LFI Magazine 2/2017 E

L E I C A F O T O G R A F I E I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Giovanni Del Brenna

Giov Del

Leica M10

Leica

Zachary Roberts Tomeu Coll Ed van der Elsken

Zacha Rober Tome Ed va der El

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F E B R UA RY | M A R C H

D 7,50 € NL B L 8,70 € I 8,80 € SEK 96,00

2.2017

D 19088 F

William Daniels Matt Stuart Fulvio Bugani

William Matt St Fulvio B

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1 0 2 | L f i . Ga l l e ry

84 | Leica M10

Over 20 000 photographers present over 250 000 pictures at the LFI Gallery. This issue includes a neon taxi in Hong Kong and the joy of reading on a train platform

Four years after the introduction of the M240, Leica’s M10 adds a new dimension to the M system: analogue purity on a digital foundation

P h o to

92 | Leica sofort At first he was confused by the camera’s simplicity, then he discovered the fun to be had with it: Craig Semetko experiments with Leica’s instant camera

112 | Exhibitions

Fulvio Bugani used the new M10 to continue with his Cuba project

96 | 28mm-summaron At the end of 2016, Leica surprised the market with a replica of a lens that was over sixty years old: looking back to the original and its times 98 | Smartphones The struggle against limited space: how manufacturers try to overcome the limited capacities of smartphone cameras

Giovanni Del Brenna

1 1 4 | Awa r d s

8 | m e ta m e s s a g e s

The winners of the LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards

Faceless yet expressive: Del Brenna photographed poses and gestures at Paris Photo 2016

115 | Leica Galleries

Jo Fischer 2 2 | i n Sy k e

A residency took the Berlin photographer to the small town of Syke in Germany. A rapprochement

Tomeu Coll 3 2 | n e v e r m i n d i n s ov i e t l a n d

Once a stronghold of coal mining, now a ghost town in the middle of nowhere in the Ural Mountains: Vorkuta The new Leica M10: looking back and stepping forward

William Eggleston at the Foam gallery in Amsterdam; Alec Soth at the FOMU in Antwerp; Eli Lotar at the Jeu de Paume in Paris; and Viviane Sassen at the MOCP in Chicago

Leica M 10 4 4 | Three photographers, one camera

Fulvio Bugani, William Daniels and Matt Stuart – out and about with the new Leica M10

Zachary Roberts 6 2 | a n A m e r c i a n fa m i ly

An overview of the programme of Leica Galleries around the world, including Werner Bischof, Joel Meyerowitz and Ara Güler 116 | Books New books by Mark Neville, Kirill Golovchenko, Ragnar Axelsson, Birte Kaufmann and Sid Grossman 1 1 8 | I n t e rv i e w Photographer Rune Eraker, curator for the European Photo Exhibition Award, speaks about political photojournalism 122 | My picture In just 30 seconds, Stéphane Lavoué captured an intense portrait of Vladimir Putin 122 | imprint

In 2006 his brother ran amok in an Amish school. Years later Roberts tries to process what happened

Ed van der Elsken 74 | C a m e r a i n l o v e

Time and again street photography: Ed van der Elsken, one of the most significant Dutch photographers

Cover photo: Giovanni Del Brenna, from his Paris Photo 2016 series

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LFI w o r k s h o p

T h e M ag i c o f P h oto B o o k s A Workshop with Erne sto Bazan

Ernesto Bazan released his Cuban trilogy through his own publishing company

How does an image become a story?

And how do you turn a story into a book? An LFI workshop with Ernesto Bazan from 28 to 30 April 2017 offers a chance to find out. “I place great emphasis on the construction of a poetic, unpredictable and coherent sequence that is very similar to how a composer writes a music score,” explains the photographer, who was born in Palermo in 1959. Participants do not necessarily need to bring their own book project – all that is required is an interest in book-making, their portfolio and one or two of their favourite photo books.

Bazan studied at the School of Visual Arts New York from 1979 to 1982, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in photography. Since 2002 he has developed workshops with a main focus on Latin America. In 2008, he established his own publishing company, BazanPhotos Publishing. He has released numerous books, including a trilogy on Cuba. lfi-online.com/workshops

ContributOrs

“At Paris Photo in November 2016, I approached more than 300 people to ask if I could photograph them – or rather the way they presented themselves to the world around them.

No more than ten of them actually refused. Do we really attempt to understand the people we see, or do we simply form our judgements with­ out knowing anything about them?

This is something I constantly ask the observer within myself. To some extent, every picture I take is a variation of that question.”

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To me u C o ll “I often still think about the experiences I had with the people I encountered in Vorkuta, and the way in which they conduct their lives in this town. Vorkuta is surrounded by nothing but the barren, inhospitable expanse of the Russian tundra – it is almost the antithesis of the world I knew before. One thing in particular has etched itself deeply into my soul: the realisation that apparently, there really is absolutely nothing in this world that is actually impossible.”

Zac h a ry R o berts

I picked up a Leica Q in June 2015 after having seen a cool guy using a Leica in a bar in Stockholm.

I had studied filmmaking in college but never really pursued it, and I needed a creative outlet. I quit my job as a bartender and started shooting on the streets of Stockholm.

Through extensive research, I found photog­raphers I really liked, bought their books and studied their work.

This picture was taken in summer 2016: I had finally started on the process of editing my work.”

