Is portraiture a particular speciality of the rangefinder photographer?

[Enoyarnam]

Dear all,

I first became aware of the work of Sebastião Salgado when I saw his Migration and Children series at the Barbican Centre, London. I was struck by their calm and candid nature. Seen on their own rather than in an excitable crowd the character of the children really shone through. Salgado gave each child a moment of calm in an otherwise difficult life. All the children he took photos of had been forcibly torn from their roots. Some had lost members of their family and others had yet to find them.

The question I ask is this. How important is it that a rangefinder photographer is able to produce portrait photographs and to do so in relation to the very highest standard?

 

[Gumby]

I think it is important is it that a photographer, no matter what kind of canera is used, is able to produce portrait photographs and to do so in relation to the very highest standard.

 

[damien.murphy]

I think rangefinders have lent themselves to reportage over the years, but obviously in such work there is often a good element of candid portraiture also. I very much like Salgado's work, although I haven't had the privilege of seeing his Migrations series yet.

As to your question, I'm not sure its important for a rangefinder (or any other type of camera) photographer to to be versed in any specific type of photography. As Lazlo Moholy-Nagy said:

"The enemy of photography is the convention, the fixed rules of 'how to do'. The salvation of photography comes from the experiment"

 

[tbarker13]

I wouldn't say portraiture is a specialty of the rangefinder photographer. But I'd say the cameras themselves are very well suited to portraiture.
Still, I don't think they have any particular advantage over an SLR.
It all comes down to the photographer.

 

[ebino]

Those portraits as well as the famous portraits by Salgado were shot using a Leica R6.2 SLR with 60mm Macro lens.

Salgado uses a 35mm with his Leica M and shoots mainly with two SLRs, one with a 60mm macro lens and the other with 28 - both Leica R6.2.

For his Genesis project he used a medium format and later on Digital medium format.

As to your question, RFs with their potential parallax issues are not the best tool for portraits, but they will do.

 

[sevo]

I can't read the original posting, it being white on white...

But as far as the subject line goes: When there still was a SLR/RF competition of sorts, SLRs were generally considered the superior (WYSIWYG, close framing and tele-carrying) portrait tool, while rangefinders were marketed as the better bodies for wides, and consequentially for travel and reportage.

 

[ZorkiKat]

For candid portraitists perhaps, who like capturing instantaneous moments.

However, not all portraitists work that way. Some prefer a slower methodology which results in a very static, quiet (as opposed to the kinetic qualities of a candid portrait) photograph. These photographers may be found with a view camera instead.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Of course it is. And the SLR photographer, and the TLR photographer, and the view camera photographer...

A lot depends on (a) what sort of portrait you want to shoot (I might use a Leica M9 with a Thambar or an 8x10 inch De Vere with a 21 inch Ross) and (b) what's available (I shot some portraits of prominent Tibetans for the Tibetan Government in Exile with an M4-P and a 90/2 Summicron because that's what I had with me in Dharamsala).

Cheers,

R.

 

[Richard G]

Elliott Erwitt in his wonderful technical section of the volume on him in the Thames and Hudson series The Masters of Contemporary Photography, describes using a Leica in a session at home with a reluctant aristocratic recluse. Before she could decide whether or not to give final agreement to the session he had his shot. Unpacking his Canon and lenses let alone a tripod might have seen him dismissed with nothing. A lot of environmental portraits may work better with a rangefinder obtruding so little into the conversation. But the rangefinder photographer, he or she might not want to make portraits at all.

 

[Richard G]

I forgot EE's portrait of Buckminster Fuller from the seat next to him in a helicopter, taking in both the great man and his geodesic dome, in lowish light and needing such depth of field. So the Leica and 21mm. Imagine trying that shot now with a top of the range DSLR. You'd have to ask the subject to open his door and lean out just to make room for the kit.

 

[noimmunity]

The SLR provides more precise framing, which can be critical for studio work. But for more informal, candid sort of work, I MUCH prefer the advantage of the RF viewfinder, which allows the photog greater latitude to participate in the scene.
RFs are better for maintaining constant connection and interaction with the subject.
For the types of portraits I do, this makes them much more versatile than SLRs.

 

[gp-ak]

I think the better question is whether portraiture is a specialty of Salgado.

Gear matters very little in turning out good compositions. It is fun though.

 

[flip]

The only advantages I see are lack of mirror-blackout and compulsion to use primes.

 

[ndnik]

Gear matters a lot less than some would think. Being comfortable with the gear matters more. The photographer's eye now ...