[LargeFormat] Re: Admiration

[rstein]

 Dear Brock,

     You put forward and interesing thought in your last cameraderie
posting. The business of doing one's own thing in spite of the opinion of
others.

     I find that I agree with this to some extent but find myself wavering
on all sort of occasions. I hold sacred the right of the customer to get the
picture that they want  - provided that they know what they want and can
articulate it. I draw the line at pornography - and I use my own definition
of that - or copying someone else's images to avoid paying them the
appropriate fees - but pretty much anything else is fair consideration. If
there is no preference stated, I take it as an opportunity to express some
of my own vision.

    This is not to say that I accept all artistic direction. I make it plain
to my brides that I don't take tilted pictures with dark sepia brides in one
corner and dead fish in the other. If they want that sort of wedding they
must apply to one of the new graduates from the technical school. God knows
there are enough of them and their final exam work has a lot of sepia and a
lot of fish.

    Likewise in my large format work I refuse to use animal skulls, clocks,
silver balls or old railway engine shops in New Mexico. I subscribe to VIEW
CAMERA and I reckon the world has enough of these images. Ahem. Of course it
is different with Clive's work.....

    Do I scorn the admiration of others? Not a bit. I love it. I just don't
let it or the disapproval the same people evince when they turn the page of
the album reward me or punish me. I retain the right to do that.

     Uncle Dick

     PS: Mind - I can be bribed.