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Thread: Kirk Tuck commenting on 4x5 video blog

  1. #1

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    Kirk Tuck commenting on 4x5 video blog

    https://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com/

    funny, sad & interesting

    "Of course, from my perspective, he's doing it all wrong. He got one thing right; he's shooting black and white film, but he got everything else in the "Art" package dead wrong."

    "I was appalled at how soft and weak photographers have become and, at the same time, tremendously amused because mastering a view camera seems infinitely easier to me than coming to grips, from a dead start, with the thousands of intricate bits of knowledge one needs to truly master PhotoShop. "
    ” Never attribute to inspiration that which can be adequately explained by delusion”.

  2. #2

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    Re: Kirk Tuck commenting on 4x5 video blog

    The conclusion of the blog post sums up what this guy is about:

    "I do agree that learning to work with a view camera in 2021 is just silly. Especially for a flighty dilettante."

    "Best that the V-Logger class stick with stuff that is automated. It's less embarrassing for everyone. If you aren't willing to put in the time and effort you're just wasting your own money and everyone else's time."

    Along the way, his contempt for YouTube is barely disguised, as is his propensity for sticking his nose in the air while looking down at others.

    He gets points for doing a great job of trying to turn people off large format photography.

    Quite something from a guy who's had a grand total of 27,496 views of his blog profile in 13 years.

    This was particularly amusing:

    "He's shooting film and then sending it to a lab for processing, and to someone else for scanning. But all the magic, all the stuff that makes a difference between all the other formats and large format, happens in the interpretive stages of darkroom work. You gotta get your hands wet."

    I guess we can dismiss all those iconic photographers who didn't do their own processing and printing as "flighty dilettantes" who didn't know what they were doing.
    Last edited by r.e.; 2-Sep-2021 at 11:19.

  3. #3

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    Re: Kirk Tuck commenting on 4x5 video blog

    His 'perspective' seems to be contempt (as r.e. has pointed out quite well) for anyone who doesn't do things his way.

    There are a lot of videos on LF that make me cringe a bit, but so what? There are quite a few that are very informative. Some just plain enjoyable to watch for any number of reasons.

  4. #4

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    Re: Kirk Tuck commenting on 4x5 video blog

    I saw the video he was commenting on - this is the link

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJwVUVU3vvA

    This is a man who live in New York and can't find anywhere that can develop film in less than a few weeks. Can afford a Fuji GFX100s but buying a couple of extra film holders is too much financial commitment. The whole thing is offensively clueless...watch at your peril preferably on a device that is cheap or won't break if you throw it across the room.

    The video exists because film photography seems to do well on youtube, so people follow the algorithm to get hits.

  5. #5

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    Re: Kirk Tuck commenting on 4x5 video blog

    Quote Originally Posted by Tobias Key View Post
    I saw the video he was commenting on - this is the link

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJwVUVU3vvA

    This is a man who live in New York and can't find anywhere that can develop film in less than a few weeks. Can afford a Fuji GFX100s but buying a couple of extra film holders is too much financial commitment. The whole thing is offensively clueless...watch at your peril preferably on a device that is cheap or won't break if you throw it across the room.

    The video exists because film photography seems to do well on youtube, so people follow the algorithm to get hits.
    Where to begin

    This Kirk Tuck guy and you have missed what the person who made that video is about by a mile.

    His name is Hugh Brownstone. He has a Masters degree from the Wharton School of Business and worked for most of his life marketing financial and health products. Nothing to do with photography. He says that he took early retirement after a heart attack, at which point he pursued an interest in filmmaking and photography. He does not live in New York, he lives in a small town of 5600 people in Pennsylvania. He has made a few videos for paying clients and apparently runs the occasional photography workshop.

    He is perhaps best described as an enthusiast. He's been making YouTube videos regularly since 2014. The fact that all that effort has resulted in only 82,000 subscribers should tell you something. Brownstone is a bit eccentric. He clearly loves writing and his videos are basically extended essays. He and his essays appeal to a fairly small group of people. I have limited patience for him, but I do like two qualities. He is self-deprecating and somewhat tongue in cheek, qualities that apparently went right over Tuck's and your heads.

    Sometimes, as here, the "essays" are occasioned by gear that has been given to him or leant to him for free. In this case, as he says himself in the video, Fuji and Intrepid were his benefactors. I guess that you missed that too.
    Last edited by r.e.; 2-Sep-2021 at 18:32.

  6. #6
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Kirk Tuck commenting on 4x5 video blog

    Just more endless web-Bondo "filler". I'll probably piss someone off, but his choice of an Intrepid as representing state of the art view camera design says it all. It's what he got loaned. I'm not going to waste my time watching the whole of it. If I were to comment on this kind of thing over on APUG, a swarm of hornets would be all over me. They'd be comparing the results of a cardboard box pinhole camera to a Leica instead. Ho hum - the print washer is probably full of water now... so off I go to do something real.

  7. #7

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    Re: Kirk Tuck commenting on 4x5 video blog

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    I'm not going to waste my time watching the whole of it.
    There's no point in watching the video unless you want to watch an ex-marketing guy with an affinity for complex sentence structure deliver a 12 minute monologue.

    I can't believe that this Kirk Tuck guy wrote an entire essay attacking him. Watch Brownstone for five minutes and the quirkiness comes through loud and clear

  8. #8

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    Re: Kirk Tuck commenting on 4x5 video blog

    Well, concerning social media/marketing garbage, my understanding is bloggers are basically the bottom of the barrel, even worse than youtubers.

  9. #9

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    Re: Kirk Tuck commenting on 4x5 video blog

    Quote Originally Posted by Michael R View Post
    Well, concerning social media/marketing garbage, my understanding is bloggers are basically the bottom of the barrel, even worse than youtubers.
    Ha!

    When I went to the link in the first post, one of the things that surprised me was that Tuck's rant was on Blogger. I didn't know that that platform even existed anymore. It felt like I was coming upon a lost soul on MySpace

  10. #10

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    Re: Kirk Tuck commenting on 4x5 video blog

    Quote Originally Posted by r.e. View Post
    Ha!

    When I went to the link in the first post, one of the things that surprised me was that Tuck's rant was on Blogger. I didn't know that that platform even existed anymore. It felt like I was coming upon a lost soul on MySpace
    Indeed. I'm no social media expert but this thread has probably generated the only traffic that bitter ramble will ever get.

    Honestly people like this Tuck fellow are so transparent it's sad.

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