An inspirational video on Joel Meyerowitz

Mainecoonmaniac

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cliveh

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Has he ever appeared in Star Trek?
 
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Mainecoonmaniac

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He used to have a head full of dark, curly hair

cliveh said:
Has he ever appeared in Star Trek?
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But now is telling us to live long and shoot analog.
 

blansky

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His concepts of the relationships between the things in front of us is very interesting.

We all get fixated on people, objects and landscapes and attempt to capture them. The more "amateur" our work is, the more we usually do that.

BUT where our photographs really become elevated, are the relationships between that fixated person or object and something else. And the better we get at this photography thing, the better we get at the relationships.

When you look through the gallery here it's very obvious. The people that take photographs and the people that make them.

Don't show me your vacation, show me your journey.

I wouldn't skim over this video, because what he says is important.
 

cliveh

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If Joel Meyerowitz spent less time promoting his own images, I may pay more attention to what he is talking about.
 
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Mainecoonmaniac

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He always shot with 8x10

CatLABS said:
And this is all from the guy who brought you "ground zero with a deardorff 8X10".
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I think he's versatile. But shooting with an 8x10 makes you isolate yourself under a focusing cloth though.
 

cliveh

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MattKing

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I believe he is in the business of selling his own images, so I see nothing wrong with him promoting them.
 

cliveh

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MattKing said:
I believe he is in the business of selling his own images, so I see nothing wrong with him promoting them.
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True, but not in the general philosophy of his images within the context of art. That is for others to decide.
 
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Mainecoonmaniac

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That's why I love the Brits

cliveh said:
Well in England some of us regard modesty as a virtue.
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But the key is the artist to stay humble and have the agent and gallery do the promoting. I noticed Michael Kenna talks about his work honestly, but isn't much of a promoter.
 

hoffy

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cliveh said:
Well in England some of us regard modesty as a virtue.
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Its funny - while not photographers, the most famous Celebs I can think of from England at the moment are Gordon Ramsay, Lewis Hamilton and David Beckham. Now, what was that you were saying about modesty?

Back to Photography - I have always enjoyed Meyerowitz talking. He seems to speak about his inspiration and the way he works a lot better than a lot of other photographers. Its an interesting insight into how he achieves what he achieves and what he is trying to achieve.
 

MattKing

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It occurs to me that his discussion of his work in the video has great relevance for the current MSA: "Suggest"
 

LarryP

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Actually watched it all the way through now. He does make some good points about composition and being aware of what's happening outside the frame. My earlier snarkiness was prompted by the "finer instrument" line and working with both eyes open. I suppose I could just shoot everything in portrait mode or just continue shooting normally and paying attention to what is in and out of the frame.
 

blansky

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True, but I think his main point is, besides the Leica stuff, was that too often we find a subject to shoot, and get tunnel vision on that subject, when we should/could expand our field of view and instead get that subjects relationship to something else.

And that relationship, would make a more interesting picture.
 

blockend

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He's definitely on to something. My favourite cameras are a Bessa with Kontur viewfinder and a Fuji X-Pro1 which show detail outside the frame. There's something about selecting from what you can see, rather than being bounded by it, that allows more choices. Meyerowitz best street work stands up with most.
 

DREW WILEY

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It would be difficult to classify Meyerowitz as a self-promoter. He earned his fame long ago. And I mean earned it. Working hard drinking black coffee, no doubt, and not tea and crumpets while stuffily pontificating about affectations of humility. His street style is very different from his classic 8x10 work; but he has burned incredible amounts of film and made plenty of bellyflops. I've seen a lot of his early work, prior to widespread attention.
 
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