Does anybody besides me think Ralph Gibson's "Leica Picture of the Year"...

Love his early work & work over the years / b&w

this 2021 photo of the year... absolutely meh... Dreadful !
I see no value, be it in composition, colour, atmosphere, content, but that's just Me

Thank Goodness I was not a juror ... giggles.
 
His B&W work is still strong and appealing to me but I've never been crazy about his color photos. I think this one is okay--the curved lines are nice--but I'm not fond of the lighting and the glaring colors. But that's just a personal preference. I've seen numerous color photos by Gibson that I like much better.
 
It is a good photograph, but not among Ralph Gibson's great photographs, and there are many. I would also note that this is Leica's first Picture of the Year award. I guess Leica had to create an award to give him since they inducted him into the Leica Hall of Fame. Kind of makes you wonder if there were any other entries. Who, for example, was the runner-up? I think this will be sort of like a gold watch. They give you the award after you have been a Leica brand ambassador for 25 years or whatever. Leica needs to promote its younger brand ambassadors. The old guys could keel over any day now. Does anyone know if Joel Meyerowitz has a special edition Leica camera like Ralph Gibson. I watched a video of Joel Meyerowitz hawking Leica cameras and he was pretty convincing. Maybe he will get the award next year. After all, it didn't exist when he was admitted to the Leica Hall of Fame in 2017, so Leica sort of owes him one.

Speaking of Leica brand ambassadors, I looked and couldn't find a list. I found a website with six or eight Leica UK brand ambassadors, and another website for Leica Indonesia brand ambassadors. I didn't open that link so I don't know how many there are. Seems like they should have some Leica USA brand ambassadors, but I came up empty handed. I did find this employment website that said Leica brand ambassadors make $18/hour, but that couldn't be right. Sounds like that is the price of a parking space near a Leica Store. Pretty hilarious.
 
I agree that it is a strange selection as picture of the year, though it is very Gibson..Like Dogman, I prefer his black and white work. Deus Ex Machina is a book I like very much. His colour Paris book less so. Although he is not a favourite of mine, I admire his discipline and craft, and have been inspired when I hear him talk about his work and career on Youtube videos, and also in a lovely book, Refractions.
 
Yeah, pretty bland. Now, if Elvis was sitting in the seat, then yeah, THAT would make it worthy of ‘picture of the year’.
 
Maybe Ralph hired someone to take that photo for him?
If Jackson Pollock was too drunk to fool around with cans of paint and got one of his girlfriends to splatter and drip paint on a giant canvas on the floor who would really know by now?
 
Yeah, if I posted that on IG it would get a bunch of likes and not much else. Enter that in a local/national photo competition and it probably wouldn't go far. Ralph is Ralph, and in this instance, it's about providence and branding.
 
I can sort of see where he's coming from. It looks a bit like an abstracted oil painting. Especially with the weird textured grey thing beyond the window. However... it's not something I'd put in a show... let alone picture of the year.. that seems to be a bit of a stretch.

I think there may be another angle: If Leica (who are largely a fashion brand now let's face it) chooses an actually intimidating photo as their "Photo of the Year" that might put people off photography and buying a camera. However if the honored picture of the year is something you look at and say "I could have shot that, too".... that's a different story...
 
First off, I am pissed they did not choose one of mine. ;o) Second, this photo is a near miss in a lot of areas. It is "almost" a lot of things but it is not a great anything. Could it be they are lowering the bar to encourage more purchasers? Sort of, "Hey, look, you can do this well."

I like more the proletarian school of photography, not too intellectual or artsy, just street photos of us as we are. Needless to say, I am a fan of Vivian Meir which probably puts me in the minority. I prefer the immediate impact, nothing that has to be wondered about. Like a yellow boat.
 
zuiko85 said:
Yeah, pretty bland. Now, if Elvis was sitting in the seat, then yeah, THAT would make it worthy of ‘picture of the year’.
Click to expand...

Elvis and Bigfoot. With their flying saucer in the background. But since all three are missing, let's be honest: this picture is a waste of perfectly good pixels.
 
None of these Leica "awards" - whether it be Leica's picture of the year, the annual Barnack awards, or even their advertising - impress me. I've actually gotten used to seeing terrible pictures coming out of Leica corporate.
 
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