Pico Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, California, April 13, 2014
Art, Documentary, or News: Photography and Racial Politics
That title suggests a lot, I know. These are amazing times online. There are at any point, almost surely simultaneous, multiple battles occurring in larger cultural wars over things like racial and sexual politics. The recent Stephen Colbert – Suey Park skirmish was fascinating, the back and forth analysis provided me, at least, with an education in the current taxonomy of racial and gender politics at least framed by a small subset of the larger culture.
Anyway, so it now falls on photography to fire our interest and further the fine-tuning of all of our racial and political sensibilities. Here specifically, in the article I’m linking to, the analysis turns towards two different presentations of the same photographs taken (obviously) by the same photographer and how those presentations differ and cross many lines. Some that are probably okay to cross and some that are, increasingly, not.
None of us really want to offend with our photographs or our presentation of them, or to have our work frowned upon by those who are more in-tuned, sometimes by way of professional experience and sometimes by way of their own personal experiences, to the myriad and shifting protocols surrounding photography that involves the lives of people who are not us. Whoever we may be.
Okay that was tricky. I have included a bunch of MY recent images that I do (or do NOT) think work well with this subject matter. (I refuse to say. ;-)) But I repeat, these are NOT the images referred to in the articles. These are my own images, taken yesterday in downtown Los Angeles. By me.
I would love to hear what others here have to say about all of this. Please feel free to jump in. I think one place to start, maybe most obviously, is what is the responsibility of photographers to click the shutter, or not, when seeing realities that also represent stereotypes in his or her viewfinder. That would be a starting point for one discussion, actually. The blurred line betweens art and documentary photography, presentation and commentary, etc., all are other fascinating angles as well. Anyway.
Here is a quote that describes what the writer of this piece does in the linked article. It’s a great idea. The result itself might elicit a more mixed response from readers.
Below, I step through the images that Politico ran, juxtaposing the caption of the photo from Raab’s site with the Politico caption with a brief comment on how that copy effects the meaning of the picture.
via Art Photography vs. News Photography: Politico, Race and the “Other Washington” — BagNews.
Apropos of Nothing at All
The Troubles I Have Seen
mister mojo risin’
Secrets of Hollywood
Let the Sunshine In
Miss Thai Town Los Angeles 2014
Electra
Alas, It Was Not Meant to Be
This very nice image aside, the Leica 75 APO-Summicron 2.0 ASPH lens I bought yesterday was a disappointment. I took it to a great Leica repair expert and he found no issues with the rangefinder or the focusing. But something wasn’t right. It was a used lens. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose. Back to the store it went. If I ordered this lens from B&H new I’m sure it would be stellar. It’s just that this one wasn’t. I’m kind of crushed, actually. Oh well. Sure does make me appreciate how fortunate I am to have some kit that really really hits the mark and satisfies my admittedly picky nature when it comes to lens performance. C’est la vie.
The Boys in the Band
Meet the Newest Member of My Family
No, not Rika, my main Leica pimp at BelAir Camera! It’s a new lens. The 75mm APO-Summicron 2.0 ASPH. Here NOT shown at its best, unfortunately. NO not because of Rika. Behave yourselves! It’s because I shot at ISO 160 which brought my shutter speed down to an arrogant 1/30th of a second. Too slow for my excited hands in that light. So you don’t really see the incredible sharpness of the glass wide open. But… uh… you do see the color and contrast of this incredible tool. Thank you and good morning!
No Fooling! I’m on Instagram at 50lux14
Construction Zone
Star Gazing
T-Max 3200 at Beverly Hills Fashion’s Night Out 2011
Los Wider Angles – Repost!
Under the Banyan Tree
Vivian Maier’s Moment of Recognition
We were scheduled to fly to Chicago this past weekend.
My plan, in tribute to the newly discovered street photography icon Vivian Maier, was to shoot in black and white and to post only images here cropped to a perfect square, the format produced by the reclusive nanny’s apparently very trusty Rolleiflex. (Although the above image shows Maier taking a self portrait with a Leica M.)
Unfortunately, we all caught a cold here in the big house and were forced to avoid a long flight and the shock of actually being in the Windy City at a time when temperatures there would be in the 20s. We stayed, as the song says, safe and warm in LA and shot the images you have seen (one of) and will see on 50lux in the coming days.
Little did I know, because nobody tells me anything, (wink here) but this was to be a big weekend anyway in the posthumous yet ever burgeoning career and legacy of this now very important photographer and practitioner of a type of photography that I feel so connected to.
The biggest news is that there is a film that premiered last fall but is just now being released and in theaters entitled “Finding Vivian Maier,” … due in some cities last Friday actually. Certainly it won’t be at the nearest mall’s cineplex outside Dayton or Altoona and I’m doing my best to find it here in Los Angeles and will go before it’s quickly yanked.
Here is the trailer.
The release of an actual film, of course, has made a nice ripple in the national media and here are also three excellent write-ups in the New York Times, New York Post, and Slate.
Enjoy, street photographers. It’s a rare moment that none of us will ever likely experience in our lifetimes. Although in Vivian Maier’s case that appears to be, in great part, by the artist’s own design.
Sunday Was Soft and Warm
Ain’t That Peculiar
Dani California
Light, Shades, Sunset Boulevard
Walk of Fame
Taking a Meeting
Come to Hollywood
LA’s Noir Legend Lives Again at Park Plaza Hotel
From The Park Plaza’s Wikipedia page:
Though the neighborhood has gone through a period of urban decay and now urban renewal, the building, replete with angels at every corner, has lost none of its ethereal beauty and elan, making it truly one of the classic examples of Claude Beelman’s architecture left standing in the modern world. The building is now vacant, mainly used as a rental for movie shoots and special events, however, the City of Los Angeles thought the architecture significantly important enough to warrant a City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department Historic-Cultural Monument No. 267, as far back as the early 1980s. This is significant in that many other Wilshire Boulevard area landmarks fell prey to the wrecking ball during that time period, such as the notable Brown Derby. Luckily, despite the demolition of important landmarks all around it, the grand entrance and ballroom of the Elk’s No. 99 / Park Plaza building still bears its old “jazz age” grandeur, much to the relief of Los Angeles architectural aficionados. The elaborate interior murals and decorative paintings were designed and executed by Anthony Heinsbergen and Co, noted painter of many Los Angeles cultural landmarks. The central design of the lobby ceiling is based on the Villa Madama, a Renaissance era project by Raphael and Giulio Romano.
If Death Comes I’m Ready
Lucky Dog
Travel Day
High Fidelity
Musical Interlude: Moving to Montana
Another REPOST of one of my little iPad Garageband ditties. Always very influenced by the music of Frank Zappa, I recreated a Montana guitar solo groove, a funky nasty little pocket to jam over in F# minor, and played my Gibson ES-335 through a little Vox Valvetronic bedroom amp. I need to do more of this in my spare time. I’ve been playing the guitar now for about 48 years. Probably won’t be able to tell from this, though. 😉
The Afghan Boogie
Like the war, it goes on way too long and has plenty of sour notes and questionable resolutions. But here the only thing that bleeds is your ears.
Re-posting a musical interlude. Great photo by a Marine in the battlefield, Cpl. Reece Lodder.
Garageband has (had) some very crappy (as usual) guitar amp ‘modeling’ feature. When I tried it last year it was very lame. But Apple is constantly upgrading Garageband, etc. So I tried it again, just plugged into my iODock and directly into the iPad. Wow. Wasn’t expecting to record a guitar solo I would want to share on the second try. The amp feature is now very usable. I like the rawness here; it’s not polished playing, but that’s okay.
Syrian Protest in Los Angeles
Love seeing those who hail from these beleaguered nations where their friends and family are living under murderous regimes enjoying the freedom we have in the US to protest those situations. M7, 35mm Summicron 2.0 ASPH, Walgreens 200.
Originally published here in November 2012 but after reading a recent article on the atrocities the regime in Syria has perpetrated against children, I think unheard of in any of our lifetimes, I wanted to repost these images as a reminder of the continuing hell that is Syria.
Scenes From a Drug Store
A Rodeo Drive Wedding
As Seen On Oscars Weekend
Los Angeles Times
Medium Shots
Family and Other Strangers
Forever 21
Palm Fronds
Workspace
You’re All Just Pictures To Me
A Monochromatic Palate Cleanser
Is That a LEICA Garbage Can?
A 50 ‘Cron goes to a Los Angeles Clippers game
Despite the name of this blog, my favorite camera lens is Leica’s legendary 50mm 2.0 Summicron. I think both the 50 and the 35 Crons are the bomb. The reason I own and shoot the 50’Lux is because of the additional capability of the f1.4 and the beautiful ‘special’ effects of shootings the lens wide-open or even at f1.7.
I highlight the word ‘special’ because the ability to shoot a lens at 1.4 and take for granted great sharpness and color and contrast AND beautiful lush bokeh is to give your photography almost a special effect capability.
But as you can see from the image above, the 50 ‘Cron, despite the gripes sometimes heard about a busy bokeh, is no slouch in producing almost the same special effect of a razor sharp subject and a wonderfully bokeh-licious background. And don’t even ask about color and contrast at f2. My reading of LFI magazine down through the years tells me that Leica considers their Summicron lenses to be without compromise; perfect in every way. I agree.
My 50 ‘Cron is one of the Canadian jobs. Probably 18 or so years old. I picked it up at BelAir camera for the laughable price of $475. Grab one if you can find it.
Oh, yes, this is a reblog of sorts. Done today in recognition of the NBA All Star Game…. which I won’t be watching and wouldn’t watch if you paid me. But still… 😉
Smoke and Shadow
Hollywood Color
City People
No great shakes here. More like a feeling. All these images were taken this past Saturday and Sunday. Seems to me that LA has shed the tourists and the holiday spirit and settled into itself once again. It’s a colder place than it was a month ago. Anyway, there’s a lot of shots. I do try to give anyone who visits here their money’s worth.
I left the last image, the stunning blonde sitting at a distance in the cafe , so that the image can be clicked on and examined at a larger resolution. It’s not a great or meaningful photograph. I posted it because I find it amazing sometimes what unlikely things you can do with a Leica pressed flat against your face. Thanks for looking!
50'Lux 
