detzie
Member
sitemistic said:A working PJ gets paid for getting the shot. The more you shoot, the more likely you are to get the shot and the more likely you are to get paid.
Of course, I am aware of that.
But I wouldn't consider the photo of Alberto Giacometti, and a few others in the movie as PJ work. No doubt, that way of working definitely produced great results, I was just wondering about the whole 'one shot (try) to capture the right moment'.
Bobfrance
Over Exposed
Sparrow said:I shall be going, and would be interested, I’ll go in the first week and do a recon if you like, the Karachi is only 200yds from the museum, but sadly I don’t think there are any pubs en-route
No pub? In that case a detour is in order!
Let me know what you think the best plan is then we'll make an announcement nearer the time.
Al Kaplan
Veteran
Sure, National Geographic photographers shot thousands of frames, but it wasn't hot breaking news they were covering. They'd often spend weeks, even months on a single asignment. They mostly shot Kodachrome which meant bracketing exposures where possible. Transportation time was longer and costs greater years ago. People didn't just hop a jet. It wasn't until the late 1960's that it started to become cheaper to fly than to go by ship or rail. The photographer still got half day rate for all the travel time, plus meals and hotel expenses. Film expense wasn't the major concern. Still they didn't go crazy shooting either. The logistics of moving that film to the lab from half way around the planet was still there.
I wish that there was some way to take you younger shooters back in time forty or so years to the three day annual Wilson Hicks Photojournalism Conference at the University of Miami. You could listen to the top photographers tell of their experiences, see slide presentations, hear from top magazine editors about what they looked for, and then in the evening wander around the pool patio at the University Inn across the street and get into casual conversations with these people. The internet experience just isn't the same thing.
I wish that there was some way to take you younger shooters back in time forty or so years to the three day annual Wilson Hicks Photojournalism Conference at the University of Miami. You could listen to the top photographers tell of their experiences, see slide presentations, hear from top magazine editors about what they looked for, and then in the evening wander around the pool patio at the University Inn across the street and get into casual conversations with these people. The internet experience just isn't the same thing.
chikne
Well-known
tomasis said:I remember that he said in the movie that as photographer, to be famous is dangerous. Now I can see exactly what he meant when I look here at this thread.
You've got a point there. Though how can you justify what he says, a few minutes before or after ,about people pressing and pressing the shutter without even looking at what happens in the scene.
Do you think there is a possibility that he could include himself when he says "people"??
I am uploading "Just plain love" it's the non dubbed w/ subtitles version. If you want to have it, I will start a thread for it.
sitemistic said:3js, painters, photographers, sculptors all move in and out of favor. Styles change, tastes change. You don't need a calculator to see that.
Ok but painters only do it once only don't they?
Sparrow
Veteran
I’ll do some researchBobfrance said:No pub? In that case a detour is in order!
Let me know what you think the best plan is then we'll make an announcement nearer the time.
The museum is open 10:00 to 18:00 all week I think, it’s a short walk from the transport interchange (rail and bus), parking is also available fairly close by, and being close to the university there are one or two bars and restaurants.
The IMAX is worth seeing for anyone who hasn’t seen one before
PS The Easter weekend is 23rd March
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Al Kaplan
Veteran
I think that it'd be a good experience for some of the newer younger photographers to be handed a single 36 exposure roll of Tri-X and given three asignments with a four hour deadline to get finished prints on the editor's desk. Film was relatively more expensive years ago. When I look back through my old contact sheets I'm amazed at some of the shots that I managed to get when shooting for a newspaper under those conditions. I'm sure that others would say the same thing.
Al Kaplan
Veteran
http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com/2006/06/jai-alai-player.html
The text explains how it was shot. Nowadays I guess it'd be 2,000 digital exposures?
The text explains how it was shot. Nowadays I guess it'd be 2,000 digital exposures?
Bobfrance
Over Exposed
Sparrow said:I’ll do some research![]()
![]()
The museum is open 10:00 to 18:00 all week I think, it’s a short walk from the transport interchange (rail and bus), parking is also available fairly close by, and being close to the university there are one or two bars and restaurants.