Photo far left: Peer Kugler

G i ova n n i D el B re n n a

TOTAL RECORDS

VINYL & FOTOGRAFIE 10/12/16–23/4/17

C/O Berlin Foundation . Amerika Haus Hardenbergstr. 22–24 . 10623 Berlin Täglich / Daily 11:00–20:00 . www.co-berlin.org Die Ausstellung wurde von Antoine de Beaupré, Serge Vincendet und Sam Stourdzé gemeinsam mit Jacques Denis kuratiert und von den Rencontres d’Arles produziert / Exhibition produced by the Rencontres d’Arles, curated by Antoine de Beaupré, Serge Vincendet, and Sam Stourdzé, with the complicity of Jacques Denis

Mit Dank an / Thanks to

Medienpartner / Media Partners

LFI s h o p

LFI g a l l e r y

R eloa ded

S h Are yo u r PI C t u re

B r o a d e r r a n g e , g r e at e r c o n v e n i e n c e

Would you like to show your latest Master Shot to your photographers group? Or perhaps you have read a post on the LFI Blog which others might also find interesting? Have you found out about an exhibition you want to tell your friends about?

With the LFI website’s new Share function, you can do just that with a simple mouse-click – either via email or directly via your Facebook or Twitter account. The feature has been implemented in the LFI Gallery, the website’s Blog, News and Workshop sections. lfi-online.com

m M agaz i n E

News p er m a i l

The extensive range of products in the LFI Shop is now even more convenient to navigate

From now on, visitors to the LFI Shop will be presented with a weekly offer at an especially attractive price. But that is not all: the entire Shop section has been comprehensively redesigned.

When browsing for products and accessories, customers will now benefit from an array of convenient sorting options which categorise items according to brands and product groups.

Another useful improvement has been made in the form of sophisticated filter functions, which are sure to make the selection process noticeably more 6 |

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straightforward. Particular attention was given to the presentation of the product range, with more extensive, detailed views of every item.

And, last but not least, in the week starting on 27 February, sub­scribers to the LFI newsletter will receive a 20-euro voucher for their first purchase in the new LFI Shop. This voucher is valid for purchases of over 150 euros. If you have not yet registered for the free LFI newsletter, why not subscribe to it right now at: lfi-online.com/newsletter · lfi-online.com/shop

If you are interested in receiving up-to-date information surrounding the Leica M system, you are in luck: as of now, the M Magazine’s newsletter is sent out once a month with the latest highlights from the world of M photography – from technical news and related products to LFI workshops and, of course, outstanding photography. The newsletter complements the magazine’s print edition, along with its web-presence at www.m-magazine.photography, and so provides an addi­tional platform for Leica M enthusiasts. http://bit.ly/2jv0PlK

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LEICA. DAS WESENTLICHE.

NEW

LeicA S

Giovanni Del Brenna

M eta

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M ess ages

What can we know about the people we encounter in public places? Little — we have to make do with what we can see. In other words, what they show us. If we look close enough, are there signs that people show in public that can give us an idea about their personality?

Giovanni Del Brenna explored this question.

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Very top: “I was entranced by the hand reaching out for the chin from between the two lapels. When I spoke to him I saw that his hand was playing with a piercing. It was so normal for him that he immediately did it again for the photo as if nothing had happened�

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g i ova n n i del bre n n a

Born in Genoa in 1974, Del Brenna studied mechanical engineering in Milan before deciding to dedicate his life to photography, studying documentary photography at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York from 2001 to 2002. After that he worked as an assistant to James Nachtwey for two years.

In 2015 he moved to France and the following year began working on the project about Paris presented in the M Magazine No. 5, which has now found a climatic sequel in the series shown here.

giova n ni delbre nn a .co m LF I -O nl i n e .co m / B lo g : Slideshow with further images Equipment: Leica S, Summarit-S 70mm f/2.8 Asph, SF64 flash

LFI: Who are all these people who so obviously place great value on their outer appearance?

Giovanni del Brenna: I don’t know them. They were all visitors to the Grand Palais during Paris Photo in November 2016; an event that is a coming together of visually-oriented people from diverse origins who, on the whole, choose their wardrobes carefully with the intention of showing their best attributes.

times get reactions. For example, the woman with the red finger-nails holding onto the lapel of her grey jacket (page 11): within seconds of my beginning to focus, she quipped in a sharp tone, “Are you finished yet?”

I snapped the shutter and she left as quickly as she could. When I think back on that moment, I can say that my first impression was not mistaken and that this portrait achieves just what I aimed for.

Are the pictures that we see here actually portraits, in fact?

Yes, of course they are – in the sense that they aim to express something about the personality of the person being portrayed.

Your pictures often centre around people’s hands.

Yes, I’ve always been fascinated by hands. One of my favourite photographs is by Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keefe, Hands and Thimble from 1919. The painter had such i­ ncredibly expressive hands. I believe that a facial portrait almost always reflects a certain interaction with the photographer. Whereas hands, the way they are held, point essentially to the core of a personality formed by their lifelong history. For example, it’s virtually impossible to arrange someone’s hands into a pose that looks ‘authentic’.

You keep the face, or at least the eyes, of those being photographed hidden from the viewer. Why is that?

Because I think it’s a distraction. A face immediately draws all the attention, as if we think it provides the complete answer about someone’s identity.

If I avoid facial features, other details begin to have more of a voice – all the things that someone makes use of in order to be perceived in a certain way. This gives the viewer the chance to draw their own conclusions about the type of person it could be, based on these meta messages – beyond all kinds of interpretations arising from a seemingly easily-read, brief emotion revealed through the expression on someone’s face.

Are you not primarily showing that public places represent a perfect backdrop for self-profiling?

Absolutely. We live in a great, open-air theatre; and it’s precisely because of the fact that we encounter strangers in this theatre who we know nothing about, except what they are willing to reveal externally, that I’m interested in exploring what clues these details can give with regard to their per­ sonalities. Of course, this is all rather theoretical, as I have no certainty about whether my perception is right or wrong, because I don’t actually know these people. I do, however, some-

How did you get the people’s ­permission to photograph them?

