Fifty Years

[MikeL]

Interesting read/rant on Americans. I was right with you until you started mentioning scratched and dented cameras. I never thought to use Americans as an ugly stick, to wrap it around a rant, or to use it to soapbox on brassed cameras and the state of photography and the current generation of photographers. But hey, it's your read! 🙂

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Al, thanks for pointing out The Americans. Getting information from those with more experience is one of the reasons I stop by RFF. I'd been cruising the used books stores for The Americans, and when it was re-released, I was happy.

But I'm with Ray regarding the 'subterfuge' rant. You have done what you've wanted to do, the way you've wanted to. Since you've accomplished this, why would you care enough about how other people go about things to go preaching like this? I guess you are trying to be encouraging, but telling us about The Americans may be enough encouragement.

There just seems to be a lot of 'us versus them' here lately, and maybe it has to do with the average age around here. I just don't know why we need to look down on collectors or gearheads or photojournalists or fine art folks.

And I find it funny watching some of the folks (no names) transition from one to the other, and preaching their new enlightened viewpoint. It's all cool.

 

[Keith]

Al, thanks for pointing out The Americans. Getting information from those with more experience is one of the reasons I stop by RFF. I'd been cruising the used books stores for The Americans, and when it was re-released, I was happy.

But I'm with Ray regarding the 'subterfuge' rant. You have done what you've wanted to do, the way you've wanted to. Since you've accomplished this, why would you care enough about how other people go about things to go preaching like this? I guess you are trying to be encouraging, but telling us about The Americans may be enough encouragement.

There just seems to be a lot of 'us versus them' here lately, and maybe it has to do with the average age around here. I just don't know why we need to look down on collectors or gearheads or photojournalists or fine art folks.

And I find it funny watching some of the folks (no names) transition from one to the other, and preaching their new enlightened viewpoint. It's all cool.

Perhaps it's just an age thing Mike ... tragically I notice that the older I get the less tolerant I become. I always thought that was just my father's problem! 😛

 

[MikeL]

Perhaps it's just an age thing Mike ... tragically I notice that the older I get the less tolerant I become. I always thought that was just my father's problem! 😛

I fight it everyday, and I'm still becoming like him (not all bad, that's him swinging in my avatar at 78). If you have any tips, I'm ready to fight the good fight!🙂

 

[Merkin]

While people who might not be up on their historical photographers and/or photography are looking up "The Americans, they should look up W. Eugene Smith's "Pittsburgh Project," which he finished (or, in a sense, failed to finish) a bit over fifty years ago as well. If any of you are unfamiliar with this project, or only familiar with two or three of the shots, it behooves you to locate a copy of "Dream Street- W. Eugene Smith's Pittsburgh Project," edited by Sam Stephenson. This may seem hyperbolic, but there are a couple of shots in that book which I have never seen mentioned in any other context, that aren't famous, that you can't readily get a print or a poster of, that are rapidly becoming my favorite photographs of all time.

 

[Al Kaplan]

I miss the days when a bunch of us much younger photographers would gather on weekends, look at one anothers photos, discuss the latest photo book, have a beer or three or perhaps just stick with coffee. We talked gear too. Would real photographers actually put Photomic prisms on their Nikon F's? Why did Nikon bother coming out with the F2 when the F felt so good? Would the big clunky Leica M5 survive on the market?

A few of us are still in the Miami area and we rarely see one another except by happenstance. Al Wessel called me a year or so back. He still had his M2-R with a Dual Range Summicron from the same batch as mine. Leitz had listed the combination at $375. Al Olme who managed Browne's Photo Center where we bought our Leicas moved to Minneapolis years ago and on rare occasions we've chatted on the phone. Parks Masterson, who took over at Browne's after Al left, is now running the family business, Hopkins-Carter Marine, and we met for lunch a few months ago. I ran into Nathan Benn's older sister a couple of years ago and she gave me his phone number. After a career shooting for National Geographic's book division he now heads up Magnum, the international photo agency. Jon Sinish would stay here at my house when he was visiting from New York. He's now in the ad business and we stay in touch almost weekly. Bob Sherman was a bit older but he'd frequently join us. I think he was working for UPI at the time. Paul & Louise Dana (she only used Alpas) were in their 60's back then and aren't around anymore. More recently James Mitchell, whom I met on the internet, would crash at my place when he was in town on business, but since he got married a year or two ago he and the missus stay at hotels. And recently a much younger Leica shooter was in town visiting his folks. I got to meet Michael Bialecki and his dad for lunch and talk Leicas and enlargers. He'd managed to buy one of those late 50's button rewind Leica M2's that must have stayed in somebody's closet for half a century. It only had a light scuff mark on the baseplate.