The IMAX is worth seeing for anyone who hasn’t seen one before
PS The Easter weekend is 23rd March
The IMAX is ace.
I want to get some pictures of RFF members riding the magic carpet
Do they still have that there?
Sparrow
Veteran
I wasn’t aware they ever had oneBobfrance said:The IMAX is ace.
I want to get some pictures of RFF members riding the magic carpet
Do they still have that there?
I’ve only been round it two or three times all the time it’s been open
tomasis
Well-known
chikne said:You've got a point there. Though how can you justify what he says, a few minutes before or after ,about people pressing and pressing the shutter without even looking at what happens in the scene.
Do you think there is a possibility that he could include himself when he says "people"??
I am uploading "Just plain love" it's the non dubbed w/ subtitles version. If you want to have it, I will start a thread for it.
Ok but painters only do it once only don't they?
please start thread. I got much more nice and full "image" of Henri personality after I seen the movie. So I'll wait until you seen that so we can discuss about. We cannot always expect that every photographer will be loved by everybody
chikne
Well-known
tomasis said:please start thread. I got much more nice and full "image" of Henri personality after I seen the movie. So I'll wait until you seen that so we can discuss about. We cannot always expect that every photographer will be loved by everybody![]()
I've put the first part up...
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=736036#post736036
3js
Established
sitemistic said:3js, painters, photographers, sculptors all move in and out of favor. Styles change, tastes change. You don't need a calculator to see that.
Yeah, that´s right, but still you can´t really say are we going towards better or worse.
larmarv916
Well-known
I think that "3js" hitting at the heart of the issue....that is as it relates to HCB and many other Photographers & Artists. HCB was at one time worried about being "type cast" and Capa suggested to him the way to avoid that was just to say he was a photojournalist. Otherwise he would end up being "that little surrealist photographer" When we look back at art history...thin how many arisits have been forgotten in the march of time.
So the judgement of history will have a cleansing effect on photogrpahy. The vast majority will not even be a memory or foot note. Also there is a deep predjuice on the part of Gallery owners who push a particluar persons work. Only for your to find out that they happen to be a collector or purchased the estate of an artist and so the gallery is not interested in finding new talent.
There a rather "worshiped" photo gallery in Monterey California and the total inventory is prints that were given or acquired by accident. This gallery is really doing nothing but riding or milking what at one time were cast off prints of now famous Dead Guys.
So maybe someday we will see a Louve Photo Musuem covering a 1000 years of work. but we will not live to see it. The prints hanging on the wall then may most likley not even be able to get gallery showing in this day and age.
HCB was to my knowledge not worried about anything other than showing what he thought was his best work. That is really all any of "us" can strive to accomplish.
the father of a friend...once purchased a 8x10 "Moonrise over Hernandze" print from Adams out of the back of his station wagon. For what was a whopping 50 bucks. He chose it because he thought it was different but no great. It was a gift fro his wife. They hung it on the wall for 30+ years. Until I walked in and gasped..wow! I was a student and he offered it to me for an insane 750 dollars in 1980. The print was signed and date by Adams.
My point is that the current expressionst photography movement or any other movement will be replaced by someother and then another. Any great image will stand or fade on it's merits and not on who shot it. That is unless your a boot licking slacker trying to make slither your way into artistic status.
HCB and Doisneau, Brassi , Kertesz, Capa were in the prewar period rubing shoulders and not actually worried about what they shot or if the vast majority of the commerical art world liked it. Paris does not get the status if deserves for many great photographers it grew in it's creative garden of the prewar years.
These guys really enjoyed each others work and were a new circle of artists inside the Paris art community. Not something you see very much today.
So the judgement of history will have a cleansing effect on photogrpahy. The vast majority will not even be a memory or foot note. Also there is a deep predjuice on the part of Gallery owners who push a particluar persons work. Only for your to find out that they happen to be a collector or purchased the estate of an artist and so the gallery is not interested in finding new talent.
