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View Full Version : LF = looking like a clown = surviving in a warzone



paulr
4-Dec-2006, 11:19
"You know, the camera I use is made of wood – it's a 4x5 field camera, made of mahogany and brass – and it looks like an antique. Part of what I do is I make sure I don't look very serious – it's best to look like a harmless dickhead, really, so no one bothers you. You look like a nutter. And, to be honest, I play that up: I've got the bald head, and the Hawaiian shirt, and, to look at the image on the back of the camera, you have to put a blanket over your head and go in there with a magnifying glass, and it’s always on a tripod.

So I have two choices: I can either do these images from a speeding car, or I can stand there with a blanket over my head, and look like such a prick that somebody's going to find me through their rifle scope and think: Oh! What's that? Let's go down and have a look... I can’t believe that photographers go into war zones dressed like soldiers! Soldiers are the people they shoot at. If I could wear a clown suit I would do it – if I could wear the big shoes and everything. I would wear the whole fucking thing."

Simon Norfolk interview
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/warphotography-interview-with-simon.html

tim atherton
4-Dec-2006, 11:28
Interesting interview with Simon Norfolk - don't really know how you describe his work - "conflict" photography?

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/warphotography-interview-with-simon.html

other links here:

http://simonnorfolk.com/

http://deutsche-boerse.com/dbag/dispatch/en/kir/gdb_navigation/about_us/30_Art_Collection/40_artists/51_norfolk

tim atherton
4-Dec-2006, 11:50
Ummm... you and paulr need to stop channelling each other (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=21499). ;)

hmm - I guess my title's a little less cryptic...

Marko
4-Dec-2006, 11:54
Having seen warzones, he should know better than assume that a sniper would not intentionally shoot at a photographer...

Besides, it's so much easier to run in military boots than in clown's shoes. And running, as everybody who's been even close to one of those (the warzones, I mean) knows, is the most useful combat skill, especially for non-combatants.

Oren Grad
4-Dec-2006, 12:29
Speaking of warzones, another interesting story, about the photo-documentation of an execution in revolutionary Iran:

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116499510215538266-w6oLtTyb6LO2glORvqxTV1PwiTM_20061211.html?mod=blogs

Hat tip to Kevin Drum (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_12/010332.php).

tombob
8-Jun-2007, 16:12
i went to a lecture of simon norfolks in london a couple of years ago, facinating, he was my introdution to largeformat and one of ym biggest influences as a documentary photographer, i even go to the same uni he studied at

cyrus
8-Jun-2007, 20:37
That's exactly my gripe about photo vests! I look like I'm role-playing as a wanna-be commando! Why or why are the manufacturers of these things so obsessed with khaki!

Duane Polcou
8-Jun-2007, 22:52
Actually, in many third world nations, camouflage and combat boots IS a clown suit, made famous by the beloved Achmed el-Bozo.

Brian C. Miller
9-Jun-2007, 17:22
Besides, it's so much easier to run in military boots than in clown's shoes. And running, as everybody who's been even close to one of those (the warzones, I mean) knows, is the most useful combat skill, especially for non-combatants.

From wearing combat boots for four years, I cannot concur with that statement. It is far easier to run in running shoes, and its far more comfortable and better on the feet.

The most useful "combat skill" is getting behind cover. Moving object really stand out, and bullets travel much farther and faster than you can run.

Marko
9-Jun-2007, 18:56
From wearing combat boots for four years, I cannot concur with that statement. It is far easier to run in running shoes, and its far more comfortable and better on the feet.

Well, my comparison did not involve running shoes :). Having worn both myself (combat boots and running shoes, that is), I can see your point, but I still remain respectfully unswayed. If that were indeed so, I'm sure most armies would be issuing Nikes, Merrells or Salomons instead of combat boots. They have their very clear advantages, IMO, in both urban and other forms of combat.


The most useful "combat skill" is getting behind cover. Moving object really stand out, and bullets travel much farther and faster than you can run.

Personally, I'd aim for the target moving toward me rather than the one moving away.

But OK, looks like we've both been there, and the fact that we're both here now tells me that each of us must have been done something right. Right? :)