Why so many men, so few women?

I prefer not to generalise when it comes to male or female "behaviour". While I see difference in certain behaviour with many women here in Holland, at work, etc; in Mongolia I hardly notice similar differentiated behaviour. I think much has to do with society, the individual man/woman, and how much value is placed on "bonding". The whole notion of networking is mostly absent outside the professional western/westernised world, and thus many of the notions about women talking and men being technical don't apply as pronounced as they do in the West. I found that in Mongolia and India men are just as talkative and gossipy as women, and that women are often forced to be technically knowledgeable. Women just view a technical matter differently: it's got to get fixed, not yapped about.
 
A year ago my girlfriend was talking alot about how she'd like to have a manual camera. A good,simple manual camera where she's the director not some chip. SO i got her a minolta slr with full manual and aperture priority only, and some lenses.

She was willing to carry the whole kit around for a week in Paris, and other places. She loves to switch lenses, to play with the aperture ring, to walk around for the best angle. She's very pleased with the gear.
But she almost never talks about it. Once i noticed that she knows what the aperture ring is doing (physically and to the DOF as well) but she had no idea that it was called "aperture".
 
JD, whatever you're refering to, I reckon if it's available in Holland it's available in the US as well. 🙂
 
Hi AndColor,
I knew we had to have at least one female in this crew. Personally I'm glad to see a few women here too as I find their views on photography more geared toward the actual shot and content than the gear, conditions etc. I find every opinion refreshing since I tend to get stagnant in my ways if I don't have a fresh photo album or site to look at once in a while. Keep posting and I hope to see more of your work one of these days.
 
Thanks Curt,
I don't post a lot of shots, but you are welcome to look at my website. <http://homepage.mac.com/andcolor/

Some of my friends think I am an equipment junkie. Not really, I just like having things I can and will use often. I don't like switching cameras a lot because the feel of each one is different and i don't want to think about it every time I shoot. The Leica and the X-Pan are all I use for film. It would drive me crazy to have any more cameras. I do use a digital of course. digis are the best learning tool ever invented.

And yes, I care much more about the shot and the interaction between me and the subject. I don't want equipment to intrude. Large lenses, mega bodies, 10,000 buttons and loud shutters are just plain annoying to me. Give me a descrete small rangefinder any day. that's this lady's opinon. ;-)
 
AndColor,
It's great having a woman's perspective here. I too, like the small RF for street/people shots. They are quiet and non-threatning. We'd like to hear more from the women's POV 🙂
 
Linda, would it be fair to say that Hopper's work is an inspiration to your oil painting? Wonderful light.
 
AndColor said:
Thanks Curt,

And yes, I care much more about the shot and the interaction between me and the subject. I don't want equipment to intrude. Large lenses, mega bodies, 10,000 buttons and loud shutters are just plain annoying to me. Give me a descrete small rangefinder any day. that's this lady's opinon. ;-)

Linda

Words of wisdom, that we should all live and shoot by.

Russ
 
Oh yes. I love Hopper's paintings. Especially the compositions. Also that particular American subject matter and solitude. But also, I love Vermeer. A master of light and composition. There are so many wonderful painters. Locally, Robert Bechtle, Wayne Theibaud...I couldn't begin to list them all. Sometimes though, I think the main influence on my paintings is Walker Evans. Does that put me firmly in the wishy washy camp? oh, well. thanks for asking Rich. linda
 
Being a true "individual" some of the things Diane Arbus said were profound in their simplicity. One of my favorites -
"But there's a kind of power thing about the camera. I mean everyone knows you've got some edge. You're carrying some slight magic which does something to them. It fixes them in a way"😎
 
Back
Top Bottom