There a rather "worshiped" photo gallery in Monterey California and the total inventory is prints that were given or acquired by accident. This gallery is really doing nothing but riding or milking what at one time were cast off prints of now famous Dead Guys.
So maybe someday we will see a Louve Photo Musuem covering a 1000 years of work. but we will not live to see it. The prints hanging on the wall then may most likley not even be able to get gallery showing in this day and age.
HCB was to my knowledge not worried about anything other than showing what he thought was his best work. That is really all any of "us" can strive to accomplish.
the father of a friend...once purchased a 8x10 "Moonrise over Hernandze" print from Adams out of the back of his station wagon. For what was a whopping 50 bucks. He chose it because he thought it was different but no great. It was a gift fro his wife. They hung it on the wall for 30+ years. Until I walked in and gasped..wow! I was a student and he offered it to me for an insane 750 dollars in 1980. The print was signed and date by Adams.
My point is that the current expressionst photography movement or any other movement will be replaced by someother and then another. Any great image will stand or fade on it's merits and not on who shot it. That is unless your a boot licking slacker trying to make slither your way into artistic status.
HCB and Doisneau, Brassi , Kertesz, Capa were in the prewar period rubing shoulders and not actually worried about what they shot or if the vast majority of the commerical art world liked it. Paris does not get the status if deserves for many great photographers it grew in it's creative garden of the prewar years.
These guys really enjoyed each others work and were a new circle of artists inside the Paris art community. Not something you see very much today.
chikne
Well-known
larmarv916 said:HCB was at one time worried about being "type cast" and Capa suggested to him the way to avoid that was just to say he was a photojournalist. Otherwise he would end up being "that little surrealist photographer"
True AFAIK, though there's an inch of the story missing there. Apparently, Capa also advised HCB not to adopt a surreal style because otherwise he would not get any assignments...
Al Kaplan
Veteran
Today it's not as easy to meet other photographers, great or not, in the flesh. The neighborhood camera store is a thing of the past. It's not easy to find others to talk shop over a beer or a coffee these days. Back in the 1960's a neighborhood high school student used my darkroom. We used to go to Dunkin' Donuts while the prints were in the wash...LOL I have a signed print on my wall by him from that era, dated 1968. He went on to a career shooting for National Geographic's book division. More recently he became a director of Magnum. Never throw anything away!
blw
Well-known
I still haven't seen the movie.
teus: mplayer(windows media player?) didn't work and I don't know what the hell VLC is.
I usually love my mac, but now is not one of those times. Coincidentally, the filter at work is working and apparently the word "sex" causes it to block me out of it there- on a windoze machine of course.
technology sucks sometimes, or at least it's over-thought sometimes.
teus: mplayer(windows media player?) didn't work and I don't know what the hell VLC is.
I usually love my mac, but now is not one of those times. Coincidentally, the filter at work is working and apparently the word "sex" causes it to block me out of it there- on a windoze machine of course.
technology sucks sometimes, or at least it's over-thought sometimes.
IGMeanwell
Well-known
blw said:I still haven't seen the movie.
teus: mplayer(windows media player?) didn't work and I don't know what the hell VLC is.
I usually love my mac, but now is not one of those times. Coincidentally, the filter at work is working and apparently the word "sex" causes it to block me out of it there- on a windoze machine of course.
technology sucks sometimes, or at least it's over-thought sometimes.
Google is your friend
VLC for mac http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html
that player can read pretty much any movie format out there including MP4
The contacts series is a good one ... I like the ability to not only see the frames that were selected by the photographer but also the frames that were not
blw
Well-known
Thank you IGMeanwell, I should have known better....but oh well....I've finally seen it & thanks to you.
Now I have to watch it 3 or 4 times to digest all that is given there.
But this is a nesessary start!
Now I have to watch it 3 or 4 times to digest all that is given there.
But this is a nesessary start!
Tom A
RFF Sponsor
We are forgetting that HCB comes from another era than most of us. We should judge him accordingly. In the 30's "photojournalism" was more of an essayist with a camera, rather than a pen. The stories were built up and shown as such. Rarely was it a "single' shot. The magazines of the era used photography as a storyboard. Yes, there might be one or two shots that were standouts, but not all of them.
