Leni Riefenstahl's IIIc?

Why Leni Riefenstahl's Leica IIIc would be any more or less special (or scary, or politically correct/incorect) to anyone than any other IIIc is beyond me.

The camera is not the photographer. It never did anything but wind film and make exposures, and it never knew what the exposures were of or intended to mean. It's just and simply a tool of a photographer, regardless of how notorious the photographer might or might not be.

G
 
Godfrey said:
Why Leni Riefenstahl's Leica IIIc would be any more or less special (or scary, or politically correct/incorect) to anyone than any other IIIc is beyond me.

The camera is not the photographer. It never did anything but wind film and make exposures, and it never knew what the exposures were of or intended to mean. It's just and simply a tool of a photographer, regardless of how notorious the photographer might or might not be.

G
Click to expand...
But Godfrey, cameras owned by very famous people are collector items! If they are for 100% sure owned and used by a celebrity.
 
Today after reading I learned a lot of new things - about Leni Riefenstahl, Ukrainian camera counterfeiters))) and American furniture).
 
Godfrey said:
Why Leni Riefenstahl's Leica IIIc would be any more or less special (or scary, or politically correct/incorect) to anyone than any other IIIc is beyond me.

The camera is not the photographer. It never did anything but wind film and make exposures, and it never knew what the exposures were of or intended to mean. It's just and simply a tool of a photographer, regardless of how notorious the photographer might or might not be.

G
Click to expand...
Just our human tendency for Anthropomorphism.
 
Godfrey said:
Why Leni Riefenstahl's Leica IIIc would be any more or less special (or scary, or politically correct/incorect) to anyone than any other IIIc is beyond me.

The camera is not the photographer. It never did anything but wind film and make exposures, and it never knew what the exposures were of or intended to mean. It's just and simply a tool of a photographer, regardless of how notorious the photographer might or might not be.

G
Click to expand...
For better or worse, we humans seem unable to abandon the notion of "inanimate" objects being imbued with "spiritual energies" through their association with things to which we ascribe power. Not "rational", but so much of human behavior isn't.
And let's not get into a discussion of how the Art World depends so extensively on the notion of created objects being imbued with the aura of their creators...
The Rationalist, Materialist ideology of the West insists that the realm of the spiritual is a falsehood; again, like all things repressed, it resurfaces in destructive forms. Nazi Germany is a prime instance, but our current age is rife with far too many examples. So does Riefenstahl's Leica possess some "demonic energy"? Don't know, but many people would believe that it does. Can we argue rationally with belief systems?
I'm not arguing for or against anything here, just tossing out some thoughts. Like so many things, it's complicated...
 
Ah, "Sword in the Stone" meme. I'd just keep wondering when the Lady in the Lake was gonna come knocking... ;)

I have no problem associating that some celebrities' treasured talisman thing is somehow embued with their spirit. but Leni Riefenstahl was a *photographer* and like any photographer likely had a lot more than just one "treasured talisman" camera. Does every camera she touched in her long life get embued with her spirit? or just the one she used for a particular photograph? What are the rules of this game?

Feh upon the amusements of collectors. I buy cameras to use, not as talismans. Well, except for my Hasselblad 907x which has on its digital back a badge which states "On the Moon since 1969" ... I use it too. :D

G
 
Retro-Grouch said:
Rules?! Everyone makes up their own! That's what makes it fun; our world is a spiritual smorgasbord for anyone who wants to play. I have a cousin in her sixties, certainly old enough to know better, who is getting on-line certification as a shaman. 'Nuff said.
Click to expand...

You can be derisive now but wait until you need some spells cast. ;o)
 
Oh yes: I bought a Reverend title from them in the early '80s ... and a week later, obtain the civil certificate required to allow me to perform weddings for a couple of friends. I think that through my whole period of employment at NASA/JPL, I signed everything with the Reverend moniker, to the great amusement of my colleagues and manager. ;)

They sell a lot more titles now...

G
 
CP93 said:
The list of titles you can buy from Universal Life Church has grown exponentially since I was made a Reverend in the 70s.
Click to expand...
You piqued my curiosity; I didn't know that it still existed. Apparently, you're in good company with other ministers: Lady Gaga, Dwayne Johnson, Whoopi Goldberg... I do recall that becoming a minister was a great way to beat the draft in the 1960's.
From their site, it seems that the prime tenet is "Do only that which is right". Great thought, until one has to get into the mess of what "right" might be.
 
Going by the number of cameras this gal is reputed to have owned, I reckon she ran a Leica camera shop on the side.

I've seen about all her existing films from the Nazi era. To me they are period pieces, monuments of propaganda for a bygone era, where the world went off the rails for a decade after one of the great global recessions. And paid a terrible price for it.

It is unfortunate but yet understandable that some have taken offense at this relatively small issue.

Whether or not any original Riefenstahl LTM Barnacks are still available on the market or not, are about as interesting to me as consideration of whether or not Hitler had a Leica or a Contax, or Hermann Goering used a Voigtlander Brilliant or a Rolleiflex Standard. Or maybe more so for the latter, a collection of well-used which are now appearing for sale on various sites.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom