So even being a HCB is not the zenith of the Everest. We all are humans, we all will die some day.
This, to me, seems an appeal to pure sentiment and an attempt to lionize mediocrity. Sure, we're all mortal, so in that sense we're all equal. It's a universal truth we sometimes forget, but it's still rather obvious. And mortality is a
given isn't it? No one has to earn their mortality.
Since this is a photography website, I would hope that readers here would rather automatically give some greater measure of respect to HCB than they would to, say, some middle-aged guy with a nifty camera collection who gets hit by a bus. No disrespect to the latter, particularly if he's known to you, but HCB, no matter what your opinion of his photos, is a man who did nearly all a person can do with a camera in a lifetime. Simple observation, and a degree of humility, should make that clear enough.
I've read the comment numerous times on this, and other, photography websites that HCB is "over-rated," and there's a degree of truth in that; particularly on Leica forums, you read alot of reverential blather about the man solely because he used a Leica; lots of gear-related talk about what lens or body he used to get a particular shot, etc. What doesn't get discussed nearly often enough is his artist's eye for geometry and light and his hunter's instinct. People who should know better talk endlessly about his weapon of choice but entirely miss the point that it was his skill in its use that made him what he was. But he's not to blame for the internet buzz of people who think that owning the same brand of camera means they're walking in the man's footsteps, is he?
I'm guilty of this myself. I avoided looking closer at his work for a long time simply because I was tired of all the brand-obsessed chatter. And, I must confess, I allowed myself to believe for a time, on a subliminal level, at least, that owning the finest-made camera on the planet somehow made my pictures better. I was wrong on both counts, of course. His work is not diminished by the cult of brand worship attached to his name and mine was not improved by owning the same brand of camera he used.
I've wandered a little off track here, but even if HCB isn't at the "zenith of Everest," he's certainly somewhere near the summit for photographers not because his art is some unassailable model of photographic perfection (as if such a thing could even exist) but because he cleverly used the new technology of his day to create a new way of making photographs, and he left behind an impressive body of work. Between the mortal bookends of birth and death the man got a lot done with a camera. Whether you're a professional photographer or a hobbyist, you have to tip your cap to that.
In any event, thanks, Ruben, for starting a very lively thread.