 

[MikeL]

He'd managed to buy one of those late 50's button rewind Leica M2's that must have stayed in somebody's closet for half a century. It only had a light scuff mark on the baseplate.

Did Michael give me any credit for finding that local deal for him? It also came with a super clean 50 rigid. Michael, I want some props! 😉

(P.S. Michael, if you don't buy the enlarger the guy is also selling I will.)

 

[J J Kapsberger]

I got to meet Michael Bialecki...

Fantastic user of the 28mm and 90mm FLs, as images he's uploaded here attest.

 

[noimmunity]

Thanks guys. I just had to get it off my chest. I wonder how many people here have ever heard of the book. We're two generations away from the days of Vietnam and Life Magazine, and three or more from the B&W coverage of Korea and WW-II. Galleries and museums used to show photographs shot for reasons other than art, and collectors bought them then and still do now. Having brass showing through black paint or having scratches in the chrome was a mark of honor. It was embarrasing to be seen with a shiny new camera, a sign that you weren't really a photographer. But I'm preaching to the choir here. The just rest tune it out.

Al, I really appreciate the commemoration! My Zeiss Ikon has serious wear in several places (the film advance lever, the lock switch, etc.). Cuz it's a new Zeiss, it doesn't have the cachet of a Leica, but I love it all the same. The wear is a testimony to the amount of use I've put into the camera: easily 600 rolls!
Kerouac is hard to get, even (or especially) today. But he answers to a deep thirst. And photography can, too. It really hit me when I realized, naively and for the first time, that what photography is really about (okay, pros, forgive me) is the acceptance of a cool compromise that opens up something, that exposes something.

Happy New Year!

 

[Al Kaplan]

MikeL, that Summicron was a gem for sure, and he mentioned from whom he found out about the combo (you). I ain't no good with names no more! I had to look in my appointment book to find Michael's name to write this. Sorry.

 

[sjones]

I picked up "The Americans" last month, and it is an incredible collection, but it is a focused one, and it exhibits a truth, but only a portion. America was, and is even more so now, an immensely diverse country, churning out various cultural aspects that often attract derision, even from within, yet while at the same time, still spurring emulation abroad.

Hypocrisy in America is frequently no greater than that which lies within its critics, and ongoing attempts to chauvinistically portray the country as one extensive Mississippi circa 1963 have long since become tedious. After all, Jack Kerouac was in every sense an American as much as Sheriff Bull Connor, yet with the latter's viewpoint increasingly condemned by general society.

There are several photos in "The Americans" that, if isolated from the broader mood of the book, would connote neutrality at best, maybe even sentimentality, but with their inclusion, they can assume a tone of isolation or empty purpose. I can go to any country and focus on its dour side (I have never seen jubilation on any public transport system), and while this would reflect a certain reality, it would be an incomplete one.

In the video linked by Nh3, Frank speaks of the violence in the US that he did not experience in Europe. While I get the gist of his point (and the importance of expectations), it's a remarkable condemnation when considering Europe's fate roughly a decade earlier, and antisemitism was hardly excised from Europe by 1955, just more hidden than the overt racism occurring in the American South.

In part, Frank's book is significant in that he was one of the first to comprehensively reveal a certain reality largely absent from all media at the time, and on that basis alone, it's a significant collection, arguably a necessary one on grounds of history and sociology. That the photos are so aesthetically compelling makes it a worthwhile view irrespective of any social messages that may or may not exist. In the end, Frank decided to live in the United States, and although an "after the fact" event, it is still interesting to factor this in when viewing the book.

A 2007 interview with a particularly annoying Charlie LeDuff:
http://www.steidlville.com/news/culture051608_robertfrank.mp3

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I got my copy of The Americans years ago when I was in college. It is the edition that was current then, in the late 90's. A lot of us young guys have heard of Robert Frank. Sadly, a lot more have not.

 

[Leica All Day]

hahahah....yes, it was pretty cool meeting up with Al for a coffee.....the place that we met was super cool (Jimmy's place)....it looked like it hasn't changed since the 50's....very old school Miami....a funny story...I brought my two recently acquired Leicas with me (thanks MikeL), I was going to ask Al's opinion on getting a cla for my m2 because the m3 that I just got is smoother than the m2 and the only experience that I have with leicas is with my m6ttl which was bought new 8 years ago, so I was not really sure what to expect. But after looking at Al's m3 that he brought with him, i didn't even bother asking him ( I would of been embarassed)...I should of taken a picture of his m3 and 21mm super angulon....It was by far, the dirtiest camera that I have ever seen...it was soooo cool...the M3 had a plastic name label with " Al Kaplan" stuck on the front of it where my m6 has "Leica m6" engraved...it was classic...it was made with one of those old school label makers that I used to play with in the 80's. Anyways, it was a good meeting, I wish that I could of hung out longer and listened to more stories, but I was with my father and we had some stuff that we had to take care of. I actually developed the first roll of film from that m3 today and looked at some photos that I took of Al...very cool photos...I will be bringing them back to Bangkok with me later this week....one more thing, something funny happened as we were saying good-bye in the parking lot..Al was taking a couple portaits of us (Kaplan style) and some guy next to us asked Al if he took pictures of his car, and Al looked at me and said " I don't take pictures of cars covered in bird sh*t"....happy new years to all......cheers...michael

 

[Leica All Day]

Fantastic user of the 28mm and 90mm FLs, as images he's uploaded here attest.

