tokyo-camera-style: valerian: Lee Friedlander: The Printed...

tokyo-camera-style:

valerian:

Lee Friedlander: The Printed Picture

Highlights from the 9:43 video:  

————

From Richard Benson:

“One of the things we’re sad about today is that Photographers don’t walk around with a camera all the time and photograph without a project”

and 

“It seems as though a lot of photographers, and a lot of young photographers think they have to have a project- and this is very weird. Because it’s as though what you’re interested in is this idea of what you’re going to do rather than what you do. And one of the great lessons from Lee to me has been this voracious appetite and love of the photograph, and understanding that there’s a wisdom in the photographs that flow out of him and tells his mind what’s interesting.”

———–

Student: “Do you have any advice for us as students?”

Friedlander: “Yeah. Go out and work, when the sun comes up.”

———–

via my personal tumblr-  

 Lee Friedlander has been one one of the most formative influences on my understanding of photography and life since I was a student in college (getting to meet him in 2008 was unforgettable).  This video is a rare chance to hear him speak.

Richard Benson’s comments on camera-carrying are interesting- We can all agree that people in general now do carry their cameras around everywhere- it’s just that they’re iPhones and not Leicas.  Benson’s lament however is more directed at those who identify as “photographers”, particularly students. 

As this tumblr testifies, Tokyo is full of people with cameras around their necks- and snapping at life away is a fine way to do it. There’s a joy to simply going out into the world with a camera around your neck, something that Friedlander has in the past called “walking his camera”.   

I’m personally always mystified when I meet someone who tells me they are a photographer- but don’t have a camera on them.  Don McCullin put it best:  
“if you don’t carry a camera you are not a photographer”.  Friedlander’s final act in the video- pulling out a camera and flash from his pockets, brought a grin to my face. Even better though, is his advice to a young student in the audience-  “Go out and work”.

That’s all there is to it–   but what more could you really ask for?

RIP Richard Benson  (November 8, 1943 – June 22, 2017)