Digital BW, The Print

At 01:40 PM 8/5/2002 -0400, you wrote:
>
>
>Truman Prevatt wrote:
>
>>The photographer is not just one person. The photojournalist reports the 
>>facts, but in the hands of Cartier-Bresson, W. Eugene Smith, Lange and 
>>others the camera was used to convey the hopes, dreams and emotions of 
>>their subjects better than any other media could have done.
>>
>>There are many good photographer technicians  but the true photographer, 
>>the one whose photographs stand the test of time, are more than a 
>>reporter of fact, they covey in every shot their message, their passion 
>>and their emotion.
>>
>>  
>>
>Exactly...
>
>When I've lectured to photo students, I've said, when you shoot, think 
>first of the emotion you want to convey..  Given  that photography is 
>inherently limiting just in going from 3 or 4 to solely two dimensions, 
> you need to not just replicate reality, but to convey the emotion  that 
>is motivating you to choose that image as a subject in the first place..
>
>That's part of what Adams did with filters etc..
> 
>Keith
>


I believe photos contain little truth or "facts." They can only give the
viewer a text to study. The viewer sees them as a template to compare to
familiar experiences and expectations (symbols, beauty, emotions, etc.)
Going for an emotional hit is not an altogether bad idea but may simply be
playing to expectations. Journalistic photographs above all need to have
this quality. This doesn't necessarily make them good photographs but good
story telling. 

AZ
Maker of Lookaround panoramic camera.
http://www.panoramacamera.us
         or
keyword.com lookaround