Because it was an event full of photography-interested people, it wasn’t at all difficult once I’d explained my idea and intentions. In fact, at this venue approaching people with a Leica, the S with 70mm Summarit and the SF64, turned out to be a real advantage.

Some even felt flattered, tolerating my coming as close as half a metre away from them – after all, it was about getting the maximum out of the textures.

The most difficult part for me was to get people to return to a certain pose that I had noticed during my five days of strolling around. I hadn’t been looking for anything specific, but had just waited for a certain gesture, a movement or a detail that ‘clicked’ with me, capturing my attention and awakening my curiosity. Interview: Olaf Stefanus

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Jo Fischer i n Sy k e

With a mixture of intense portraits and landscape images, the Berlin photographer captures the mood in a small, introspective town in northern Germany: a merging of documentation and staged art.

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Skull tattoo on a young woman’s thigh – a metaphor for Syke? Previous double spread: the photographer first played something on the piano for the ladies at the dance for seniors. This allowed him to get pictures that were a lot closer up

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At the opening of the exhibition at the Syke Vorwerk, guests asked Fischer why he had taken blurry shots of the landscapes. He considered that this style best suited his mood of loneliness and longing

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j o F i sc h er Based in Berlin, Fischer was a musician before becoming a self-taught photographer ten years ago. He still looks for a rock ’n’ roll feel in his pictures: contrasts, blurriness, severity.

He loves people, his Leica M and black and white. He has selfpublished various photo books.

His In Syke project is supported

by Kerber Verlag, and it has been published there as a book.

j o f i sc her .co m L F I -O nl i n e .Co m / B lo g : Interview And slide show with Further Pictures

Equipment: Leica SL, Leica Vario-ElmaritSL 24–90mm f/2.8–4 Asph

Syke in autumn; morning mist rises over meadows and fields.

The trees are losing their leaves, the sky is grey and the mood somber. The main street with its butcher, baker and ice-cream parlour meanders through the centre of town. As the year draws to a close, the pulse of life in Syke is barely discernible. It is as though the town is settling down to hibernate for the winter.

Berlin photographer, Jo Fischer, spent two months in Syke, a community of 24 000. Syke Vorwerk (folwark) – the Contemporary Arts Centre – invites artists from around the world to spend time: painters, installation artists, sculptors and photographers.

The arts centre is located in a 300 year-old timbered house. With its 600 square-metre surface area, it is imposing – a challenge for those exhibiting there. Sponsored by the Savings Bank Foundation, Fischer lingered there from October to December, 2016.

He lived in a little apartment with the time and finances required to produce a series that is a portrait of the town and its people.

Equipped with a Leica SL, Fischer would set out in the early morning, walking over tilled fields, photographing landscapes, following paths in the mud. Fischer knew no one in Syke and it was difficult to gain access to his most important subjects: the people. They were uncommunicative. He rang on doorbells but no one opened up to him. “To tell the truth, after three weeks I was ready to give up on the project,” he says.

Looking at his black and white pictures, the photographer’s feelings at the time gain visual form, portraying sadness and melancholy. A young woman with a large Teddy bear in her hands stands like a lost sentinel. Instead of displaying fun and exuberance, her adolescence manifests in an image filled with dejection, loneliness and hopelessness. “In fact, In Syke was supposed to be a colour project,” Fischer explains. “But I soon realised that it was not responding to my mood.” Long awaited contacts were eventually made at a press conference with two local newspapers, the Weser-Kurier and the Kreiszeitung. The photographer began to receive invitations to events at various locations: a choir, a hairdressing salon, a home for the handicapped. He took his first portraits at a dance for seniors at the Syke Town Hall. They were razor sharp, shot in black and white using autofocus. “I like the honesty of these pictures,” Fischer says. “The people sat down for me, trusted me and allowed me to get very close. I wanted to show them as they really are: undistorted, direct and dignified.”

This approach to portrait photography was a new experience for Fischer. He normally works with an M with manual focus and fixed focal length. He says the SL allowed him to use a zoom lens with 24 to 90mm focal length, a great advantage for close-up shots. Wrinkles, age spots and strong contrasts – everything on these faces becomes visible, telling of lives rich with experience.

As they look into the camera those portrayed also seem to be looking into their own past.

Fischer has printed a collection of 44 photos on baryte paper for the exhibition at the Syke Vorwerk. His series unites light and shadow, portraits and landscapes, documentation and fiction.

It also relates the photographer’s personal story: reflecting his arrival, perseverance and development of the project in Syke.

Fischer says that, after two months, he had learnt that you have to immerse yourself in a place in order to be creative, and that nothingness can also call forth magic. Katja Hübner

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LeicA M

Tomeu Coll n e v erm i n d i n s ov i etl a n d

Amidst the barren tundra, cut off from the rest of the world, Stalin had a town built on the site of a major coal seam. For a long time, Vorkuta was ­synonymous with forced ­labour. Today the town’s ­declining population tries to wrest a new identity from the ­industrial mono­ culture they inherited.

The last lived-in house in Yur-Shor, a suburb of Vorkuta. As a result of the coal crisis, the school, shops, cinema and pharmacy have closed down. Those who stay either have no other choice, or hold on to the hope for better days to come lFI

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The cultural centre in the six-kilometre long Lenin Road is among the last and therefore most significant venues for Vorkuta’s residents. Every event takes place there – from political speeches to heavy metal gigs. It even contains a roofed b ­ otanical garden and, of course, a ballet school. The harsh winter weather is no excuse to stay indoors. And no matter how far you live from the rest of the country, it is important to be well-dressed – even on public transport

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There was a time when Vorkuta was among the Soviet Union’s wealthier cities. Today it is encompassed by a sense of tristesse.