In the 40's and 50's this really "gelled" and we had the extensive picture story that really only needed captions and s short lead-in to set the story!
Where HCB shines is that he recognized the key shot and used it! He was also a " walker" and took pictures all the time, wether he was on assignment or not!
Yes, he had the luxury to come from a moderatly wealthy family (Bresson Textile Mills) and had support from the family. There was an unwritten code amoong the Magnum shooters not to show placards from Bresson Textile mill workers when they covered protests or "manifestations" on the streets. This position allowed him to take pictures with less concern for the next meal, but it in no way demeans his influence on 20th century photography. There were many like him in the 30's,40's and 50's. Lartique comes to mind, never had to work, coming from a very wealthy banking family. Brassai similarly. This kind of background probably allowed them to do what they loved doing without the necessity of providing food and shelter. Dont we all wish that our situation would be similar? Would we be better photographers for it? Probably not! Some of us have done this the tough way, cutting back on "non-essentials' like food,shelter, status symbols do pursue what we love to do and that is very much the same thing.
HCB was a bit of a "luddite" when it came to the technical aspects. He knew what he needed, how the camera behaved, how a certian film worked and he quickly realized that having someone else develop and print eliminated one, according to him, tedious aspect of his craft.
Was he a snob! Yes, I think so, but he is one of the few who, in my estimation, had the right to be one.
He obviously detested technical questions and unfortunately his use of the Leica had people asking him "Which is the best lens" or "How do I expose for this or that". Did he like the limelight? He professed that he wanted to stay incognito, but got pissed if he wasen't afforded the respect he deserved and sucked up the accolades dumped on him. In short, he was a normal human being with a skill of a finely honed craftsman.
I never met him personally (briefly in France at the launch of the book "France" - which incidently contains color shots by him!), but I have friends who knew him quite well.
If you go back and look at his books, "The Decisive Moment" and the "Europeas" are only two of these, his books on India, China,Russia shows him as a "essayist" photographer. "Man and Machine" shows that he did not loose his touch in the 60's and 70's. He was and will be, one of the giants of our time when it comes to show us the world!
I must admit, that if I had been him I would have taken my 2-300 best images, stitched them together and made them up as a set of contacts (say 20-30 of them) and then showed it to the world saying" OH, I really haven't shot that much. Here are my complete contact sheet collection!" That would have depressed a lot of us!
Of course he shot a lot of film. He was on assignment and he know full well that the editor wanted a full set of prints to work from "Oh, too bad you didn't shoot that as vertical" or vice versa!
Over the years I have accumulated a fair bit of his books. Depending on my mood, I either like him or find him banal. The "Scrap book" that came out last year is very interesting as it shows images that he, himself would not have let out! He supposedly one time proclaimed" Contact sheets are like taking your pants off in public".
He is still amazing though, for almost 60 years he documented the world as he saw it - and I suspect "colored" our view of it too in so doing.
In the 40's and 50's this really "gelled" and we had the extensive picture story that really only needed captions and s short lead-in to set the story!
Where HCB shines is that he recognized the key shot and used it! He was also a " walker" and took pictures all the time, wether he was on assignment or not!
Yes, he had the luxury to come from a moderatly wealthy family (Bresson Textile Mills) and had support from the family. There was an unwritten code amoong the Magnum shooters not to show placards from Bresson Textile mill workers when they covered protests or "manifestations" on the streets. This position allowed him to take pictures with less concern for the next meal, but it in no way demeans his influence on 20th century photography. There were many like him in the 30's,40's and 50's. Lartique comes to mind, never had to work, coming from a very wealthy banking family. Brassai similarly. This kind of background probably allowed them to do what they loved doing without the necessity of providing food and shelter. Dont we all wish that our situation would be similar? Would we be better photographers for it? Probably not! Some of us have done this the tough way, cutting back on "non-essentials' like food,shelter, status symbols do pursue what we love to do and that is very much the same thing.
