Feb. Portraits

[r.e.]

I think that's my cue to leave the room........

Whatever, it's not like an obsession with old lenses, dated Broadway plays and Burt Reynolds are the future of photography.

The February 23 issue of the New Yorker has a really interesting piece about the meaning of post-modernism under the guise of a review of a biography of Donald Barthelme. There was a time when that might get discussed on this site, and there were photographers involved in the forum who were dealing with those kinds of issues. These days, if they follow the site at all (and I know that a few of them do from time to time), they are silent.

People who participate in this site who are in age or heart under 80 might be interested in this as a portrait, the whole thing, including the video, shot with a Nikon D90 still camera: The pastiche on Breathless ain't bad either.

[Allen in Montreal]

..........

People who participate in this site who are in age or heart under 80 might be interested in this as a portrait, the whole thing, including the video, shot with a Nikon D90 still camera: The pastiche on Breathless ain't bad either.

Hummm....there is not one portrait on that clip.
There is some interesting documentary work of Train L and it's passengers,
but by the very nature of the beast, not a single portrait.

[Ash]

Did I just click onto p net?

[seven]

That Bergheim has a wonderful look to it. Any focus surprises? Is what you see close to what you get?

Here are a couple from the 42cm Perscheid...

Jim, no focus surprises so far, i'm very pleased with this lens.
wonderful Persheid pictures, especially the second one. i'm still missing this lens...

br,
rado

[seven]

Those statements capture a good deal of what is wrong with most of the photographs posted on this site that are alleged to be portraits.

r.e. - let's presume you're some native talented genius of portrait photography. why don't you enlighten us what's wrong with the portraits on this thread ? some constructive critique would be much more appreciated than your bad attitude and attempt to start a flame war...

br,
rado

[cjbroadbent]

Come back Jim. This thread is about encouraging people to experiment with LF portraits and you are a big encouragement.

[jb7]

Of course, if one doesn't know when one's own work is junk, and is encouraged to post it because one participates in a forum where the almost uniform response to anything that gets posted is that it is great, there isn't a great deal of incentive for self-evaluation, is there?

Encouragement is valuable, as much as critique.
Critique, or more often, just negative commentary, can often become no more than a mirror to our own prejudices.

I think this site is such a valuable resource, and Jim's pictures, although always annotated, are usually about more than the glass, although he is a one man vade mecum-

Pictures posted on the internet, especially images from large format cameras, reduced, can never be more than illustrations of an idea- I don't think that the famous portraitists you mentioned would have much of a chance today if they were limited to posting jpegs on the internet, 640px to a side.

The democracy of an open forum allows anything to happen, and for everyone who likes to share their passion, there will be somebody who will share their vitriol.

It's a forum, it's the nature of the thing.

Jim, don't leave the room...


j

[Frank Petronio]

I don't think there are many good to great photographers who produce their work in a vacuum. Posting sometimes mediocre work in a "safe" forum such as this one is a good way to learn. I think Galli's work is consistently good and while the lens data might be interesting if I wanted to duplicate his style, I usually ignore that and just enjoy his cast of crusty characters.

While I don't think he was very, umm, diplomatic about it, perhaps R.E. was complaining about the copycat, herd instinct that some people exhibit here when they think that by buying an old brass lens "like Galli" they can match his success.

[Steve M Hostetter]

Frank,, if you wanna know the truth I've seen your style of work in many different publications honestly though, can anyone these days be even remotely original..?

[Frank Petronio]

Well sure, those bastards copied me!

What's that quote? "Good artists struggle, great artists steal..." You start with some inspiration and shoot enough that it develops into your own. But choosing the right work to inspire you is important or otherwise you'd be starting with crap.