Do the painted buildings ward off seasonal depression? In any case, they make for good landmarks in a snowstorm

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Visiting the town’s residents: As a young woman, Galina Nikolaeva (top left) was accused of being a German spy and sentenced to work in the coal mines. After the Gulag camp system was abolished, she was not permitted to leave Vorkuta as she was one of the few doctors there. Alexander (below left) was born in Vorkuta. As a member of the Memorial Society, the retired coal miner is dedicated to processing the history of the Gulag system. Dimitri (below) had saved up enough money to start a new life in Moscow, but, he tells the photographer, he was robbed on his first day in the capital, forcing him to return. Coll met him on the train journey to Vorkuta. Irina (left, centre) trains the table tennis Olympic team.

Her apartment is in the last lived-in building in Yur-Shor (page 32)

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Dimas, 19, on the train to Vorkuta. The young man hopes to benefit from the town’s emigration wave.

Despite the many closures, the mines in the north still offer better opportunities than he can find back home

T o me u C o ll The Spanish documentary photographer (born 1981) works on a freelance basis. His work has been published in a range of inter­national magazines such as Stern, GUP Magazine, La Vanguardia and L’illustré. He was s­ elected Emergent Photographer by Smith­sonian ­Magazine for his series Badlands, an ongoing project on his native island of Majorca. “For me, photography is a means for escape,” says Coll.

“But at the same time it is what keeps me connected to everything around me.”

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It is not far beyond Moscow that the accomplishments of modern Russia begin to fade. An abandoned factory here, a small birch grove there, the occasional orthodox church restored back to its full glory – though that is another story. As the train rattles ­further and further north, the vast expanse of the frozen tundra seems to become ever more limitless. After more than 40 hours in a shared ­compartment, photographer Tomeu Coll has reached his destination: the town of Vorkuta – located more than 2000 railway kilometres from the Russian capital, north of the Arctic Circle in the autonomous province of Komi. For a large part of the journey Coll travelled on the Pechora railroad, which has been connected to Vorkuta since 1941. It is said that there is a dead man buried under every sleeper.

Another common aphorism is that the town itself was ‘built on bones’: Vorkuta is the epitomised symbol of Stalin’s notorious forced-labour camps, which were part of a merciless penal system to which hundreds of thousands of people fell victim.

It was the rich deposits of coal that prompted Stalin to decide that a town was to be founded there, in this frozen hell on earth where winter tempera­tures can plummet to minus 50 degrees Celsius. The first prisoners to be transported to Vorkuta in the 1930s did not even have as much as a hut to shelter in. Instead they were forced to dig holes into the rigid ground, where they would huddle together in an attempt to ward off the cold. When the German armed forces ­occupied the coal ­sector in the Ukrainian ­Donbass region during World War II, the Vorkuta site became an even more valuable asset for the Soviet Union, and was expanded into one of the most significant mining camps of the Gulag system. After Stalin’s death many prisoners were pardoned,

but unable to move away. At the same time, high wages attracted a large number of skilled workers – turning Vorkuta into a prosperous, even desirable socialist city for several decades.

Today however, it is struggling to compete with the country’s mining sites in Siberia. Many of the mines have been closed down and Vorkuta, originally intended for a population of 100 000, is on its way to becoming a ghost town.

Nobody seems to know how the legacy of an industrial monoculture can be overcome. And to those in charge in far-away Moscow, the problems of the country’s arctic inhabitants appear to be of little interest. Vorkuta is a lonely island in the middle of nowhere, which to this day is not connected to any road network. There is the option of flying there or, like Coll, embarking on an arduous train journey.

The photographer in fact knows all about living on an actual island: he was born on Majorca in 1981. The place of his birth, in some parts afflicted by mass-tourism but still undeniably beautiful, could hardly stand in ­greater contrast to the topic of his recent work. But there have been times in Coll’s life when living on the largest of the Balearic Isles has made him feel exceedingly isolated from everything and everyone around him.

Out of this grew a boundless curiosity, an impulse which time and again prompted him to seek a sense of affirmation – sometimes in the form of borderline experiences. New York based photographer Donna Ferrato, who met Coll in 2005 when he parti­ cipated in one of her workshops in Barcelona, later described the sheer energy with which Coll embarks on exploring remote and obscure places, which most of the world has all but forgotten. She was struck by his e­ nterprising nature – based on a keen interest in ­researching facts and the willingness to juxtapose his own ­attitudes with those arising out of a different reality. How do people live in a particular place? Why are they there? What ­defines someone’s life?

He also questions his own ­perceptions

of a situation and how it affects him – does it sharpen his awareness, heighten his attention for nuances and detail? Does it help him gain a deeper understanding?

It was also in Barcelona that Coll met a Russian journalist, Katya Krylova, who was immediately taken in by his suggestion to explore her country together. Especially a place such as Vorkuta, which she explained nobody would ever think to visit of their own accord. Coll contacted the Memorial Society, an organisation dedicated to recording the totalitarian history of the Soviet era. This enabled him to establish an initial relationship with some of Vorkuta’s residents, with ­Krylova’s help as a translator. Particularly once he was there in person, talking to people was easy – after all, a foreigner arriving at this exodus-­ ridden town is a rather rare ocurrence.

Of course Coll could have visited ­Vorkuta during the brief summer season, but he wanted to experience the whiteout: the feeling of complete isolation when the oppressive driving snow seems to swallow up the horizon, and the reality of living here becomes palpably apparent. Initially he decided to load his Leica M6 with Kodak Tri-X 400 to achieve a heightened emotional impact through the ­aesthetics of black and white. “Luckily, though, I also added the occasional colour film – a Kodak Portra 160 NC or Fujifilm 800H. This way I was able to capture the subtle contrast between the biting cold and the nuanced radiance I could see in the town and its ­inhabitants.” olaf stefanus

tome u coll.tk LF I-On lin e.com/B log: Slideshow with further images Equipment: Leica M6, Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 Asph, Summicron-M 28mm f/2 Asph

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10 LeicA M

Three photographers, one camera, one conclusion: the new Leica M10 is an uncompromising refinement of the principles of digital rangefinder photography.

