Is Majoli shooting with a Holga now?

photogdave said:
I think there is a very successful troll here at RFF and he's giving us some of his best stuff in this thread. Let's not give him any more food.
Click to expand...

I find certain threads of a poster deep and probing. They really make me think deeply in a really deep, deep way. I just can't wait to read them when they come up. So thought provoking!!!!!!
 
Vic said:
The criticism of the "flare" that you see in some of the photographs only shows that you have never been to that part of the world.
Click to expand...

I don't doubt that the light is different in different parts of the world, but the flare in most of these shots is simply from the car window(s) that he was shooting through. We get that here, too (I'm in North America).
 
Well, Nh3. I think your definition of art is quite limited. What about sculpture, print making, and drawing? It doesn't matter much though. Photography has already won the art/craft debate almost a hundred years ago with the efforts of Alfred Steiglitz. It's well collected by all the major museums and has an established place in the art community. Now performance art, that's a craft ;)
 
An excellent series & not so different from classic Magnum stuff. I'm sure the founders would understand it if they were still around.
A few of the shots have some flare but there are 50 or so in the series so it's a cheap shot to make a big deal about that.
He's a great photographer, very good eye & he is trying some new things. Don't know how anyone thought it was a Holga, or is that just another cheap shot?
 
I second this. Some people just feel the need to create strife. If someone has to explain Majoli to you, well....I just don't think they will ever get it. Frank not an artist? Please, that statement does not even warrant a response. A punch perhaps, but not a verbal response :bang:

photogdave said:
I think there is a very successful troll here at RFF and he's giving us some of his best stuff in this thread. Let's not give him any more food.
Click to expand...
 
An excellent series & not so different from classic Magnum stuff. I'm sure the founders would understand it if they were still around.
A few of the shots have some flare but there are 50 or so in the series so it's a cheap shot to make a big deal about that.
He's a great photographer, very good eye & he is trying some new things. Don't know how anyone thought it was a Holga, or is that just another cheap shot?
Click to expand...

When photographing in a war zone or an extremely dangerous place, don't you think it would be more important to focus on the subject/situation than one's own skills at making abstract photographs?
 
I wouldn't call them abstract. In a comparison between articles written in a newspaper, there are ones that state the facts succinctly with implications of veracity while there are others that present a personal opinion on a topic. The Magnum photographers in general consider themselves to be more to be editorialists presenting their thoughts and feelings on a subject. David Alan Harvey says that anyone can make a photo that's a blue print of a situation. You should really read that link to the Christopher Anderson discussion that I posted earlier. I think you will enjoy the stance that the fellow is making there against Christopher's photos---it's very similar to the one you are taking here. Humorously so...

--ok, I'm outta here. I should get back to work!
 
I find the toughest thing to photograph is the feeling or atmosphere of an environment. I believe that Majoli is doing just that with many photos in this series.
Everyone in a war zone can take a direct shot of someone shooting or being shot or suffering. Majoli though, is taking an extra step to invoke a feeling of the place with visuals only. It's a brave move since it's hard to get. Art or not..... he probably can care less about this topic if he can't deliver the message the way he sees the environment he photographs.
 
I wouldn't call them abstract. In a comparison between articles written in a newspaper, there are ones that state the facts succinctly with implications of veracity while there are others that present a personal opinion on a topic. The Magnum photographers in general consider themselves to be more to be editorialists presenting their thoughts and feelings on a subject. David Alan Harvey says that anyone can make a photo that's a blue print of a situation. You should really read that link to the Christopher Anderson discussion that I posted earlier. I think you will enjoy the stance that the fellow is making there against Christopher's photos---it's very similar to the one you are taking here. Humorously so...
Click to expand...
I read that discussion and my comments here is totally in opposite of the person who was criticizing Christopher Anderson.

In that situation I liked Anderson's approach...

And a political circus is not the same as a war zone so your relativism is actually more humorous in this case.
 
Nh3 said:
When photographing in a war zone or an extremely dangerous place, don't you think it would be more important to focus on the subject/situation than one's own skills at making abstract photographs?
Click to expand...

You think "art" is more about the artist and his/her skills and not about a focus on the subject?

Focus on a subject or situation through technological tools is a "craft?"
 
Man, the hostility in this thread is caustic.

If YOU have really clear ideas about what does or doesn't make a good documentary photograph, then why don't YOU pick up your camera and show the rest of us what you mean, rather than slagging another photographer. If you fancy yourself a photographer, your WORDS are - or rather should be - nearly worthless.
 
kevin m said:
Man, the hostility in this thread is caustic.

If YOU have really clear ideas about what does or doesn't make a good documentary photograph, then why don't YOU pick up your camera and show the rest of us what you mean, rather than slagging another photographer. If you fancy yourself a photographer, your WORDS are - or rather should be - nearly worthless.
Click to expand...

So, people who watch football can only criticize a play if they're capable of playing at the same level as professional football players?

Enough said...


Why don't you instead explain why Majoli's photos are 'great'.
 
Last edited:
Well... Nh3 is being stubborn with a dialectic opinion to most peoples in this topic, perhaps intentionally so. However s/he is not really being rude or personal at all. I don't think it is fair for others to be so.

There reaches a point where two opinions are completely explained. There is not much else to say after that point that could sway the other's mind.
 
It's a recurring attitude here. If you want to talk about a camera, you have to own and use it. If you want to talk about Nachtwey, you have to stand beside him in a war zone, if you want to talk about a photo, you have to give bonifides to establish you have taken photos at least as good as those you talk about.

It seems to be used as a bludgeon to beat into silence those who disagree with you. IMHO, of course.
 
So, people who watch football can only criticize a play if they're capable of playing at the same level as professional football players?
Click to expand...

You have clear ideas about a "better" way to do it. So, since you're a photographer, too, after a certain point, you need to stop talking and demonstrate. Lets see your "better way."

If you want to talk about Nachtwey, you have to stand beside him in a war zone, if you want to talk about a photo, you have to give bonifides to establish you have taken photos at least as good as those you talk about.
Click to expand...

Talk all you want. Ask questions. Admit you "don't get it," or simply state you don't like it, and move on. But when you consistently take the piss, and state personal opinion as carved-in-stone-tablet fact, don't be surprised when you're called on it.
 
majoli works remind me more of henri cartier bresson. those photos are more photo journalistic type but he add a bit "art" touch to pictures compared to bresson. I like that way he does. I feel those images are more dramatic than ones of bresson. it seems so that majoli use some burn and dodge. Holga? I dont believe because all images look sharp for me :D it is maybe LEica :)
 
Vic's comment reminded me of what Ansel Adams said of his landscape work: That he wanted a viewer to feel what it was like to stand in front of that mountain. Maybe, as Vic said, that's at least part of what Majoli's trying for here....
 
Nh3 said:
Photography is not painting. Photography is the act of capturing the phenomenal word on film/sensor and therefore its a craft not an art.
Click to expand...
By a similar yardstick, some established painters have been derided as being "mere" illustrators or craftsman (Andrew Wyeth, anyone?). For that matter, are you also stating the best examples of "craft" have never risen to the level of art ("officially" recognized or not)?

The best photographs are the least artistic ones (Robert Frank's work) and worst photographs are the artsy-sentimental-bokeh-over-composed-bs which is all over the place these days.
Click to expand...
From your perspective, that is. Which is fine. I simply don't share that perspective.

Artists and those with sensitive artsy temperament should look at something more flexible for self expression like painting or even film making.
Click to expand...
Sez who?


- Barrett
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom