds  
> composition.
>
> Jeffery Smith
> New Orleans, LA
> http://www.400tx.com
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+jsmith342=cox.net@leica-users.org
> [mailto:lug-bounces+jsmith342=cox.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of  
> bob
> palmieri
> Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 9:49 PM
> To: lug@leica-users.org
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Why we photograph, artists who photograph, and  
> HCB
>
>
> Jeffrey & Tina -
>
> I know from the Golden Section, but I don't really understand how to
> use it in an organic way in snapping. Can you show me how it applies
> to, perhaps, some of HCB's pictures?
>
> Bob Palmieri
>
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