Overrated photographers...

rxmd said:
...In a similar vein, I would consider HCB overrated as well...I suspect that a lot of rangefinder and Leica photographers are prone to overrating HCB because he was a famous rangefinder and Leica user...the actual photographic body of work left by...HCB and AA needs to be assessed separately, at least in my opinion; and there I find both overrated indeed.
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Have you ever looked at HCB's first book, "The Decisive Moment" ("Images a la Sauvette")? It may be the best photo book ever published because every picture in it is a classic. I can think of no other book in which every photograph is really good.

—Mitch/Bangkok
Bangkok Hysteria Book Project
 
rxmd,

Thanks for the clarification...

I don't feel anyone invented Bresson's style before... I feel Bresson's style is "pure" photography without irrelevant make-up... I can understand he said he was influenced by that photograph because that image is so honest and vital and for sure he liked it... I see Bresson's greatness, more than about "creating" a style, about there's no need for another new style because it's life what we have: a bit of time and nothing else... He used to say he didn't care at all about photography, but only about people... And he never said that "style" was his discovery... I think I (or others) don't want to imitate him or Frank or Winogrand... I think they just saw clearly what photography is about... It's just about life...

Maybe I feel his work -and how we respect his eye and taste for emotions+geometry- has no big relation with Leica to all people because I studied him and enjoyed him for years before knowing the word Leica... Also because he could have done the same images with other cameras... For him using the camera was a very small part, and the least important: he even composed without the camera: he said all the work was done by his eye, even framing... Then just camera up and click... He used Leicas because he trusted them, but the machines didn't have any influence on his images... And most people here on RFF respect evil SLRs too... And other RF brands too...

Cheers,

Juan
 
malland said:
Have you ever looked at HCB's first book, "The Decisive Moment" ("Images a la Sauvette")? It may be the best photo book ever published because every picture in it is a classic. I can think of no other book in which every photograph is really good.
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I know it. It's a good photo book, and the essay is interesting, but it's the same as with the exhibitions; and while I think most of the pictures are good, I don't think everything in there is a classic. There are other photo books that I like better. Regarding "The Decisive Moment", I'm not a completist, so I don't have a reprint - I'd probably buy one if I found one for sub-50 EUR - and an original would be too expensive anyway.
 
Steiglitz' 1907 shot of people on board in a ship is considered the start of modern photography forgetting pictorialism...

Sander's very famous and early shot (1913) of three guys with hats in the middle of nothing going who knows where, could be a Cartier-Bresson shot...

I mean photography woke up slowly from its painting birth, and by Bresson's time it was mature some time ago...

Cheers,

Juan
 
When all this is over can we please have a thread on underrated photographers ... I think it would be much more interesting.

Seriously!
 
Keith- why don't you start a thread on it.

I had the chance to see Ansel Adams work at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington last year. His work is great, he is a great photographer. Put his life into making these photographs and inventing new methods and techniques to make the images remarkable. Again- you had to see the original prints to truly understand the depth to them.

Does that mean that anyone finding some of his lost work at a yard sale can expect to make an instant $200million? Ansel Adams and the "yard-sale" was more hype than over-rated. I suspect there are many more under-rated photographers than over-rated photographers.

When I think of over-rated photographers, a few pop to mind. But some people like them. I cannot see why, but that is personal taste.
 
Keith said:
When all this is over can we please have a thread on underrated photographers ... I think it would be much more interesting.

Seriously!
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We see interest anywhere we want... The evolution of photography, from Stieglitz to Cartier-Bresson, can be of interest to some photographers... We can also deny interest anywhere we want to deny it... I'd enjoy the other thread... Who knows if as much as this one... Let's see...

Cheers,

Juan
 
Juan Valdenebro said:
We see interest anywhere we want... The evolution of photography, from Stieglitz to Cartier-Bresson, can be of interest to some photographers... We can also deny interest anywhere we want to deny it... I'd enjoy the other thread... Who knows if as much as this one... Let's see...

Cheers,

Juan
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When this discussion runs it's course Juan I think it would be fun and interesting to look at the other side of the coin ... but not yet! :)
 
A sad story surrounds Francesca Woodman. I like her imagery, but I find people make way too much noise about her work.
 
Underrated Ravilious... One of the greatest of all time to my taste... Intimate, moving, captivating, humble, powerful... He proves best photography can be done anywhere without even traveling and without looking for special places as Helmut Newton used to say too...

Cheers,

Juan
 
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I'm surprised Miroslav Tichy hasn't entered this discussion yet ... his photography definitely seems to polarize opinions of it's worth ... or not!
 
I would say that any photographer who has a Cult of Personality type following is overrated.

In my NOT SO HUMBLE OPINION, photographers who are overrated are those that have a significant non-photography following and Annie Leibowitz leads the pack. To me, her fame is more about her celebrity and not about her work, which I stress, is overrated.

As for Adams, when I decided to get back into film, I enthusiastically went to the bookstore to buy “The Camera” and “The Negative”. I remember from high school photography classes (when Adams was still alive) how we were taught about the Zone System and all that. After spending the past couple of months reading both books over and over again on my train commute to work, I have discovered that Adams was not “all that and a bag of chips (crisps for our Commonwealth friends)”. I guess that is what happens when we hero worship.

One other nominee; Helmut Newton. I mention him because I for very fortunate to have meet him before he passed away (it was a work related meeting) and he became my living photography hero. Now that I’ve had the chance to get several of his books and reprints, he has fallen into the “Overrated Hero” category.
 
And yet to many he's just a crazy old pervert with a weird camera! :D
 
Bresson and Frank

Bresson and Frank

Bresson kept going and going and did great work throughout. Frank moved on to film work which for me was not so great but i never did see cocksucker blues. But for anyone to say they are overrated is like saying Babe Ruth was not that good a ballplayer. Jealousy runs deep in this world. Overrated Tina Barney.
 
Keith said:
And yet to many he's just a crazy old pervert with a weird camera! :D
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Then I might be going in a good direction, as I was called pervert here on RFF for taking a photograph of two girls kissing on the beach! :D

First, when I read the comment, I thought it was a joke, but no! A mod had to delete that for "name calling"... I couldn't stop smiling... People are amazing and very interesting sometimes...

Cheers,

Juan
 
I'd also rather add to a thread about underrated photographers...did anyone start one that I missed somewhere or does someone still need to make it?
 
David R Munson said:
I'd also rather add to a thread about underrated photographers...did anyone start one that I missed somewhere or does someone still need to make it?
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If they haven't they should!

As Juan has already said, Ravillious. A true gem of a photographer, and one whose work I deeply appreciate having grown up in and around the county he photographed, well for a bit of my childhood anyway,

Vicky
 
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