Hi, I think it was Elliott Erwitt who made the 'postcards' remark, but I can't find a source for it. Erwitt's jokes are all very serious.
I'm not a great fan of St. Ansel, although I understand his significance in photo history, and in the US environmental movement. So I might be considered one of the people who 'diss' him (what an odd word). This is, I believe, at least partly a well-deserved corrective to the semi-religious and thoughtless fawning of some of his fans, and to the tradition he spawned, probably unwittingly, of treating negative and print quality as important ends in themselves, rather than as techniques that serve the subject matter. There's nothing worse than a painting or photo labelled 'School of...'. Another joke somebody made at Ansel's expense: "Gee Ansel, aren't there any people in New Mexico?". --- Bob mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Thursday, March 28, 2002, 6:40:17 PM, you wrote: > Ann Sanfedele >>Who was it that made the flip remark (well, maybe not flip) >>that his photos were "postcards"? this came up over dinner >>with friends who were excedingly reverential toward Adams. My >>recollection was it was another photog of some standing. Also >>thoght we had been discussing that quote _here_ recently, but >>my gray cells may be fooling me. > I don't know if it was discussed here, but I've noticed that it's become > very fashionable in some circles to diss Ansel Adams. The preferred technique, > for those who are interested, is, upon mention of his name, to sniff and > say "Yes, he was a fine *printmaker*, I suppose", so as to downplay his > artistic ability whilst maintaining a level of credibility by not dismissing > him totally. - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
