HCB became the victim of a decisive moment

[xabi]

Have you guys seen this picture? I found this picture funny. It's well-composed and is no doubt a HCB-styled decisive moment capture.

HCB

 

[xabi]

Was he holding a Leica CL?

 

[abenner]

Interesting. Looks like a Minolta CLE with a 40mm in the right hand, and a black M2 or M3 with a chrome lens hanging from the neck.

 

[back alley]

the write up below the photo says it's a minolta cle

 

[Ken F.]

the write up below the photo says it's a minolta cle

Hey Joe,

Don't you know, nobody reads anymore...

Cheers,
KF

 

[back alley]

good thing i'm here then...😉

 

[Athena]

"In the photo, he is trying to get rid of the angle of my camera."

I assume this is a poor translation wherein what the fellow meant was that HCB was trying to avoid having his picture taken. This would seem to comport with the rest of the comment about two more pics etc.

Except that in this shot - HCB is looking directly into the lens! Perhaps there was a little vanity going on? 😉

 

[Xmas]

Guys

It looks like his collabsible cron to me...

The CLE might have been to keep his printer happier? I would a tried reading the frog but it is a struggle...

Noel

 

[mjflory]

Guys

It looks like his collabsible cron to me...

The CLE might have been to keep his printer happier? I would a tried reading the frog but it is a struggle...

Noel

Noel, that's Brazilian frog (i.e. Portugese). I had to fall back on Altavista for a machine translation: he was "trying to leave the radius of action of my camera." I like that "radius of action"!

Why would his printer (meaning, I trust, the fellow who made his prints in the darkroom) have been happier with negs from a CLE?

"Telonous," by the way, says in the comments "the camera on the neckstrap is I think his favourite M3 with the collapsible Summicron 50."

Interesting (and a great credit to Roberto Delduque) how the subject's attempt to avoid the photographer results in a superb composition.

 

[back alley]

hcb had someone do his darkroom work for him and i think his negs were hard to print due to his exposures being off at times. the cle has ae and would have helped in this by being closer to the 'proper' reading.
i have read this somewhere...

 

[Xmas]

HCB used the sunnyside rule sort off... I think he did it from the met forcast, the printer complained after he died, tusk tusK cavil.

Joe you can read my English, woooh I will have to be real careful. And I've just detected you have 2x 35mm wanna sell one?

Micheal I did not see telanous' comment.

Noel

P.S. a new syndrome SWIIIP, sell while it is in the post?

 

[abenner]

If that's his favorite M3, was it black paint or just taped up?

 

[mjflory]

Micheal I did not see telanous' comment.

Sorry, Noel, I wasn't too clear. He posted the comment on the Flickr page. It's way down toward the bottom. He uses the same nickname and avatar there. I misspelled it: it's "Telenous." Alkis Plithas is, I gather, Greek, and if I'm not way off base his nickname would mean "mind at a distance," which is a fascinating way of thinking about photography! But what is the significance of the bird mask in his avatar?

Just noticed that the comment was from three months ago, by the way, and the picture was posted almost two years ago.

 

[Xmas]

Michael
No need to apologise, I did not read beyond the English, And my dyslexia allows me to read with out the spelling, real convenient at times.
Noel

 

[back alley]

noel, the zm 35 will always be with me along with the silver zi as they were a gift.
the cv 35 is on it's way here as is a 40 rokkor.
i think my 'collecting' will be centred around the 35/40 area for now.

so, in short, i have nothing for sale, sorry.

joe

 

[peter_n]

HCB used the sunnyside rule sort off... I think he did it from the met forcast, the printer complained after he died, tusk tusK cavil.

If you see the original print of one of his most famous pictures - the one of the bloke jumping over the puddle behind the railway station - it's really quite bad. The one we are used to seeing, done by the printer, is a work of art. It is heavily cropped and a large area of underexposure in the bottom left is fixed. I think his develop/printer probably felt justified in moaning about him.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

That does not look like a "decisive moment" to me. Much less him being "victimized" by the photo. It's a National Enquirer -style picture with poor technique, that's all.

 

[xayraa33]

Hehehe,.... part of me says HCB deserved that kind of ambush style of photography..could not happen to a nicer guy and all that.

 

[Ororaro]

Why the simple "HCB" mention always has to generate a deep discussion?

I think it's a lousy pic with a lousy story and there's nothing more to it.

 

[RML]

thanks for posting this xabi.
It's interesting that HCB has the CLE locked and loaded while his M3/summicron seems to be a back-up. As far as the photo is concerned, I'd like to have a print 🙂

I agree.
Perhaps this isn't the best of shots but IMO it's much better than most.
And it has some historical interest, though perhaps only for us rf afficionados.

And a print would be nice. 🙂