Thanks a lot for the nice compliment...I appreciate it...

 

[johannielscom]

Happy shooting in 2009 for all, let the brassing commence!

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=98913

 

[Bike Tourist]

My recent change back to film and rangefinders has much to do with the direction of opinions expressed here, better than I could myself. It's strange that so many documentary and journalistic shooters of the past, who provided so much content for widely distributed media, are now so hard to find and enjoy.

One other thing — the level of discourse here at RFF is a cut above most other photo sites.

 

[Al Kaplan]

Michael, Jimmy's Place has a lot of history for me. I think that I pointed out that Bob Rich's place across the parking lot behind you used to be a camera store/photo supply and that across the street to your right was Jaybo's, the best E-6 lab around and they did a pretty good job with B&W and custom color printing. Jay had a great selection of film and paper, carried Nikon and (briefly) Leicas, but he also carried Omega enlargers and had a couple of showcases with a jumble of used quality cameras and lenses. At the end of the building behind you was the original office of the North Dade Journal where I worked. A couple years later it became Neighbors, a section in the Miami Herald.

Jimmy's Place is now the white English speaking restaurant in a town full of Haitian and Hispanic restaurants, but American blacks now also frequent the place and they have a black waitress. They'd likely hire more but their waitresses are like Leicas ~ they just keep working and working, some for well over twenty years now. Across the parking lot was a shoe repair shop owned by Carltus (Carl) Robins. I came up with the idea of doing a story on him back in the late 1960's from the standpoint that he was the best shoe and ladies' handbags and photographers' camera bags repairman around, with a workload that often kept him there well into the night, yet he was a black man in white neighborhood, the only black around to own his own business. I posted about him on my blog a year or two ago. He's in a nursing home now, a victim of a stroke and well up in his seventies, bitches about the lousy food and loves to get a Whopper & fries or some fresh fruit.

That place at the round corner table where you were sitting was the exact place where Congressman Bill Lehman sat at his Sunday breakfast every week for twenty odd years. His staff, various other elected officials, other people he worked with, just people he'd known for years, would meet there and talk politics for hours, but he also knew the names of everyone's relatives. Some of the ideas that went around that table influenced legislation he introduced in congress. I always had a camera with me for the rare occasion when Bill would want a typical standing up and shaking hand type color shot of himself with some visiting senator or such who was in town. I never shot candid shots though. It would have killed the mood. Bill always picked up the tab.

 

[WoolenMammoth]

Robert Frank's work is fantastic and the book is a real great collection. The thing that too many people miss with their idolotry is that the guy was just a photographer, just a dude with a camera. Until you swallow that pill its unlikely you'll have an "americans" of your own, which ultimately is a very easy thing for someone who walks around with a camera to do if they just let themselves.

It seems like an impressive work in retrospect, and it is, but on the day it was just some guy walking around taking some photos.

 

[naturepix]

It really is an extraordinary book. It may well be the most important photography book ever published. There was an interesting piece in the NY Times a while back about the book and an upcoming exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/arts/design/14geft.html?_r=1

 

[FrankS]

Al, have you ever considered writing a memoir, including your photos of the time?

 

[George S.]

Michael wrote---... I was going to ask Al's opinion on getting a cla for my m2 because the m3 that I just got is smoother than the m2 and the only experience that I have with leicas is with my m6ttl which was bought new 8 years ago, so I was not really sure what to expect. But after looking at Al's m3 that he brought with him, i didn't even bother asking him ( I would of been embarassed)...I should of taken a picture of his m3 and 21mm super angulon....It was by far, the dirtiest camera that I have ever seen...it was soooo cool...the M3 had a plastic name label with " Al Kaplan" stuck on the front of it where my m6 has "Leica m6" engraved...it was classic...it was made with one of those old school label makers that I used to play with in the 80's...

That's it! That's what Leica's next film camera commemorative should be- a deliberately brassed and dirty M3 in a hammertone-like finish, complete with the "Al Kaplan" label......but the 'hammertone' will be faux dirt and grime...of course, the internals will still be silky smooth and you'd have to sign an affidavit in which you promise to actually put film through it and not "collect" it....