Alex Webb shooting in Korea

bjmc

bjmc

studying/printing
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I came across these two videos (50 mins each!) of Alex Webb shooting recently in Korea. I admire his work and so far they seem to be very interesting...check them out here and here. (is there a way of embedding youtube videos?)
 
In the first video, Alex carries too much, I think he really does not need the back pack....go light....

Mark
Quito, EC
 
Just finished the first video. Nice to see his modus operandi, not all that different from my own. More patient maybe :) Also good to see he's not too protective of his M9, taking it out in the rain just covering it with his hand.
 
mw_uio said:
In the first video, Alex carries too much, I think he really does not need the back pack....go light....

Mark
Quito, EC
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Yes he does. Considering he's carrying 2 M9s, the backpack is probably filled with batteries.
 
Thanks for the links. I like to see established shooters work, especially with Magnum credibility. I'm happy it's a modern video, too.

I have to say...I still like his older work, with deep blacks and color grain. Maybe it just seems more "authentic" in my mind's eye.
 
I came across these videos the other day. Was interesting to see DAH using an X100! He loved the GF1, I figured the GX7 would be the natural progression?!

Wish they showed more of their finished product. Of the shots they showed, it was good to see all content and no gimmicks, though only one or two struck me as anything amazing.
 
Lauffray said:
I like Alex Webb too, but the edit on those videos is...terrible. Is it just me ?
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I agree. I think the edit is okay for non-photographers. But for us, we want to cut to the chase. I also think it's hard to make good videos of street photographers in action because the dynamic is changed.
 
Lauffray said:
I like Alex Webb too, but the edit on those videos is...terrible. Is it just me ?
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Vics said:
35mm 'cron V.4, and was that a Vivitar 283? He seems quite a hard worker.
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I like Webb a lot and found the insight into how he works interesting; and, although it didn't occur to me to judge the production value of the two videos until I read the Lauffrey comment above, come to think of it, they have a ponderous old-fashioned "travelogue" aspect and are simply — for what I'm interested in (how Webb shoots) — too long. In terms of the overall interest of the videos, the ones I've seen on Moriyama Daido are more interesting, not least, because in those it's Moriyama speaking and not some bland narrator. The series of six short videos on Jakob Aue Sobol's journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway, sponsored by Leica for promoting the M-Monochrom, are also very good (more original), having been made by a highly talented cinematographer.

On Webb using the Summicron-35v4, it seems to me that this is an earlier version on the Summicron-35, at least judging by how my v4 looks like (no vented hood). However, precisely what lens Webb uses is, in my view, not as interesting as how he shoots.

MITCH ALLAND/Chiang Mai
Download links for book project pdf files
Chiang Tung Days
Tristes Tropiques
Bangkok Hysteria
Paris au rythme de Basquiat and Other Poems
 
malland said:
On Webb using the Summicron-35v4, it seems to me that this is an earlier version on the Summicron-35, at least judging by how my v4 looks like (no vented hood). However, precisely what lens Webb uses is, in my view, not as interesting as how he shoots.

—Mitch/Chiang Mai
Tristes Tropiques [Direct download link for 46 MB PDF file]
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I thought the wording on the lens bezel indicated V.4. I could never hope to come close to his level, but I did enjoy watching his very simple way of working, One lens, old fashioned flash, always incident metering for the highlights. There are certainly lessons to be learned here. I found the tiny video camera on his camera distracting, but I imagine he did, too. Just a part of the gig, I guess.
 
Vics said:
I thought the wording on the lens bezel indicated V.4. I could never hope to come close to his level, but I did enjoy watching his very simple way of working, One lens, old fashioned flash, always incident metering for the highlights. There are certainly lessons to be learned here. I found the tiny video camera on his camera distracting, but I imagine he did, too. Just a part of the gig, I guess.
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Hhhmm, there is no "V.4." marking on the v4 lens, nor have I ever seen any version indication on any Leica lens.

On the video camera on top on his M9, I was wondering what that was.

MITCH ALLAND/Chiang Mai
Download links for book project pdf files
Chiang Tung Days
Tristes Tropiques
Bangkok Hysteria
Paris au rythme de Basquiat and Other Poems
 
On another subject, in one of the two videos Webb, in referring to his move from film to digital, states that digital files have "less depth" than film images. That is not something that strikes me in my experience with film and with the M9, which doesn't seem to me to lack depth. He says that he and his digital assistant process digital files to give them more depth.

Could he simply mean that he thinks the M9 files o-o-c have less contrast than the Kodachrome 200 that he used to use? I recall that the first Webb shots that I saw online from Webb with the M9 were not processed particularly well.

MITCH ALLAND/Chiang Mai
Download links for book project pdf files
Chiang Tung Days
Tristes Tropiques
Bangkok Hysteria
Paris au rythme de Basquiat and Other Poems
 
Mitch, I read an interview with Webb when he and wife Rebecca were doing their recent work together. He said he was processing his M9 files to look like film. It wasn't really made clear whether that was his preference, or whether he did it to match previous work for projects. For me, I like my digital shots with a touch of grain (color) or generous amounts (b&w). My eyes are old-school!!
 
Pablito said:
IMO, Webb is the least interesting thing in these videos...
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i agree. his not a prima donna like moriyama and not to mention a good actor like james nachtwey so naturally his not going to make for a good video subject

but then again any money made from photography today is a bonus
 
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