Thanks for all the wonderful nominations for the Top 10 Leica LTM photographers. Turns out that we have a "Top 20" list. Here are the results:

1. Henri Cartier-Bresson 2. David Duncan Douglas 3. André Kertész, 4. Brassaď (Gyula Halász) 5. Mr. Barnack 6. Stefan Kruckenhauser 7. Paul Wolff 8. Walter Benser 9. George Rodger, co-founder of Magnum 10. Robert Capa 11. W. Eugene Smith 12. Alfred Eisenstadt 13. Peter Stackpole 14. William Eggleston 15. Werner Bischof 16. Bob Todrick OR Rick Oleson! ;) 17. Ben Shahn 18. Isis 19. Eve Arnold 20. Maria Eisner

Now it's off to the library to review their work! Thanks again.

-- Tony Oresteen (aoresteen@mindspring.com), October 18, 2001

Answers

Actually, if we include Ben Shahn, we should include Walker Evans, since it was Walker who loaned Ben his first Leica, along with the advice "F/4 on the shady side of the street, f/11 on the sunny side, 1/60th of a second - and FOCUS!"

I think they were WPA roomies at the time (c. 1934)

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), October 18, 2001.

Brassai shot his famous "Paris de Nuit" with a small plate camera on an "old wooden tripod like a kneeling camel" and flashbulbs, which required him to make friends with the tough guys and prostitutes he was photographing. Late in his life he was described using the same rickety tripod under a medium-format folding Voigtlander with a cracked lens! Capa used a Leica in Spain but for most of his career shot with Contaxes and a Rolleiflex. But what about "Chim"?...

-- david kelly (dmkedit@aol.com), October 19, 2001.

Eve Arnold shot primarily with Nikon cameras. I have an old book with profiles of famous photographers where she talks about using 3 Nikon SLRs with 3 fixed focal length Nikon lenses.

I don't remember William Eggleston shooting his landscapes with Leica LTM cameras!

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), October 19, 2001.

Thanks for all the input! Perhaps we should have a "Leica Thread Mount Hall of Fame" instead of a "Top XX" list.

-- Tony Oresteen (aoresteen@lsqgroup.com), October 19, 2001.

Robert Frank used a IIIf in the early 50's before he got his M body,can't leave him out.

-- Michael Lardizabal (acmlny@netscape.net), February 09, 2002.