Fulvio Bugani cuba: m y pa ss i o n

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Colours as the embodiment of emotion: Fulvio Bugani found the DNG images of the Leica M10 utterly ­captivating and practically perfect. The simplification of functions – which had barely seemed possible – was a revelation, and greatly enhances the ­intuitive workflow

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f u lv i o B u g a n i Like many artists, the Italian photographer (born 1974) has a penchant for Cuba. Not everyone, however, goes on to turn this passion into a longterm project. Since as early as 2009, Bugani has continuously returned to the ­Caribbean island to explore lifestyles and cultural changes. Light and shadow are prevalent components of his work: to the photographer, the dark surfaces he introduces into his compositions symbolise the hidden complexities of Cuban everyday life.

In order to respond to alternating light situations and apply them to his work, Bugani – a great advocate of using manual exposure parameters – requires a working tool that is as straightforward to ­handle as possible.

So he was more than pleased to find that on the M10, setting the ISO value no longer requires the navigation of a menu, but happens directly via the ISO dial on the top plate of the camera.

The dial, which has taken the place of the film rewind wheel on the Leica MP, allows for an extremely intuitive control of the sensitivity settings.

“Even when the camera is turned off, I now have a constant overview and instant access to all relevant settings,” Bugani explains. Having most recently worked on the Cuba project with the Leica Q, he promptly decided to ­continue shooting the series with the M10. He chose to combine it with the 28mm Summilux-M, which he feels most closely reflects his natural way of seeing.

fu lviobu gan i.com LF I-On lin e.com/B log: Slideshow with further images Equipment: Leica M10, Summilux-M 28mm f/1.4 Asph

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10 William Daniels

romanian i m p ress i o n s

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To explore Romania with the M10, William Daniels travelled from Bucharest to Constanta on the Black Sea coast, then further up north to ClujNapoca and on to the ­rural Rosia Montana. He especially appreciated the straightforward ­sensitivity control of the sensor. Left: students at the opening of a gallery in the capital city

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W i ll i a m d a n i els The French photographer (born 1977) predominantly documents the lives of marginalised groups in different parts of the world, be it in Kyrgyzstan or Central Africa. Among other distinctions he has twice received the World Press Photo Award. On this independent trip through Romania with the M10, he remained true to his characteristic approach of ­presenting his subject within a seemingly isolated, yet monumental single image which – once it is displayed as part of a whole – is transformed into an integral component of a visual narrative that awakens a myriad of associations in the viewer. Being free to simply c­ apture spontaneous travel impressions gave the photographer the perfect opportunity to concentrate on the features of the M10. He particular noted the camera’s greatly improved display – and despite his exceedingly high standards when it comes to colour rendition in critical lighting conditions, he was very complementary about the colour-fidelity of the M10, especially with regards to rendering skin tones. Like his fellow field-testers, he found the continuous recording quality even in the highest ISO range very remarkable in comparison to earlier generations of the digital M. He was also extremely happy with the introduction of the ISO dial, particularly in situations that involve moving a shoot from the outdoors to an interior space.

wi ll i a mda ni els.n et LFI-Onl i ne .co m / B lo g : Slideshow with further images Equipment: Leica M10, Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 Asph, Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 Asph

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10 Matt Stuart

a s at i r i st i n br u ssels

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Who is copying who?

Capturing odd c ­ oincidences and ­peculiar motion ­sequences is one of Matt Stuart’s specialties. While shooting in ­Brussels, he was ­especially happy with the M10’s outstanding ­operating speed

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M att S t ua rt The British photographer (born 1974) is a master at discovering absurd s­ ituations in everyday urban life. The city of London is his regular playground. However, when he was handed the Leica M10 for a field trial, he decided to go to Brussels – in part, as he will freely admit, prompted by the confusion that has erupted in the wake of his country’s recent Brexit decision. As someone who is wellversed in finding his subjects amidst the urban bustle, he quickly found his feet in the unfamiliar environment of the EU capital. For Matt Stuart’s way of working, speed is of the utmost importance. Registering a situation, anticipating how the constellation might develop into an idiosyncratic scene; releasing the shutter at exactly the right time; continuing to observe, and taking another shot: all of this has to happen with no scope for delay.

And there is always a chance that the decisive moment reveals itself in a subsequent frame. No wonder, therefore, that the recent Magnum nominee said he was “extremely impressed” by the generously fast buffer speed of the M10, which enabled him to shoot “two or three frames in the time in which I would normally have taken one.”

As an added bonus, the dimensions of the M10 are the same as those of the Leica MP, which Stuart has worked with for the past twenty years. So in many ways, the entire experience felt “a little like meeting up with an old friend.” olaf stefanus

mattst uart.com LF I-On lin e.com/B log: Slideshow with further images Equipment: Leica M10, Summicron-M 35mm f/2 Asph

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LeicA M | Q

Zachary Roberts A n Amer i c a n Fa m i ly

In 2006 one of the photographer’s brothers ran amok in an Amish school in Pennsylvania. The shock for his family was no less than for everyone else, leaving behind a deep sense of perplexity. It was not until ten years later that Zachary Roberts was able to use photography to help process the trauma.

