Got my books and my cameras with me tonight in the guardhouse. Am reading, learning (Gene Smith biography), and looking at photo books (for inspiration). One of the benefits of working as a security guard is that you sometimes have time to learn as you work, to think, to plan, to dream (no sleeping thou!).
The book on the lower left is "Just Another Indian" the tragic story of the serial killer deaths of 4 indigenous women and the indifference shown by Canada to those terrible murders. The 2 photo books are Sebastiao Salgado's "Exodos" and W. Eugene Smith's "Minamata". The biography on the right is "W. Eugene Smith Shadow & Substance" (by Jim Hughes).
The cameras are a Leica 6.2 with 21mm F4 lens, and a Leica M4-P with a 90mm F2.8 lens. I also recently bought motor drive for the Leica SLR. Got the thing for $16.82 CAD. Not sure I will take it to Thai because of the weight, but it is a nice little addition to the shooting capabilities of the camera. I have never shot the M4-P in the field, but might take it to Thai with me this coming trip. Might also take the 90mm which I rarely use but thought it could give me more opportunities to vary my compositions somewhat. I usually shoot up close and personal but sometimes a longer lens is useful. Composing in that little tiny rangefinder window could be interesting thou. This M version 90mm lens is much smaller and lighter than if I bought something for the R body.
Note* Am also reading another Smith biography "Gene Smith's Sink A Wide-Angle View" (by Sam Stephenson). Thanks to my friend Larry in Texas for sending me this copy. Mr. Stephenson's moving account of seeing a 25x40 version of "Tomoko Uemura in her bath" got me all teared up this evening. I feel this is the greatest photograph ever made. It is shown in the open top right "Minamata" book. The photograph is about the ever lasting and unconditional true love a mother feels for her child. There is nothing in the world more beautiful than that. Her young daughter is a suffering from a birth defect as a result of Mercury poisoning. The beautiful young girl could neither speak or see. Smith wrote emotionally about the life of Tomoko, and about how he always saw her loved by her entire family.
The book on the lower left is "Just Another Indian" the tragic story of the serial killer deaths of 4 indigenous women and the indifference shown by Canada to those terrible murders. The 2 photo books are Sebastiao Salgado's "Exodos" and W. Eugene Smith's "Minamata". The biography on the right is "W. Eugene Smith Shadow & Substance" (by Jim Hughes).
The cameras are a Leica 6.2 with 21mm F4 lens, and a Leica M4-P with a 90mm F2.8 lens. I also recently bought motor drive for the Leica SLR. Got the thing for $16.82 CAD. Not sure I will take it to Thai because of the weight, but it is a nice little addition to the shooting capabilities of the camera. I have never shot the M4-P in the field, but might take it to Thai with me this coming trip. Might also take the 90mm which I rarely use but thought it could give me more opportunities to vary my compositions somewhat. I usually shoot up close and personal but sometimes a longer lens is useful. Composing in that little tiny rangefinder window could be interesting thou. This M version 90mm lens is much smaller and lighter than if I bought something for the R body.
Note* Am also reading another Smith biography "Gene Smith's Sink A Wide-Angle View" (by Sam Stephenson). Thanks to my friend Larry in Texas for sending me this copy. Mr. Stephenson's moving account of seeing a 25x40 version of "Tomoko Uemura in her bath" got me all teared up this evening. I feel this is the greatest photograph ever made. It is shown in the open top right "Minamata" book. The photograph is about the ever lasting and unconditional true love a mother feels for her child. There is nothing in the world more beautiful than that. Her young daughter is a suffering from a birth defect as a result of Mercury poisoning. The beautiful young girl could neither speak or see. Smith wrote emotionally about the life of Tomoko, and about how he always saw her loved by her entire family.
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| Tonight's learning |
