Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2015/05/27
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]+1 Lluis El 27/05/2015, a les 17.04, Jim Nichols <jhnichols at lighttube.net> va escriure: > Kyle, > > That is an incredible tribute to Mary Ellen Mark, and it should be very > useful as a set of standards for all of us. > > Thanks for taking time to post this. > > Jim Nichols > Tullahoma, TN USA > > On 5/27/2015 9:44 AM, kyle cassidy wrote: >> I thought we?d have so much more time. >> >> >> I wrote some things down last night. >> >> >> (Click the link for the version with photos. >> http://kylecassidy.livejournal.com/810008.html) >> >> >> Mary Ellen Mark convinced me to buy a Leica. She was also the first person >> who told me that my photographs were terrible. That was in 1999. I?d been >> thinking for years that they were pretty good and I?d gotten a whole bunch >> of gallery shows, but Mary Ellen tore them down and she was absolutely >> right. I?ve learned over the years that criticism comes in two forms, >> praise and growth, and there?s a time for each. Mary Ellen was the first >> person whose criticism made me seriously grow as an artist. I?d learned >> things that needed to be torn down and built up again. It's certainly true >> that I wouldn't be where I am today without her influence. >> >> >> I learned a lot from her, but primarily, I think, five things: >> >> 1) ?No? means that you haven?t asked the right person. I was her assistant >> in 1999 while she was teaching a documentary photography class and then >> again in 2000 or 2001 (I forget). Students would go out and shoot during >> the day, they'd drop off their film then we?d meet in the morning and go >> over everybody?s photos. At the end of the first day she sent me out to a >> local 1 hour lab to tell them we?d be dropping off a hundred or more rolls >> of film at 5:00 and we needed them at 8:00 in the morning. The manager >> told >> me they closed at 8:00pm and they?d be able to do a few by closing and the >> rest sometime during the following day. I called Mary Ellen at her hotel >> and told her and she said ?no, that?s not how it?s going to happen. Find >> the district manager and tell them we need this film processed printed and >> returned by 8:00 am every day.? And that was it, she hung up. So I found >> the district manager and the store stayed open until midnight every night >> to process our film, I'd stay there waiting for it to be done and each >> morning there was a review of the previous days photographs. It make me >> realize that everything is negotiable. >> >> 2) Photography isn?t about f-stops and lenses, it?s about being able to >> talk to people. Whether that?s saying ?I?d like to make a photograph of >> you? or ?I?d like to get up on the roof of your building?, the technical >> aspect of photography is only part of it, and it?s the easy part and many >> times the least important part. It's really easy to accumulate a lot of >> gear instead of working to be a better artist. She sent the students out >> to >> street corners and told them to get someone to invite them into their >> house >> to photograph them. The students made friends, they built relationships, >> they got in people's lives and they produced amazing work. That was a huge >> eye opener for me. >> >> 3) A photograph has to be able to stand on its own without text. You can >> add text to a photo, but the photo itself has to be good enough that you?d >> hang it on the wall if the caption was missing because some day it may >> exist as an artifact without its context and when it's hanging on a wall >> someone needs to be captivated by it in passing, without knowing any of >> the >> back story. All of her photographs work like that. You don?t need to know >> that someone?s a movie star or someone?s a prostitute or someone else just >> won a mustache contest, they?re all beautiful images first. She did >> enduring and beautiful portraits of celebrities and the same for people >> who >> weren't. In the years before reality television she taught us that >> everybody has a compelling story and everybody deserves the chance to have >> their story told. >> >> 4) Leave decisions to the viewer, don?t editorialize in camera. People >> shouldn?t be able to tell whether or not you like the person you?re >> photographing, they should think only that your pictures are good. She >> made >> me realize that people aren't cartoons. That nobody wakes up in the >> morning >> thinking "Today I'm going to wreck the world" -- everybody wakes up >> thinking that they're doing good. >> >> 5) Things are easier when you have a guide. I learned to look for someone >> on the inside to make introductions for you. Finding the right person at >> the start is important and can save you a lot of time. But Mary Ellen >> didn't always do this herself, she had an amazing ability to just walk >> into >> a place and be accepted. She has an amazing photo of a party at spring >> break which I asked her about once. She said she was walking along the >> beach and heard a party happening in an apartment, so she just walked in >> and photographed the party -- AND she got everybody there to sign a model >> release. I was always interested in her Behind the Scenes because how she >> got the photos was often as unbelievable as the photos themselves. >> >> As a photographer Mary Ellen was tenacious, as a person she was kind, and >> as a mentor she was honest. She and her husband, filmmaker Martin Bell >> were >> always generous to me, recommending me to magazines, plugging my books, >> inviting me to parties and introducing me to people. (She would often >> introduce me by saying: "This is the weirdest photographer you'll ever >> meet. He's good, but he's weird. Aren't you?") In my office now there's a >> giant box with a copy of the Bed Song Book in it addressed to them. It's >> been sitting here for months. I kept thinking "ah, it's too heavy to carry >> to the post office today." I'm sad she didn't get to see it, I'm sad I >> thought she'd be around forever and that I acted like there'd always be >> tomorrow. She did get to see my librarian portraits and I'm glad for that. >> >> She cared about the people she photographed, maybe that's the most >> important thing she taught me. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information