Ansel Adams...

[xtoid]

Dear Tony,

I'd agree pretty much agree, except (a) with your unnecessarily self-deprecating view of yourself and (b) with your view of Sontag. Her take on photography was that of a non-photographer with a rather shaky and highly selective technical and historical perspective. She also seemed to favor American contributions to aesthetic movements rather more than could always be justified.

As I say, I don't disagree with your overall argument; just with the view that Sontag had much idea of what she was talking about.

Cheers,

R.

Thanks for the positive feedback Roger,

Well I suppose you could say it was Sontag's historical view on photography, perhaps it should have been titled "Susan Sontag on Photography," rather than "by..." since that's the way many verbally refer to the book. I agree with your criticism that the book was limited to an American view on photography.

Have you or anyone else, any other suggestions for philosophical books on photography? If what I see in bookstores is any indication, the concern is focused on "how' rather than "why." I used to really enjoy David Vestal's articles in "Camera Darkroom."

I'm glad I took some time to get a little involved in this discussion, for instance, my views on f/64 have changed. For instance I never stopped to think of them as snobs.

Regards
_Tony

 

[d_ross]

With AA as with everyone else in History, the story was different then than it is now with everything that has happened since. Your place in history whatever that is will (like AA's) be decided in your time not in the future. Perhaps the biggest influence AA and F64 etc had was the reaction against it, which, as has pointed out here has brought a lot to photography!

 

[kbg32]

Tony,

I would suggest the following to name just a few;

"Camera Lucida" - Roland Barthes
"Light Readings" - A.D. Coleman
"Observations - Essays on Documentary Photography" - Edited by David Featherstone
"Negative/Positive" - Bill Jay
"Reading Into Photography" - Edited by Thomas Barrow, Shelley Armitage, and William Tydeman

Cheers.

 

[35mmdelux]

heck, it took me couple years to get the hang of the Leica and to do it all automatically. As with any endeavor, some people get lucky catching a wave at the right time.

 

[xtoid]

With AA as with everyone else in History, the story was different then than it is now with everything that has happened since. Your place in history whatever that is will (like AA's) be decided in your time not in the future. Perhaps the biggest influence AA and F64 etc had was the reaction against it, which, as has pointed out here has brought a lot to photography!

This is interesting "the reaction against it" I like that! The contribution has been noted, but current photographers want to know about right now.