LenKowitz.com: W. Eugene Smith

Monday, March 24, 2014

W. Eugene Smith

According to David Vestal
"I'd been visiting Ralph Steiner on East 32nd. Street and was walking home on West 22nd. Street when I met Gene---W. Eugene Smith---on Sixth Avenue near 31st. Street. The reason he looks glum here is that he had been robbed. That happened to him often and he was used to it , but it bothered him this time. One of the stolen cameras contained exposed film from a job. Losing his hard won pictures was worse for him than losing equipment that he could replace."

1 comment:

Robert Langham said...: Eugene had a tough life. Never thought about cameras being stolen in NYC.....

I bet Vestal had some fascinating stories!; 10:17 AM

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It occurs to me...

I've been thinking about the business of making photographs and I'm going to use this forum as a place to share some of those thoughts.
I'll also post new pictures as they get to the "finished" state and provide information on how you can go about having your very own copy. Taking a cue from Duane Keiser, http://www.duanekeiser.com/ , I think marketing my own work is the best way for me to go, at least for the time being

As I think about becoming a "photographer", I've spent some time with people who have made that choice long ago and are now working very hard at it.The work they have produced is in many cases, excellent. What I have noticed is that the profession has a very low return on the time invested. It's far cry from my previous career where the return on my time was actually very high.
Great credit is due those individuals who choose to become photographers and then actually make a "living" by making pictures.

One night last week I took two "portfolios" to the Houston Center for Photogrphy to have them "reviewed". It was an interesting experience.
I was told that the landscape work had no relationship to the short set-up comments I made and that I should keep working on the blk&wht, "Ode to O'Keffee" portfolio.
It was pointed out to me that "landsape" work is highly competitive. Interesting observation, how did I fail to see that?
It occurs to me that showing my work to strangers is a productive activity, at least for me. Unfortunately, I probably gain more from the experience than those who see the pictures for the first time. Maybe it's a fault of the work, not strong enough or unusual enough? Maybe it's the "reviewers" problem?
In any case, it's all just opinion and not fact. I will continue to seek out the opinion of anyone who is willing to look at the pictures, I will also continue to make pictures that I like.