Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/04/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Ted, Glad you enjoyed those photographs. I will post links to the works of some local photographers from time to time, just to keep the list appraised about professional photography in this part of the world. Cheers Jayanand On Sun, Apr 17, 2011 at 9:44 PM, <tedgrant at shaw.ca> wrote: > Jayanand OFFERED: > Subject: Re: [Leica] Barcelona in color > >> Those were masters of the B&W era, they had to, by and large, make do >> without colour film. If you have not seen modern Indian masters, let me >> showcase a couple of homegrown products, both of whom I think can hold >> their >> own anywhere. Firstly Raghu Rai, the most famous of the Indian >> photographers >> - his best known photographs are of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, Mother Teresa >> and Calcutta. Though he does take a lot of colour, it is these subjects >> that >> stick in the mind, and all three, because of the horror, simplicity and >> grime respectively, suit B&W very well. Here are his Magnum portfolios: >> > > Hi Jayanand, > Thank you for pointing out these photographers and books with their > photography. I recall the Bhopal tragedy but not with as many photographs > as seen in the MAGNUM book. > > The images in B&W are powerful in your face content! No distracting colour > to take the viewer away from the content or soften the impact in some > cases. > >> Bhopal Gas Tragedy: >> >> http://www.magnumphotos.com/c.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.StoryDetail_VPage&pid=2TYRYDDG70XJ >> > > Mother Teresa and Kolkata the B&W is once again powerful in your face > images. Colour would most certainly have taken away some of the picture > content impact certainly under the circumstances of the situations. These > are not about the "Colours of India" as we see so often, but the tragedies > of India. > >> Mother Teresa: >> >> http://www.magnumphotos.com/c.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.BookDetail_VPage&pid=2K7O3R1H3PDJ >> >> Calcutta (or Kolkata as it is now): >> >> http://www.magnumphotos.com/c.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.BookDetail_VPage&pid=2K7O3R152K1Q >> > > I had one of the toughest moments in my photographic life when a young > Chernobyl boy died as the camera went click! I couldn't contain myself and > cried quite openly as I stepped into the hall of the hospital in St. > Petersburg while shooting a documentary on the Russian medical profession > and the human after effects of the Chernobyl disaster! > > My accompanying female doctor put her arms around me and held me while I > stood there bawling. To this day and as I sit here typing tears well in my > eyes. It's as moving today as it was in the moment of reality as the doctor > looked at me, shook her head gently indicating the boy had died. > > However this Indian child, eyes wide open in death is so moving, it too > shakes one's soul with such great emotion! I can honestly say, "I'm glad I > didn't take this one!" Once again colour would distract from this image > because our eyes would see the colour of her eyes or clothing and dirt. > These becoming a distraction from the reality that this is a human child. > > One of the single most horrifying photographs I have ever seen, it sends >> goose pimples up my skin even today, I would guess mainly because I grew >> up >> in Bhopal in the 1960s and early 1970s: >> >> http://hotparade.tumblr.com/post/3521577334/raghu-rai-burial-of-an-unknown-child-the >> > > Now we have an entirely different photo approach and it truly is about > colour without question! One would be a fool to even consider using B&W > under this production while concentrating on the "Colours of India!" > >> The other photographer is the late Raghubir Singh, who is a maestro of >> colour, and fittingly enough, his best book is called "River of Colour", >> which shows India in all its diversity, and is a natural for the colour >> medium: >> >> http://www.raghubirsingh.com/home_en.php >> > > Cheers > ted. > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >