[LargeFormat] Camaraderie

[Ole Tjugen]

Dear Uncle Dick,

You are an amazing man - you must have a mind like a maze...

Your question is one of the most difficult I've tried to answer on this list; 
if some of my answers to other question have led anyone to believe that the 
questions were difficult, that is sole due to my own ability to obfuscate the 
simplest answers.

Now to the answer(s):
First, there was Ansel Adams. Then I discovere that it was his printing I 
liked, more than his photography. He'll always be "Saint Ansel in the Dark" to 
me...

Then I switched to Robert Mapplethorpe, perhaps for the ruthless clarity he 
gave to all his pictures regardless of subject matter.

At this point I discovered that I was becoming a "detailoholic", confusing 
"soft" with "unsharp". Accordingly, I sat down with a large book and an 
equally large glass of whisky (single malt, from Islay).
When I came to myself the next morning, I had developed a deep love for the 
photographs of Julia Margaret Cameron. Out of focus, badly developed, even 
more badly printed, dust on the plates that you could grow roses in; but great 
pictures.

If you were to ask me instead whose pictures I would prefer to look at hoping 
to improve as a photographer, the answer would be totally different:
Caravaggio.
Rembrandt.
Tizian.
el Greco.
da Vinci.
and I.C.Dahl (just to be patriotic, seeing that I live in his landscapes:)


Ole
Norway


>===== Original Message From "rstein" <rstein@bigpond.net.au> =====
>Dear Loren,
>
>     Finding a good list to lurk on is a fine art. Even better is finding a
>quiet time on the list ( " You are! " " No, You Are!! " NO, YOU ARE DOUBLES
>AND NO RETURNS!! " and similar adult interactions...) during which time you
>can make a debut. Large Format is a good choice
>
>     What do you say when you first post? If you have a genuine technical
>question like how many rivets round a rectilinear you can ask it and sure
>enough someone will be able to either accurately quote the original factory
>spec. or lie so convincingly that it amounts to the same thing. In
>connection with this latter possibility I warn you never to set explosive
>fuses or treat weeping sores with any advice I give you....
>
>    If you need more general advice be prepared for either useful
>information or waffle. Often the waffle contains more truth and utility -
>working pro photographers have a vast fund of knowlege that they often don't
>get to share. See Steve Simel or Steve Sint publications for concentrated
>smarts.
>
>    If you want to start a controversy you can either bag a favourite
>product ( " Woo that TMAXACHROME really sucks...etc " ) and wait for the
>adherants of either brand or product to leap to the defense or you can ask
>whether someone really got good value from some course or instructor.
>Sometimes it is a dry hole. Everyone agrees with you and punches on to the
>next post. Keep drilling - you'll strike spleen eventually.
>
>    But sometimes you can get the most delightful insight into others by
>asking a non-threatening question that needs a considered response. Such as
>this one, with which I will end the post:
>
>    " Who do you consider your favourite photographer? And why? "
>
>     Uncle Dick
>
>
>
>
>
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