At 11:40 -0700 15/1/03, James N. McBride wrote:
>Michael Kopp said:
>> > If a great photographer talks about light they're not a great
>> > photographer.
James McBride said:
>Absolute statements like this are usually wrong. Galen Rowell talked about
>light and his work is considered to be "great" by most people. /jim
Kopp replies:
My absolute statement was a response to another absolute statement, that
great photographers talk about light.
Obviously you didn't get it.
Galen Rowell was a fine photographer. He may even have been considered
"great" by "most people" -- but if so, "most people" don't understand the
meaning of the word "great", or they are using it -- as most people use
language today (there's another almost-absolute statement) -- in a degraded
way.
Greatness in photography means something transcendent about the images.
For all their beauty and depth of feeling about nature, Galen Rowell's
pictures are not considered "great" by people who judge photography
according to principles of artistic merit -- most of which have nothing to
do with light.
This is not to downplay the importance of light to good pictures or great
images.
But light, like all the other variables with which the photographer works,
is totally secondary to content, meaning and expression.
By these criteria, Galen Rowell was not a "great" photographer, and will
not be remembered as such by photographic history.
Hope this helps in the "absolute statements" department.
--
Cheers from Godzone,
Michael Kopp
Wellington, New Zealand
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|