[Leica] Dehumanizing portraits?

[rbaron at concentric.net (Robert D. Baron)]

SonC wrote:

"These portraits, I think are pretty wonderful; by taking the people out of
context, and only letting them have one prop for comfort, we get to see
something really special in most of the people.

They aren't photography, they are portraits, and I think most of them
succeed."

I agree with Sonny.  If the purpose of these portraits is to make the
people appear better than they normally appear, they don't succeed.
But if the purpose is to convey some things about the person, for the
most part they work quite well.

George Lottermoser wrote:

"I find a few of them odd and "unreal;"
yet, more of them quite "real;"
as in how they "look" most of the time.
(even though the white background
removes all context)"

and I agree with George too.

If you want to see some even more extreme examples from one of the au
courant photographers du jour, go to
http://www.platonphoto.com/portraits/politics/index.html

Personally I think for the most part Platon goes too far toward
editorializing; I don't find that in the Kander photos in the NYT.

--Bob