HCB Appreciation

[Alex Benjamin]

Who cares how brusque he was with interviewers.

I agree. Good thing that was not what I was referring to!

 

[Don_ih]

Good thing that was not what I was referring to!

What I was referring to was using a 35mm camera.

 

[snusmumriken]

What I was referring to was using a 35mm camera.

Well, it had obvious advantages for spontaneous, candid photography. HCB was neither the first nor last to realise that. If you read about Picture Post (the British equivalent of Life magazine), you'll appreciate that photographers like Bert Hardy who adopted 35mm made all the running, elbowing out the Soho reflexes, etc. Several of those photographers (eg Kurt Hutton, Felix Mann) were refugees from Nazi Germany, arriving here with their own Leicas and setting the trend here.

 

[Don_ih]

Picture Post

Cartier-Bresson had already exhibited in new York years before that was first published - had already influenced Helen Levitt to buy a Leica. However obvious the advantages of using a 35mm camera are to us now, they weren't that obvious then.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I think that’s a good illustration of the challenge to the publishing industry and the photographic community at large. You know of those relatively unknown photographers because you are already so dedicated to photography that you would take an online class to study it. The challenge is how to reach people that are not quite that dedicated, but would benefit from being exposed to the artists. I don’t have an answer to that challenge, but believe the crux of the matter is money, as usual.

It's not money as much as there are more good photographers today than ever. We're overwhelmed with excellent pictures from around the world. Digital cameras and editing programs have improved the results of many good but not superb photographers. So the competition is great. Another factor is cheap self-publishing using companies like Blurb.

Also, in the old days, we read magazines such as Life that had great pictures by only a few selected photographers. So their fame grew due to exposure to a huge magazine market. Those publications are gone or hardly read today. So we tend to focus on past photographers whose fame is established and who we already know.

 

[snusmumriken]

Cartier-Bresson had already exhibited in new York years before that was first published - had already influenced Helen Levitt to buy a Leica. However obvious the advantages of using a 35mm camera are to us now, they weren't that obvious then.

I think you over-simplify hugely. There were many threads to the story, and despite his eventual fame, HCB was just one of them. You might find the attached excerpt interesting, perhaps?

 

[ezphotolessons]

View attachment 341209

Just pure magic in every sense of the word.

 

[Arthurwg]

HCB was a great photographer. One of the greatest.
But there are some persisting myths:

• Not all his pictures were decisive moments see
  https://petapixel.com/2016/05/25/contact-sheets-story-behind-every-photo/
• He did not use exclusively the 50mm focal length. The picnic on the bank of the Marne river is clearly (imo) taken with a 35mm lens. And there are pictures of HCB with an auxiliary finder see e.g. (not the only one) :

Plus, he had a caustic/abrasive personality, as documented by some colleagues (sorry, I don't index all my reading) and from second-hand account (first-hand account by a friend). Granted, this has little to do with his artistry.

I wonder why he favored that viewfinder on his Leica.

 

[Elmarc]

I wonder why he favored that viewfinder on his Leica.

Maybe for compositional purposes. One cannot see outside of the frame with these early Leitz finders and in the case of that particular one (Vidom) the image is reversed like a TLR

 

[cliveh]

I wonder why he favored that viewfinder on his Leica.

That viewfinder is in all my posts (see picture on left) and I have tried to explain why this is the greatest asset to any 35mm camera many times on APUG. But people just don't get it and so I have given up trying to explain. I use one all the time.

 

[koraks]

I have tried to explain why this is the greatest asset to any 35mm camera many times on APUG

Perhaps you could explain it again sometime. I just did a search and can't find a post of yours that features the word 'viewfinder' and that explains your preference. https://www.photrio.com/forum/search/19200/?q=leica+viewfinder&c[users]=cliveh&o=date This record only goes back to 2011 it seems, so it may have predated that year.
It's a genuine question btw; I'm curious. No pressure though; whenever you feel like it.

 

[Arthurwg]

I wonder why he favored that viewfinder on his Leica.

Yikes! I asked AI why HCB used a VIDOM finder and got an answer that claimed the finder's left to right reversal helped to "abstract" the image from the subject, which helped with composition. Sounds plausible.

 

[GregY]

That viewfinder is in all my posts (see picture on left) and I have tried to explain why this is the greatest asset to any 35mm camera many times on APUG. But people just don't get it and so I have given up trying to explain. I use one all the time.

It's so pixellated you can't tell what it is....

 

[cliveh]

OK, let me try and explain again. The VIDOM finder allows you to view different angles of view for different lens focal length (not I believe why HCB used this attachment for most of his life). It also allows adjustment for parallax (not I believe why HCB used this attachment for most of his life). The wonderful thing about this viewfinder is not only as stated in the post above (left to right reversal helps to "abstract" the image from the subject). This left to right reversal coupled with the Leica M viewfinder (see outside right and left frame finders and above and below the frame finders), lets you assess if you should print the negative shiny side up or shiny side down for compositional reasons. But the best and by far overriding purpose for using The VIDOM finder, which I keep in situ all the time, is that by twisting the back of the finder, you can see the image upside down. This is a fantastic compositional aid, which allows you to view the image as photographers do when using a large format camera. Seeing an image as floating tones and forms divorced from subjective content. Amen.

 

[Pioneer]

Thanks Clive. Makes perfect sense.

 

[Don_ih]

I think you over-simplify hugely.

I didn't oversimplify. I wasn't making a statement of universal truth or making any profound claims about reality.

 

[warden]

OK, let me try and explain again. The VIDOM finder allows you to view different angles of view for different lens focal length (not I believe why HCB used this attachment for most of his life). It also allows adjustment for parallax (not I believe why HCB used this attachment for most of his life). The wonderful thing about this viewfinder is not only as stated in the post above (left to right reversal helps to "abstract" the image from the subject). This left to right reversal coupled with the Leica M viewfinder (see outside right and left frame finders and above and below the frame finders), lets you assess if you should print the negative shiny side up or shiny side down for compositional reasons. But the best and by far overriding purpose for using The VIDOM finder, which I keep in situ all the time, is that by twisting the back of the finder, you can see the image upside down. This is a fantastic compositional aid, which allows you to view the image as photographers do when using a large format camera. Seeing an image as floating tones and forms divorced from subjective content. Amen.

Neat-o, it does all that? It'd be interesting to try one out sometime.

 

[Arthurwg]

Now that I know HCB's secret, I'll become a genius photographer!

 

[cliveh]

I only found out about the benefits of a VIDOM finder late in life. Cartier Bresson never mentioned this and kept it to himself, but one of my students did his A-level study about another Magnum photographer and when I read it he mentioned how Cartier-Bresson had shown him how this finder let him see the image upsidedown.

 

[cliveh]

Now that I know HCB's secret, I'll become a genius photographer!

No, it's not that easy. Equipment is only an aid. You still need to spend a lifetime of dedication to achieve a realisation of the image.

 

[Don_ih]

You still need to spend a lifetime of dedication to achieve a realisation of the image.

Whereas Cartier-Bresson only needed to spend a couple of years.

 

[Pioneer]

If this catches on my VIDOM might be worth something...

 

[Don_ih]

If this catches on my VIDOM might be worth something...

It is worth something - about $25.

Cartier-Bresson moved on to more practical viewfinders as they became available.

 

[Pioneer]

It is worth something - about $25.

Cartier-Bresson moved on to more practical viewfinders as they became available.

Maybe the value will go up if I say that HCB used it!!

 

[snusmumriken]

Cartier-Bresson moved on to more practical viewfinders as they became available.

Indeed he did:

Or none at all: