More M stuff in Nat Geo

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This issue has a story on the Po River, pix by Bill Allard. One photo really stands out for me. The light in the vineyard shot on pg 98/99 is just achingly beautiful.

I was surprised, though, how many of the shots were simply workmanlike as opposed to inspired. I can't tell how much of this is the photographer and how much can be laid at the feet of NatGeo's editorial and business policies. Compared to Rob Appleby's stuff on display at digitaljournalist...

There's a shot of Allard in the On Assignment section showing him with a pair of M6's - one looks like it has a 21 or 24, the other maybe a 90 APO.

-- Paul Chefurka (paul@chefurka.com), April 08, 2002

Answers

Speaking of Allard, I can recommend two books of his: A Time We Knew, which is an essay on the Basque people that he did in the late sixties, and Portraits of America, a newish anthology of his work, including such subjects as the Amish, the West, baseball, the Blues Highway, etc. At least one major photographer at NatGeo has been directly influenced by him, Joanna Pinneo (whose photograph of a Mali family sleeping during a sandstorm graces the dust jacket of NatGeo's Women Photographers).

-- Anon Terry (anonht@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002.

At the risk of straying a little off topic, here is an article written by Ms. Pinneo on working for NatGeo:

Working For National Geographic Magazine

-- Anon Terry (anonht@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002.


Off-topic, Anon ? Not for me, at least.

Thanks for the link. Extremely clarifying and well written too.

Regards

-Iván

-- Iván Barrientos M (ingenieria@simltda.tie.cl), April 08, 2002.


A few more links would be nice,great magazine where among the best Leica Photographers reside.

-- Allen Herbert (allen1@btinternet.com), April 08, 2002.

These are Allard oldies but goodies:

Blues Highway
High Noon

Another NatGeo Leica photog of note is Nina Berman. She writes, "My Times Square work is quiet, and I don’t use a flash. I feel very strongly about not wanting to bring any other light into the place. I shoot with a Leica M6, and that helps."

Scenes From Times Square

-- Anon Terry (anonht@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002.



Oh, and how could I forget - for anyone who wants the nitty gritty on Allard philosophy and technique, I highly, highly, HIGHLY (did I mention highly?) recommend William Albert Allard: The Photographic Essay. If ever there was an instruction manual for NatGeo style street photography, this is it. It's a good dozen years out of print but you can usually find it at Amazon.com's ZShops (used) section.

-- Anon Terry (anonht@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002.

Anon, the Pinneo sandstorm picture is one of my favourites of all time. It has everything a picture could or should have, IMO - intimacy, perfect light and colour and composition. It puts you there, as a member of the family. Just a breathtaking picture, one of the best I've ever seen. Glad it caught your eye too.

-- rob (rob@robertappleby.com), April 08, 2002.

Excellent links. I thought it quite telling that, in Pinneo's entire article, only one sentence mentioned camera equipment.

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), April 08, 2002.

And the equipment wasn't even hers, it was Harvey's. It's interesting that out of all the NG photographers who use Leica M, Dave Harvey is the one that is most explicitly linked with the marque.

-- Paul Chefurka (paul@chefurka.com), April 08, 2002.

Anon, the Pinneo sandstorm picture is one of my favourites of all time. It has everything a picture could or should have, IMO - intimacy, perfect light and colour and composition. It puts you there, as a member of the family. Just a breathtaking picture, one of the best I've ever seen. Glad it caught your eye too.

Agreed. There's another picture that I also love, but loathe to look at:

Songs For The Dying

That one is by Lynn Johnson, another NatGeo Leica M photog. Heartwrenching is the only word I can find to describe it.

-- Anon Terry (anonht@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002.



RE: Bill Allard - one of HIS first early stories for Nat. Geo was also one of the first that caught my eye and made me think NG MIGHT be worth looking at - By motorcycle along the US/Mexico border - he was using Nikon Fs then (c. 1970).

One reason DAH gets noticed as the "Geographic Photographer with a Leica" is because he's on the staff (12-month paycheck) - most of the others are agency freelancers who get the occasional assignment on contract or day-rate.

It's also why Harvey gets the REALLY EXCITING assignments like the zipUSA pages everyone derides. The staffers get the quick-and-dirty assignments, in between the glory jobs.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), April 08, 2002.


thanx anon, i like to see your links, great contribution. keep up the good work.

-- Steve (leitz_not_leica@hotmail.com), April 08, 2002.

Bill Allard gave a slide show at the NG last week. He showed slides from Portaits of America. His images are outstanding. He is very emotional about his work and a perfectionist. He mentioned his Leica rangefinder but I imagine he also uses an SLR, but I don't know.

-- David Enzel (dhenzel@vei.net), April 08, 2002.

Thanx, Anon. I look at these and wonder what film he used; what lens; what did they meter off, and was it the camera's meter or a hand held meter. The film had to be at least ISO 400, I would think. If the world was left with but one film speed, 400 would be my choice.

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), April 08, 2002.

Thanx to you, also, Paul.

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), April 08, 2002.


Thanks to everyone the links are totaly inspiring, and the background info sheds a whole new light on some of the misconceptions that I had

-- Andy Wagner (awagner@midwest-express.com), April 08, 2002.

Hey, glad to note there is a fan club for that Pinneo sandstorm mom and kids picture.

When that issue of Nat. Geo landed on my front doorstep, I must have stared and stared at that gorgeous shot for an hour, and then I showed it to anyone whom I thought would appreciate it. Perfection, perfection...

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), April 08, 2002.


By the way, one of my favorite Allard shots is of Luther Allison in Memphis, taken in 1997 for Blues Highway. This and Marshall's shot of Jimi Hendrix Sound Check are my two favorite music photographs.

-- Anon Terry (anonht@yahoo.com), April 09, 2002.

A note on the above post: don't know what Allard used to photograph Luther Allison, but Jim Marshall (who did the Hendrix shot) uses M's heavily, and I think used an M4 w/35mm 'lux for that shot. His book "The Gods of Rock" is terrific.

-- Douglas Kinnear (douglas.kinnear@colostate.edu), April 09, 2002.

Is he the one with the pipe? I remember seeing footage of him photoing a danceroom with slr's and pipe in mouth, focussing in near darkness - something I couldn't do with an slr myself, which is why I use the M's. I liked his style! Although for me it would have to be the narguileh - more cumbersome and obtrusive, admittedly.

-- rob (rob@robertappleby.com), April 09, 2002.

Which issue of NG are you referring to in this post? The newest issue seems to be the one with Steve McCurry's Afghan girl "Found" on the cover and his essay on Tibet inside. Have you received the new issue already, or is the article in a back issue? If so, which month/year? I too saw Allard last week at the Geographic, and he was inspirational, to say the least.

-- Jason Guyer (suite_cheetah@hotmail.com), April 11, 2002.

The latest issue is May, 2002. The Afghan girl issue was April. The current issue has a picture of the skull of an Incan mummy on the cover, and it doesn't look nearly as nice as McCurry's Afghan girl :-)

-- Paul Chefurka (paul@chefurka.com), April 11, 2002.

If you will go to NG's website and look for the article that Allard did, you will find some information on the camera/lens/film for some of the images. I think you will find that he was using a 28 and Velvia or Provia, @ 50 and 100, respectively. As good as Provia 400F is, it does not seem that many use it, or at least do not admit to using it.

-- St.Clair Newbern III (stclairn3@aol.com), May 25, 2002.

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