From Leica to digital P&S

[Bertram2]

>>no, you've got it backwards. he says that digital has more open shadows, and that he's darkening them because he's used to film's aesthetic.

Uhh, really ? That's weird. I think HE got something backwards ? The lack of shadow details is typically a chip prob, not a film prob ? What hell was he doing with his films ?

>>why do you find his new work ugly?
Not all of it. Only the later B&W work. Mainly because i miss something like a continous concept. Looks a bit like Lomography, carefree, shoot and watch later what you can use. The color work is different. His use and understanding of B&W to me seems limited. I don't like it. VERY different from a Nachtwey for example.

>>I think it's pretty good. and where did you see the color disco work?
>>On his website at MAGNUM. Click on the link in the article.
Bertram

 

[aizan]

? just to be clear, digital has more shadow detail than film.

His use and understanding of B&W to me seems limited. I don't like it. VERY different from a Nachtwey for example.

can you elaborate? what's apparantly his understanding of b&w and why is it limited? compared and contrasted with nachtwey?

i don't know how majoli works, whether he's doing photo essays like leros. "9 from ______" doesn't exactly stake a claim to a continuous story or concept.

 

[Allen Gilman]

Digital does have more shadow detail than film. Bertram, it's easier to understand if you note that Majoli was probably pushing a lot of his film for faster speeds (increasing contrast and making it harder to keep the shadow detail).

As for his aesthetic, I don't know if having a continuously applied concept would entail a better understanding of black and white photography. It's kind of like saying Nietzsche wasn't a true philosopher like Kant because he didn't have a "total" philosophy. Comparing Nachtwey's methodology or aesthetic to his is apples and oranges. You can't shoot NY's highest paid callgirl and her pimp/boyfriend (one of Majoli's latest) with Nachtwey's humanistic bent.

What is interesting is how flexible the guy is and how that plays into keeping his focus on getting end results. His work is continually changing - take a look at the different feel as it goes from the older Leros and clubs work on through to his recent work on NY fashion and Iraq vets where he's using off-camera flash.

 

[RML]

Personally, I'm still bugged by the shutter lag evident even in the most expensive non-SLR digicams. The rapid-fire method used by Majoli may work well when you need a storyboard-like succession of photos. For HCB-style decisive moment photography, though, one shot is usually enough, yet that one shot needs to occur at a moment that is precisely under your control. I just don't see affordable digicams making this possible within the next 5 years (and for the record, I consider a Leica M3 quite affordable, considering how long it's going to last).

Hoot, even HC-B did series of shots. We don't see enough of his contact sheets but I bet there are lots and lots of variant shots of his most famous photos. As good an eye as HC-B had, he, too, wasn't a magician.

The advantage with a digicam would be that the sesuence speed would be higher than with a hand-wound Leica III or M3.

 

[RML]

On the other hand it smells a bit of making the technical deficit to be an artistic virtue.

Isn't that what artists have always done? Not just photogs but any artist? Why use a chisel when you have power cutters? Why use an acoustic guitar when you can sample the sound? Why use B&W film when you can desaturate in PS? Etc.

Every tool has technical deficits and limitations. It's up to the user to overcome those limitations. IMO Majoli is doing that very commendablily.

 

[Bertram2]

>>Digital does have more shadow detail than film.
Maybe , Allen, if you don't have to care for blown out highlights on the other side of the scale. The results tell us generally a different story, some cameras simply seem to give up calculating in the dark parts.

>Comparing Nachtwey's methodology or aesthetic to his is apples and oranges. >You can't shoot NY's highest paid callgirl and her pimp/boyfriend (one of Majoli's >latest) with Nachtwey's humanistic bent.

I would never be so stupid to do so. Of course I meant his Kosovo stuff and other B&W photos which we can consider as beeing comparable.

> His work is continually changing - take a look at the different feel as it goes from >the older Leros and clubs work on through to his recent work on NY fashion and >Iraq vets where he's using off-camera flash.

That's what I said and meant. Opposite to you tho I don't consider this to be positive. Versatility is for me not a virtue hat can stand alone. It should be based on a personal (artistic) identity. In this case I miss it and so to me it loks more arbitrary than versatile. The Olys are only a logical detail for me.

Just my personal individual impression of this guy.

Bertram

 

[hoot]

Hoot, even HC-B did series of shots.

Hmm, I don't claim to be an authority on the man, but as far as I've been given to understand, this wasn't his usual method of working. Do you have any more information about the circumstances under which he made such series?