This picture reminds Roberts of the five girls murdered by his brother. They are more or less the same age as the murdered girls would have been had they lived

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“I fe lt l ike p e opl e migh t b e in te r e ste d in h ow a family stays toge th e r afte r su ch a traumatic ev e n t. �

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Roberts only decided to attend his brother’s funeral after receiving a call from an Amish. The picture above was taken later, but it reminds Roberts of the ceremony that was attended by 30 Amish – including surviving family members – who shielded Roberts’s family from the TV cameras

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Intimate, uncontrived family pictures: considering the terrible event, they can be seen as an effort to be a perfectly normal family lFI

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Roberts tried to avoid his family for close to ten years; then he spent a number of months with his wife and daughter staying at his parents’ home, to process his brother’s crime and to fill the hole in the family album with different, better memories

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“ T h e Amis h boy r e min d s me o f h ow man y of t h e surv ivor s have struggl e d w ith Postt raumatic Str e s s Dis or d e r .�

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A family despite everything: Roberts’s two brothers, Josh and Jon, at their father’s hunting lodge in Texas lFI

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Roberts’s daughter, Dagmar: with the project he also hopes to empower her so that she can speak about the event later on

Z ac h a r y R o berts Roberts (born 1978) first studied film, but did not follow it as a career after leaving university. It was only in 2015 that he discovered photography as a creative form of expression. He is self-taught. An American Family is his first large project. It was exhibited in 2016 in Stockholm and Pennsylvania, receiving a LensCulture Emerging Talent Award the same year.

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“In 2006 my oldest brother was responsible for the Nickel Mines School mass shooting where five young Amish girls lost their lives. No one will ever understand why this seemingly welladjusted, father of three with no previous criminal record, all of a sudden carried out such a heinous crime, least of all us, his family, which he left in total shock.” Ten years after the tragedy, Zachary Roberts’s project An American Family is part of his process for dealing with a dark chapter of his family history.

For Roberts the story began the day after the crime. “I had been living in New York City for many years when I received a phone call from my mother on the morning of October 3rd, 2006.

She was hysterical and I couldn’t really understand what she was talking about. I just remember her saying something about CNN. I turned the TV on to that channel and immediately learned what had happened, and that my brother was responsible.”

Charles Carl Roberts, lived with his family in a good neighbourhood, sideby-side with members of the Amish community in Lancaster County, south-east Pennsylvania. Like any other day, Charles Carl drove his road tanker and transported raw milk from different Amish farms to the dairy.

After finishing work at 3am, he drove home, took his children to the bus around nine o’clock, armed himself and drove to the Amish school. When the police approached the building, he barricaded himself and ten girls inside the only classroom. Then he shot at the girls and turned the weapon on himself. Five girls died and five survived – some were seriously wounded.

This terrible event, which the media named ‘Amish 9/11’, overwhelmed the otherwise idyllic community. The region is known for its corn silos, dairies and tobacco fields. Around 3000 people live in Bart Township, where the school is located. Within hours of the crime, TV trucks filled the coun-

try lanes normally used by Amish carriages. Charles Carl was the third person within five days to run amok in a school in the United States; but this case drew particular attention because the victims’ families forgave the murderer immediately after the act. After Charles Carl was buried, an Amish family was among the first to express condolences to his family, despite having lost two daughters themselves.

That moment was to remain firmly lodged in Roberts’s memory.

It was this immeasurable act of forgiveness that caused the greatest media impact. Books were published about the tragedy and its consequences.

One of them was made into a film.

Roberts’s mother, Terri, regularly visited one of the affected families, taking care of the daughter who survived the shooting severely handicapped.

In contrast, Roberts cut himself off.

He stopped regular family visits and three years later moved to Stockholm.

It was only in November 2015, when he learned that his mother was once again ill with cancer, that he realised he had little time left to re-establish contact with his family. He decided to take his wife and daughter to spend a few months at his parents’ home, to try and deal photographically with the pain of the previous years. “Photographing my family members became an important part of the healing process for us all. I was very grateful that my family had remained close since the tragedy and, since I had not been around for much of those ten years, I felt that photographing them would be a way to preserve this time in my family’s history.”

When he began his project, Roberts did not intend to take pictures of Amish people. However, the more photos he took of his family the more he became aware of this big hole in the story. He decided to photograph the Amish because he wanted to properly acknowledge the fateful connection between his family and this religious community. To do this in as respectful a manner as possible, he went to Amish Mud Sales – local auctions that are also attended by tourists and tel-

evision crews. “It seemed to me that this was an acceptable place to take photos. These photos were a chance for me to confront my inner feeling about those who lost their lives. There are two images in particular of five Amish girls who remind me of the five my brother killed (Page 62 and 65).

They seemed to be about the same age the girls would have been had they lived. I would like to stress that the people in the pictures are not those directly affected by the tragedy.”

With his images, Roberts is allowing the viewer to participate in his family’s story, while also partly processing this unimaginable burden.

He shows his family in moments of intimacy and vulnerability, with the constant background of trying – despite the immense difficulty – to be a perfectly normal family. These intimate images combine with elements of street photography in pictures taken at the Mud Sales, illustrating an incredible family story. The stylistic choice of black and white give them further gravity and authenticity. “I felt like people might be interested in how a family stays together after such a traumatic event. The project was also a way for me to come to terms with the actions of my brother,” Roberts says, summarising his work. “When I first got the news about what my brother had done, I was sure that it was going to shatter my family completely.

I thought my parents would get a divorce and that my remaining brothers and I would have no contact with each other. But none of that happened.

It means something to me that we managed to remain a family through all of this.” simon schwarzer

zach ary roberts ph otograp hy.com LF I-On lin e.Com/B log: Slideshow with more images Equipment: Leica Q with Summilux 28mm f/1.7 Asph, Leica M240, Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 Asph

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LeicA Classics

Ed van der Elsken C a mer a i n L ov e

Considered to be the most important Dutch photographer, Ed van der Elsken (1925–1990) is best known as a proponent of street photography, but his current exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam goes far beyond that, offering a comprehensive overview of his multi-faceted body of work.

