I said: > > ps: I don't think I agree ~entirely~ with your insight, for reasons I > > don't have time to get into right now, but I do agree somewhat, and > > you're insight's still brilliant <vbg>
To which Boris asked: > Thanks again <reasonably bg> ;-)... Mind if I kindly ask you to get > into the above reasons, because perhaps it would contribute to that > thread here... <snip> Well, I didn't want to get into it due to time constraints. I'm just sitting here at the computer waiting for my first call of the day from work, and I could be called away at any time, thus cutting short my reply. But, here goes: Seems to me that the time that it was taken is entirely relevent, but knowing a teensy bit about the photographers (less about St. Ansel), I think their histories and personalities may play a bigger part than when the photos were taken. IIRC, Adams was a musician before he was a photographer, a classically trained pianist, and that was reflected in his photos. He chose to find beauty in nature and in the world around him. He was raised in North America, a place that was insulated from the horrors of WWI, and other world conflicts, so his art wasn't a reflection of that reality known to much of the rest of the world. OTOH, HCB was raised in Europe while WWI raged, and he would have had much first hand knowledge of what that war did to Europe in general and France in particular. He was greatly influenced by surrealism, which was (IIRC) one of the artistic reactions to the senselessness of the slaughter in the trenches. In addition, during his formative years (photographically speaking), he was in Paris during the 20's. Certainly that was a time of great intellectual stimulation (cafes on the Left Bank and all), but there was great squalor, as well. So, it would be my opinion that these two photographers were influenced by their own pasts as much as "the present", at least in terms of when the two photos in question were taken. Still, I liked that you picked up on when they were taken as something that may have influenced the photographers' mindsets at the time, and I'm sure that had something to do with those results. cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
