[Leica] Dutch tilt - new photos

[Harvey.Arche at jp2hs.org (Arche, Harvey)]

B.D. wrote:
>To answer your questions about the T shots, Arche, yes - but my axing and
>yours are two different things; I've had a former Magnum editor go through
>the, and the curator of a major photo collection - but more about that
>later. And that's gotten them to where they are. ;-)
>
>I would never, by the way, suggest that someone post to elicit criticism and
>then decide what should be kept and what should be discarded. All that's
>doing is seeing what those who pass by happen to like, and we know that
>those who pass by consider Kincade a great painter, and that woman who turns
>babies into vegetables perhaps the world's greatest photographer.
>
>Note that Winnogrand didn't put those negatives on public display and ask
>which ones people thought should be printed - he simply gave himself some
>distance. I'd suggest that the only people whose judgment matters in terms
>of selection are the artist, and that handful of people whose judgment the
>artist trusts.
>
>B. D.

I did a poor job of explaining how I think the list functions as a useful 
editing tool.

I think it would be, what, mercenary? naive? contemptuous? (and 
contemptible) to post, and then edit directly on the basis of a general 
thumbs up or down from the list. (And please remember that I am talking 
about the list, not the general public. That's where Kincade, et al., get 
their imprimatur; let's not confuse the two). 

In suggesting the usefulness of 'that handful of people whose judgment the 
artist trusts' to help make editing decisions, B.D. identifies something I 
find built into nature of the list. Out of the broad range of people posting 
a wide variety of images, I have, by way of seeing their work, come to have 
a clear idea of which individuals have affinities and biases that correspond 
most closely with mine, and who therefore are people whose judgement I 
trust. In a situation shared by many others, I suspect, I do not have a 
real-time, face-to-face, working relationship with a community of like 
minded individuals, or access to professionals. I find the list can be a 
valid substitute.

But it is not primarily the availibility of feedback that makes posting 
useful: it is simply the posting. I feel very differently about a posted 
image, as compared to one that sits on my desk. Knowing that it is up for 
viewing by an audience, especially one that contains people whose work I 
respect, gives an image a degree of presence, or urgency, in my mind. It's 
that pressure that tips me into having the necessary distance in looking at 
it, and that is very useful.

Incidentally, out of all the pictures I've posted since January, there are 
6-8 that just slay me, and that I would defend unto death. None of them has 
ever been singled out for comment (sorry Philippe). Wait a second, I take 
that back, Walt fingered one in an off-list mailing. I don't mean that to be 
arrogant, or soliciting of feedback, just that I can value the insight 
available on the list and still keep my own counsul. It is also true that 
perhaps none of those shots would have been if I didn't have an audience to 
post to.

And B.D., dammit, I love the 'T-shots'. I just wanted you to admit that 
there might be some trimmable fat.

Arche