The street is a perfect stage: this snapshot was taken around lunchtime on a summer’s day with a Leica and zoom lens; Beethovenstraat, Amsterdam, 1967

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Ed van der Elsken often photographed the Australian artist Vali Myers with her reflection (Paris 1953).

She was the photographer’s muse and, in his eyes, she united an overwhelming love of life with existential loneliness.

Myers was at the centre of the first book he had published: Love on the Left Bank (1956)

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Ed van der Elsken was constantly taking pictures on the streets of Amsterdam. In particular, he documented the young post-war generation and their search for independence; Nieuwmarkt 1961.

Below: A self-portrait with Ata Kandรณ and Leica, Paris 1952

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“Of all the countries I’ve visited, Japan impressed me the most.” Van der Elsken travelled there for the first time in 1960, returning various times, documenting the rapid transformation of Japanese society. Above: In Kamagasaki city district, Osaka 1960. Below: Young woman on the subway, Tokyo 1981

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Photos: © Ed van der Elsken/Nederlands Fotomuseum

Ata Kandó checking a print. Van der Elsken met the Hungarian photographer (* 1913) at the Magnum Agency’s photo lab, they married in 1954. Right: The Australian born artist Vali Myers (1930–2003) became the photographer’s most important muse in Paris; both pictures were taken in 1953

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With confident, swinging strides, three young women in Amsterdam cross the Beethovenstraat and enter the photographer’s line of sight. “Is that right with these mini skirts?” he asked himself, before proceeding to capture a perfect three-part harmony of gracious movements in an equally perfect image. Ed van der Elsken remembered that he managed to capture that moment “with a long lens, my faithful old Tamron 400mm F 6.9, a rickety lens that I purchased in Los Angeles for $60.” Today, it is still easy to feel the contentment and love of life of the Swinging Sixties in this 1967 scene.

Elsken considered the street the most exciting of stages, where iconic moments reflecting the diversity of life in the city could always be found.

This not only in Amsterdam, where he was born and raised, but also Paris, which in particular would hold special significance for his career. After his photographic beginnings in The Netherlands, he was drawn to the pulsing energy of the post-war French capital.

He arrived in Paris in the summer of 1950, working in the Magnum Agency photo lab, producing photographic prints of images taken by photographers he admired: Henri CartierBresson, Robert Capa, David Seymour, Ernst Haas and others. After only six months however, he began developing his own projects, passionately photographing the Saint-Germain-des-Prés bohemian scene in particular. This focus resulted in his first book, Love on the Left Bank, published in 1956, which turned out to be his international break-through. The book tells a dramatic, fictitious love story between Ann (Vali Myers) and Manuel (van der Elsken’s alter-ego). The permissiveness reflected in the pictures was considered scandalous, which at the same time made it successful, even if the contract for the US market was withdrawn. Returning to Amsterdam, van der Elsken worked on further-

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ing his book projects and also as a photojournalist: his Rolleicord was soon replaced by a Leica with telephoto lens, adding more journalistic touches to his style and the dynamics in the pictures. In 1957 the photographer travelled to Africa for the first time and in the early sixties he went on a four-month world tour that would expand his photographic range enormously. He was particularly fascinated by Japan, which he would visit several more times.

Film became progressively important as another medium and he produced numerous documentary films as well as travel reportages for television. Throughout his long career, van der Elsken the author was very much in evidence: in the more than twenty books he published he would always exert great influence on the design as well as the selection of the pictures and texts. In film, he tried to use the medium to discover new paths.

Van der Elsken was open towards the people of his time, and whenever possible looked out for that one authentic image. Body language, individual beauty, strength, proximity and erotic vibes, but also vulnerability, made up the foundation for his portraits. He followed his protagonists with a precise eye: people in his earlier work often look past the camera, are turned inwards, reflecting loneliness and a deep melancholy. It is only later that his subjects pose selfconfidently in front of his camera, becoming actors within the photographer’s world. “Show who you are,” is a motto that he repeatedly applied.

It is these words that close his final work, Bye, a film where he ruthlessly captured the merciless progress of the cancer that killed him.

More than a quarter of a century after his death, the different facets of his life’s work are finally being rediscovered. In addition to the 200 photographs and the numerous films at the Amsterdam exhibition, a diversity of complementary material offers insight into biographical contexts as well as the photographer’s personal cosmos. Ulrich Rüter

E d va n der E ls k e n

was born in Amsterdam on 10 March 1925. In 1943 he registered at the Institute of Arts and Crafts, and attended sculpture classes. To avoid forced labour under the NS occupying forces, he went underground in 1944.

He began dedicating himself to photography around 1947 and in 1950, he moved to Paris, where he worked at Magnum Agency’s photo lab.

There he met his first wife, Hungarian photographer, Ata Kandó. In 1953, he met Edward Steichen, who was the first to exhibit him at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He returned to Amsterdam in 1955.

In 1957 he married Gerda van Veen, with whom he travelled the world in 1959/60.

They separated in 1971 and he moved to a small farm close to Edam. In 1984 he married Anneke Hillhorst. Ed van der Elsken died of cancer on 28 December 1990.

edvan derelsken .n l B ooks: (selection) Camera in Love

(Prestel Publishing, 2017); Jazz (Steidl, Göttingen 2007); Love on the Left Bank (Dewi Lewis Publishing, Stockport 2002); Amsterdam! 1947–1970 (Van Holkema & Warendorf, Bussum 1979) Exh ibition : Ed van der elsken – Camera in Love ; until 21 May; Stedelijk

Museum, Amsterdam; m.stedelijk.nl

f/ s top – L e i c a M 1 0 – S u mm a r o n 2 8 m M f/5 . 6 – L e i c a S o f o rt –

T H E L E I C A M 1 0 : I M P R OV E D RAN G E F IN D E R , N E W S E N S O R , B etter E rg o n o m i cs, A n d T H E S L I M B O DY O F AN ANA LO G U E M

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w i s h F u lf i lme n t Leica m10

State of the art electronics in the shape and form factor of a traditional film M, that was the stated goal in developing the M10. A few oddities notwithstanding, this camera could be many a photographers’ wishes fulfilled.

