Information on the Papal photographer

[pthurst]

Hi,

On the day of the late pope's funeral, I found this quite appropriate.

The name Arturo Mari may not ring any bells inside your head however he's quite used to photographing the bells at the Vatican.

He's the official Papal photographer and especially over the last few days, his work has been seen all around the world. Arturo has been working at the Vatican for the past 50 years and he has photographed the last five popes.

For anyone who's interested, there's an interesting article here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1438566,00.html

And here's one of his most striking images, taken as the late pope met with the man who shot him

(c) Arturo Mari

An amazing photograph which shows so little yet tells us so much.

Paul

 

[rover]

I just saw a story about Arturo Mari on CNN. If you get CNN watch a little of it today and catch the excellent story.

 

[Rob]

I was thinking that the pope must be the most photographed person on earth by his own photographer and people in the crowds. Wonder if his photographer uses a rangefinder?
Rob

 

[rover]

Nikon SLRs.

Fidel Castro also has a personal photographer, I forget his name. Interestingly, he is/was an American. There was a profile of him on one of the History Channels. He is a Leica photographer.

 

[pthurst]

I was thinking that the pope must be the most photographed person on earth by his own photographer and people in the crowds. Wonder if his photographer uses a rangefinder?
Rob

As a rule, these guys tend to use digital SLR's. Gone are the days of reportage photography via rangefinder. They've been replaced with digital plastic and 500mm Zoom lenses.

The Rangefinder remains ideally suited to close-up, reportage photography and as most of us know here, they are a delight to use however their press days are largely over.

Ps- the Papal photographer estimates he's taken five million in Fifty years!