jeffbuck@swcp.com
Date: 08/29/02-04:31:41 PM Z
Yeah, but Judy, I really like my view cameras, I dowanna do little teeny
cameras now, waaaaahhhh, blah blah blah -jb
Judy Seigel <jseigel@panix.com> said:
>
> On Thu, 29 Aug 2002, Carl Weese wrote:
>
> > I also don't understand the business of view cameras being slow. Of course
> > they aren't as fast as a 35mm, but the notion that it takes hours to make
a
> > photograph with a view camera is nonsense. When I teach view camera
>
> Did I say "it takes hours"? I know how long it takes, having seen it &
> done it, and even if I cut the time in half, or down to 20%, it's a very
> different "take," including the fact that it's soooooo conspicuous. Who
> was it (Jack ?) said the 35 mm mavens I referred to were voyeur
> flaneurs... You can't be a flaneur or voyeur with a tripod. I hung out at
> Times Square for 4 + years, imagining myself a fly on the wall. I went
> into video parlours with camera around my neck, cable release in my
> pocket... True, there were some *architecture* shots I wish I'd gotten
> with rising front et al, of buildings I loved now gone... but there were
> plenty of folks doing that sort of thing & I trust they got those.
>
> However the tripod has its uses. Phallic symbol, my dears -- that is, it
> lends POWER! One night I set up the tripod in front of one of those porn
> magazine & video stores, and just shot & shot, good view of well lit
> interior & customers. Nobody, NOT ONE PERSON objected. If I'd just been
> standing there shooting camera, to my eye, they'd have clobbered me. But
> a couple of folks asked if I were waiting for the rest of the video
> crew. Seeing the tripod they assumed TV -- and loved the thought, I
> gathered: Wow, we're on TV !
>
> As it happened, the light was so extremely contrasty those pictures never
> printed well. But if I ever get through this computer minefield I hope to
> make them right with photoshop.
>
> > ....When I spend a day out looking for pictures, I take forever
> > looking at things, deciding whether I want them or not. When the decision
is
> > yes, I seldom spend more than a couple minutes making the picture whether
>
>
> But my point is I rarely know that in advance. Wasn't Garry Winogrand the
> one who said he took pictures to see what something looks like
> photographed? You're making the decision in advance... maybe you can.
> Maybe you have a certain aesthetic that's run through your higher critical
> faculties avant la lettre. I can't tell until I see what the camera did
> to it.
>
> > it's done with my 5x7 or my 12x20 or something in between. If I want to
> > respond to subjects _instantly_ I work with Leicas, but using a view
camera
> > doesn't prevent you from working fast.
>
> It's all relative... Fast for a bicycle isn't same as fast for a racing
> car.
>
> J.
>
>
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