Interesting article about Steve McCurry

[David_Manning]

http://www.fotoflock.com/index.php/features/feature-interviews/30/2723

Steve's been a huge Kodachrome user and Nikon F100 shooter. Seem's he's embraced digital and is not looking back. His reasonings are sound, and definitely good enough for him.

I post this as I struggle to bring my own wet-printed b&w negatives some consistency...

[antiquark]

Good article. Here's what he said in his blog (http://stevemccurry.wordpress.com/) about the cancellation of kodachrome:


I want to take the last roll with me and somehow make every frame count just as a way to honor the memory and always be able to look back with fond memories at how it capped and ended my shooting Kodachrome.

http://stevemccurry.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/kodak-to-discontinue-kodachrome/

[jwcat]

He has an exhibit here in Central Florida now, I have been there three times. Oddly , since he talks about Epson printers, the prints here are labeled "Chromogenic (Lambda) " prints.

I have mentioned before, I do not usually care for large color prints, but his are on a different plane.

[Turtle]

http://www.fotoflock.com/index.php/features/feature-interviews/30/2723

Steve's been a huge Kodachrome user and Nikon F100 shooter. Seem's he's embraced digital and is not looking back. His reasonings are sound, and definitely good enough for him.

I post this as I struggle to bring my own wet-printed b&w negatives some consistency...

If I shot colour I would shoot digital too. For B&W I still subjectively prefer film, but I dont face the logistical issues he would either.

[CK Dexter Haven]

I'm going to be a complete douche here....

I'm sorry to have to say it, but i have not liked the work of two of my favorite photographers (David Alan Harvey and Steve McCurry) nearly as much since they started shooting digital.

[Pickett Wilson]

Both have moved on. Both are shooting different stuff these days.

DAH is 65 years old. McCurry 59.

I don't think it's the move to digital that has changed their work as it is life and the reality of getting older.

[Trius]

59 is not old ... ;). Nor is 65. I know you said "older", not old ... but perhaps it's more about mental, emotional and spiritual evolution than the passage of time.

I haven't seen McCurrey's latest/digital work, but now I will.

Still and all, I doubt I would ever prefer any colour medium "better" than Kodachrome.

[David_Manning]

It seems like many of the classic NGS photographers have faded into the landscape. I'm not convinced it's a question of switching equipment, but perhaps there is something to the fact that photography budgets are shrinking drastically, and many photographic subjects have been covered extensively already.

Steve McCurry does a lot of commercial stuff now, which pays MUCH better than an NGS salary. Follow the money.

I like McCurry very much and DAH, but it seems the current trend at the geographic for photography has followed other photojournalism...lots of distorted close-in wide angle stuff. A lot of the more artful photography has faded and been reduced to ultra-wide-zoom PJ-style.

Quickly watch the slide show that plays here http://www.nationalgeographicassignment.com/...I would hazard a guess that most of those shots were made with a 35mm or 28mm lens. These days, everything is made with the 14-24 or 17-35.

It would be nice to see NGM return to it's heyday of the 80's and commission photographers with a more graceful, art-filled eye. I think bucking the ultra-wide PJ trend would, once again, set their photography apart and make it more memorable. Certainly, my own opinion

[emraphoto]

i like NG. i like 35's and 28's in particulair. i continue to see what i would call brilliant work out of NG. different opinions i suppose.

[Andy Kibber]

^ I agree. There's usually one or two really good photos in an issue of NG.

More than I would say of most magazines. :)

As for who uses what, where you're shooting the equivalent of 800-1000 rolls of film for a project, digital makes a lot of sense.

[David_Manning]

I DO like NG Magazine. They DO have great photography (not enough of it, of course:)). But I don't see the style and quality of photography that I did when Sam Abell, David Alan Harvey, Steve McCurry, et al were staff photographers.

And I agree...I think the 35 and 28 (and even the 50) are perfect focal lengths for reportage.

[craygc]

Personally, in general I do like Steve McCurry's work, but I must agree I do prefer his film work over the digital - not for content but for its appearance.

I will first admit that I don't understand what he is or is not allowed to use on his website http://www.stevemccurry.com/ but I just feel that if you're shooting the equivalent of 800~100 rolls per project I would expect "all" your displayed images to be exceptional. While I think there are exceptional shots on his site I would not use that as a term to describe the entire collection. Did I mention that I do like Steve's work very much!!!

The other interesting I thing I have noticed from the images on his web site is that a significant number of them are a long way from having any sense of a white-point. This is not a guess but from analysing quite a number.