HCB was a bit of a "luddite" when it came to the technical aspects. He knew what he needed, how the camera behaved, how a certian film worked and he quickly realized that having someone else develop and print eliminated one, according to him, tedious aspect of his craft.
Was he a snob! Yes, I think so, but he is one of the few who, in my estimation, had the right to be one.
He obviously detested technical questions and unfortunately his use of the Leica had people asking him "Which is the best lens" or "How do I expose for this or that". Did he like the limelight? He professed that he wanted to stay incognito, but got pissed if he wasen't afforded the respect he deserved and sucked up the accolades dumped on him. In short, he was a normal human being with a skill of a finely honed craftsman.
I never met him personally (briefly in France at the launch of the book "France" - which incidently contains color shots by him!), but I have friends who knew him quite well.
If you go back and look at his books, "The Decisive Moment" and the "Europeas" are only two of these, his books on India, China,Russia shows him as a "essayist" photographer. "Man and Machine" shows that he did not loose his touch in the 60's and 70's. He was and will be, one of the giants of our time when it comes to show us the world!
I must admit, that if I had been him I would have taken my 2-300 best images, stitched them together and made them up as a set of contacts (say 20-30 of them) and then showed it to the world saying" OH, I really haven't shot that much. Here are my complete contact sheet collection!" That would have depressed a lot of us!
Of course he shot a lot of film. He was on assignment and he know full well that the editor wanted a full set of prints to work from "Oh, too bad you didn't shoot that as vertical" or vice versa!
Over the years I have accumulated a fair bit of his books. Depending on my mood, I either like him or find him banal. The "Scrap book" that came out last year is very interesting as it shows images that he, himself would not have let out! He supposedly one time proclaimed" Contact sheets are like taking your pants off in public".
He is still amazing though, for almost 60 years he documented the world as he saw it - and I suspect "colored" our view of it too in so doing.
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capronimus
RF newcomer
Hcb
Hcb
FOR THOSE PEOPLE INTERESTED IN HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON.
You can find an interview made in english by Charlie Rose.
This is the link:
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=UHXVGEeNzsQ
enjoy it!!


Hcb
FOR THOSE PEOPLE INTERESTED IN HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON.
You can find an interview made in english by Charlie Rose.
This is the link:
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=UHXVGEeNzsQ
enjoy it!!
Nh3
Well-known
It was more like a decisive day or a decisive few hours or 15 minutes etc... 
I say that because he [HCB] decided on what camera/lens/film to use, he took a light reading and then he chose to be in a particular place (even if he went for a walk he still decided which direction to go) and then most often he waited for 'everything to be in the right place' - but this clip showed that he kept shooting like any other photographer "just to make sure"...
He bracketed!
... And although there is nothing wrong with that, at the same time it totally destroys the myth of HCB having this god-given talent of deciding on the decisive moment, finding the perfect composition and capturing the image in a single shot.
I think HCB was a great photographer but the style of photography that he became famous for was already used by Kartesz and Walker Evans. And also HCB's photos lack emotional impact - as Robert Frank said it, and I paraphrase, "he does not seems to be moved by what he photographed."
Just my two cents and I still have the deepest respect for HCB, to me he would always be the humanistic and intelligent face of photography.
I say that because he [HCB] decided on what camera/lens/film to use, he took a light reading and then he chose to be in a particular place (even if he went for a walk he still decided which direction to go) and then most often he waited for 'everything to be in the right place' - but this clip showed that he kept shooting like any other photographer "just to make sure"...
He bracketed!
... And although there is nothing wrong with that, at the same time it totally destroys the myth of HCB having this god-given talent of deciding on the decisive moment, finding the perfect composition and capturing the image in a single shot.
I think HCB was a great photographer but the style of photography that he became famous for was already used by Kartesz and Walker Evans. And also HCB's photos lack emotional impact - as Robert Frank said it, and I paraphrase, "he does not seems to be moved by what he photographed."
Just my two cents and I still have the deepest respect for HCB, to me he would always be the humanistic and intelligent face of photography.
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