Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/07/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Scott, The issue isn't that childhood can be a rotten experience. The issue isn't that family can be pretty rotten. The real issue is that the parents want an image that show their child upset(can't take a picture when they try to feed their child brussel sprouts?) and a photographer thinks that it would be a great idea to show a child upset and then upsets the child. H*&L, I can do that in any grocery store, toy store, park, or any other public place with a 100 to 200mm lens. In the same way that we discourage children from frying ants with a magnifying glass we should discourage adults from tormenting children. Don don.dory@gmail.com On 7/6/06, Scott McLoughlin <scott@adrenaline.com> wrote: > > Ok everyone hates it, so I'll play devils advocate. > > I don't have a problem with it. It's an idea, one that seems to > appeal to the gallery types. Good. No, I don't like the "waxy finish" > she puts on the pics, either. But then, I'm not buying :-) > > As for the kids, well, I grew up in an "extended family." My > mom was the oldest of 5, and my youngest aunt was only > 5 years older than I. Also tons of other relatives all over the > Syracuse, NY area. > > I was cared for daily by my grandma with the 4 aunts/uncles > all packed into a tiny post WWII house. While I was "the baby," > I was also the "runt" of the aunt/uncle pack, and oh the torments > - children are so, so very cruel. Thrown out naked into the snow > (Syracuse, NY), told I was going to the "funny farm," subject to > fake trances and terrorized by the "zombies" my aunt and her > friend would become. Oh yeah, my (clever but nasty) aunt would > put marks on the wall above my actual height (you know, the > marks to show you are growing), and tell me I was shrinking!!! > > You get the idea. Of course, I also knew I had a gadzillion > relatives who would and did take care of me, and I fondly > remember those times despite the childish torments. > > It was a different time. I also roamed freely and explored the > neighborhoods at the ripe old age of 5. I met some scary kids - > once some older kids with bike chains about to rumble with > blacks (desegregation issues, I guess). Another older roughneck > playing basketball loudly shouted "James Dean" every time > he shot the ball - scared the hell out of me. Another group of > kids lived in a big fancy house up the hill, but saddly their parents > were raging alcholics, with attendant nasty dynamics. > > But then, childhood basically sucks. I recall being deathly > afraid of turtleneck shirts and sweaters because I thought > they would take my little head off when removed. I ate plenty > of poison berries and yummy "candy" from the medicine > chest and had my tiny little stomach pumped on many > occasions. I was also asthmatic, and went to hospitals > frequently, having to wear the "papoose" (straight jacket) so > I wouldn't hit the nurses. My oldest aunt took me to see > "Snow White" at a drive in, but the fireworks afterwards > scrared me and kept me away from movies for quite some > time. (She later took me to Jaws with her fiance, which then > made me deathly afraid of sharks, but OTOH, I was physically > carried into the theater to see "The Sound of Music" when I > had mono - so good times, bad times). > > Whatever - childhood just isn't all that much fun all the time. > > My own toddler nephews seem to autonomously > alternate between laughing and sobbing about every 1/2 hour > or so. Hell, just saying "No!" at a nephew as he entertains > climbing up on a chair and fiddling with my Leicas is enough > to start a good 15 minutes of sobbing. > > From this vantage point, taking away a lollipop and snapping > a picture does not bother me one little bit. I do not think the > parents were in moral error. It's just not that big a deal. I > don't care. The children will be fine, in fact, very, very > likely better than fine if their parents are the sorts that can > afford a formal portrait from a real photographer (not Sears) > or even hang out in the "fine art photography" world. > > Hard to make a buck in the photography world. If shock > sells, then I say, deliver shock. > > Got her a gallery showing - I say go for it. > > Scott > > p.s. OT: Oddly, I'm about to become a father, and the modern > regimen of sheltering children and coordinating their activities > with "play dates" and other structured activities I personally > think completely SUCKS. By the age of 6 or so, I could > actually deal with adults in a somewhat mature manner, > including adults I didn't know well (because of the large > extended family and probably church back then). > > The kids I meet today are, by comparison, completely > socially retarded. > > My mother is gone, but my father lives only 45 minutes > away. I also have two brothers nearby. I'll be shuffling off > my little tike to these adult relatives as often as possible - > get him used to different authority figures, let him fight > with his little cousins, learn new patterns of daily life (Dad's > a vegan), learn to interact with people of different social > classes and skin colors (one bro' lives in a mostly black and > military personnel neighborhood) and so on and so forth. > > > Tina Manley wrote: > > > LUG: > > > > There is a fierce debate going on over on PhotoPro about this > > photographer's work: > > > http://www.paulkopeikingallery.com/artists/greenberg/exhibitions/endtimes/index.htm > > > > > > She deliberately provokes children in order to photograph them with > > distressed expressions. What is the LUG's opinion? Of the > > photography and of the methods used? > > > > Here is one opinion and some rebuttal > > http://thomashawk.com/2006/04/jill-greenberg-is-sick-woman-who.html > > > > Tina > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Leica Users Group. > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > -- > Pics @ http://www.adrenaline.com/snaps > Leica M6TTL, Bessa R, Nikon FM3a, Nikon D70, Rollei AFM35 > (Jihad Sigint NSA FBI Patriot Act) > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >