Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-01-25)

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AnotherDefence

TheeruditeDrDennisLow

(Inbox, 11 January)makes

hisrevealingobservations

withmorethana touchof

unfortunateaciditywhen

hefocusesontherecent

Viewpoint articles by Nigel

AthertonandGeoffHarris.

Whilethere’snodoubt

thathe’sentitledtohis

opinions,readerscanonly

beleftin doubtabouthis

truemotives.Talkingabout

‘kneejerkconservatism’is

hardly a life-changer, and

Nigel’scommentsabout

learninga subject’sbasics

havemoremeaningtothe

majority.Photographic

compositionwillalwaysbe

a matterof taste,whatever

the‘rules’.

Matt Mitchell

[email protected],AmateurPhotographer,

TI Media Limited, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park, Farnborough, Hants GU14 7BF

In responsetoDr

Low’scriticismof Nigel

Atherton’sandGeoff

Harris’srecentViewpoint

columns(Inbox, 11

January)it is worth

notingthattheirviews

arein linewiththoseof

otheropinion-formersin

thephotographyworld.

Oneobservedrecently

thatsomephotographs

hehadseenin an‘art’

magazinelookedas

thoughtheyhadbeen

takenfromthestripof

filmrandomlyexposedin

a 35mmcamerawhile

windingtoframeone!

DrLowmentions

HenryPeachRobinson

in hisviewson‘kneejerk

conservatism’.Robinson

hadideasabout

compositionbuthisreal

claimtofamewasthat,

whilebelieving

photographywasanart

form,heproducedmost

of hispicturesas

compositesfrommore

thanonenegative.At

roughlythesameperiod,

PeterHenryEmerson

also believed that

photographywasanart

formbutfeltthatthe

finalresultsshouldbe

achievedat thetaking

stage,ononenegative.

Bytheendof the19th

centurythephotography

worldhadgotintoa

furiousdebateabout

whichmethodwas

correct.Andnow,with

theadventof easydigital

manipulation,that

debatehasbeenrevived.

DrLowseemsto

suggestthatelementary

trainingin photography

(andmusic)is not

necessary.Thevalueof

masteringbasicskillsin

anymediumis well

demonstratedbyL S

Lowry.Heis famedfor

hismatchstickpeople

paintingsbutI

recommenda visittothe

Lowrycentrein Salford,

wherehisearlydrawings

revealsuperlative

technicalskill.In music,

Beethovenoftenbroke

acceptedrulesof

harmonybutonlyafter

extensive,rigorousstudy

under Haydn and others.

I havebeenusinga

camerafor 70

years.Whileit is useful

andoftenrewardingto

keepin touchwith

trendsandtheopinions

of others,I haverealised

thatthemostsatisfaction

is obtainedbytaking

photographstoplease

myself,andnottocareif

nooneelseeversees

them.AsKahlilGibran

wrote:‘Travelandtellno

one,livea truelovestory

andtellnoone,live

happilyandtellnoone...’

PeterMcKenzie

Wellput,Peter.

Learninga craft,and

the‘rules’thatgowith

it,andthenpushing

theenvelopeby

knowinglybreaking

themis a creative

decisionthatshouldbe

encouraged.It is very

differentfrom

breakingtherules

becauseyou’re

oblivioustothem,and

haven’tbotheredto

learnthecraft– Nigel

Atherton, editor

Inbox

In defence: views on learning a craft

LETTER

OFTHE

WEEK

WNS

ASAMSUNG

EVO

PLUS

MCROSD

CARD

NOTE:

PR

ZEAPPL

ES

TOUK

AND

EU

RES

DENTS

ONLY

LETTER OF THE WEEK

Acuriosity

Someof yourcontributors

mightbeinterestedin the

OlympusPM-6

microscopecameraI

boughtfromeBayjust

beforeChristmas.It takes

35mmfilmandis in

perfectcondition,dates

from1955.

RichardBond

I’msuresomeofour

readerswillbefamiliar

withthisdevice,Richard.

Dosendussomephotos

fromit if yougetany

goodones– Nigel

Atherton,editor

Whichpolariser?

IrecentlyaskedCanonfor

a recommendation

regardingwhetheritsEOS

M6MarkII camera

requiredcircularorlinearly

polarisedfilters.The

helpdeskladywasmost

politeandhelpful,buteven

afterperformingan

internaldatabasesearch,

shewasunabletoprovide

ananswer.

A coupleof dayslater,

I receivedanemailed

follow-up,withparagraph

2 stating:‘...wewouldlike

toinformyouthatthisis

lefttoyoutomakethe

selectionbetweenlinear

andcircular,depending

basicallyonthetypeof

photographyandthestyle

thatyouwishtobe

captured’,continuingthat

I shouldperformmyown

investigationbecause

Canondoesnotmarket

polarisers.Itslensesdo

havefilterthreads,sowhat

I question,arethese

to be used for?

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RichardgotthisOlympus

PM-6 camera from eBay

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