If a fairy had happened upon an M photographer and granted him three wishes, chances are the outcome would not be very dissimilar to the new Leica M10. And the setting being Wetzlar, right in the Brothers Grimm’s native Hesse region in the middle of Germany, who is to say that is not exactly how the M10 came into existence? th e f ir st Wish: Shr in k Th e M. A slimmer and lighter M ranked high on many photographer’s wish list. When Leica first replaced film by a sensor, the layers of sensor-board, mainboard and display did add to the depth of the camera. That was true of the M8 (2006) and it did not change with the M9 (2009).

The M240 introduced in 2012 was even larger. The

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actual difference was negligible; the greater increase in depth suggested by the specs was due to differences in whether and which protrusions were included in the measurements. Still the subjective impression of many customers was that the M was getting fat; and indeed it had put on weight, the main reason being a larger capacity battery.

Slimming down the digital M thus became a top priority for Leica. The goal was a camera with the same dimensions as the analogue models like the M7 that continue to be part of Leica’s camera portfolio. On the other hand, the electronics, from a new sensor to a faster processor, were to be improved. As the developers put it, this was like fitting a powerful V8 motor into a rather small car.

The flange distance between the mount and the image plane (and thus the sensor) is a fixed characteristic of the system, so reducing the depth of the electronics was a prime objective. The M10 features an any-layer printed circuit board with 10 layers which, together with an even tighter integration and miniaturisation of all the electronic components, serves to shrink the part of the camera behind the image plane. But that alone would not have sufficed to reduce the depth to pre-digital dimensions. The position of the mount is a given, but with the size of the electronic components reduced, honing down the depth of everything but the mount was still possible.

The net effect was a reduction of depth from 42.0 to 38.5 mm, just 0.5 mm shy

of the depth of a film M like the M7. Ignoring protrusions, the M10 is just as slim as an M4 – the top plates of both measure 33.7 mm.

A recessed front implies a protruding mount and this created a challenge for redesigning the rangefinder mechanics. Starting with the roller lever at the top of the mount, there is a complex chain of gears translating the focus of the lens into the position of the focus patch in the viewfinder, and focusing accuracy crucially depends on the precision of these interlocking gears.

Leica’s engineers took this challenge in their stride and the resulting design turned out to be even superior to its predecessor in the M240.

Speaking of the viewfinder, its magnification was increased from 0.68x to 0.73x, a tad more even than →

The Leica M10 sports a clean, reduced look reminiscent of a traditional film-based M. There are no visible interfaces (and just one invisible interface, namely, for the optional electronic viewfinder Visoflex (Typ 020) that

is hidden within the hot shoe) and the dedicated ISO wheel has made its eappearance, taking the place of the rewind crank. The on-off switch is just that; activating burst mode or the self timer is done via the menu

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T he extraord in a ry c ha llen ges facing the dev elop ers of th e M 1 0 were n ot un l ik e hav in g to fit a V8 e n g in e in to a com pa ct c ar.

the 0.72x magnification of a film M. This corresponds to a 30 percent increase of the field of view. The effective rangefinder base length was increased from 47.1 mm to 50.6 mm, accounting for the increased accuracy of the rangefinder. Less relevant to accuracy, but a boon for photographers wearing glasses, is the improved eye relief that was increased by 50 percent.

The innards of the camera, be they mechanical, optical, or electronic, take up less space, allowing for a slimmer and lighter camera. Still the new rangefinder has an even higher accuracy than its M240 predecessor, partly due to its increased magnification

S e co nd W i sh : Hi ghe r I so, l e ss no i se . While

The flange distance between mount and sensor being a given, the front of the camera body can be recessed when the space taken up by the electronics is reduced, but the mount then needs to protrude from the slimmer body

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its resolution is still 24 megapixels, the sensor of the Leica M10 is a new development and not related to the Max sensor of its predecessor.

Interestingly the M10, SL, Q, and S cameras all feature sensors with a pixel-pitch of 6 microns, i.e. the sensor pixels are all the same size.

The provenance of those sensors is probably different but Leica provides strictly no details. For all intents and purposes, the M10 sensor is a Leica sensor and, wherever it is actally manufactured, both praise and criticism must be heaped on Leica. Even if the new

sensor differs from the Max sensor, it retains its micro-lens design aimed at optimising the sensor’s performance with the whole range of M lenses.

Issues with vignetting or colour-shift are reduced even further.

Inevitably there will be a few naysayers who would only be satisfied with a 50 megapixels sensor, but for Leica maximising the number of sensor pixels does not appear to be a topmost priority. Not only is there a trade-off between resolution on the one hand, and dynamic range and signalto-noise ratio on the other, but there are also the limits of rangefinder photography to be considered. A sensor with a higher resolution would require an even higher focusing accuracy, which would be difficult to achieve.

Leica strives for the perfect balance between these conflicting requirements, rather than optimising one key parameter to the detriment of others.

The ISO range of the new M10 is greatly extended, starting at ISO 100 and reaching ISO 50 000 at the high end. Probably more important than the leap from ISO 6400 to 50 000 is the reduced noise at high ISO settings – four-digit ISO levels are now more generally usable than they are with the M240. The fully usable ISO 100 setting is a boon when working with Leica’s fast Summilux or Noctilux lenses.

For a long time there have been rumours that the new M would feature a dedicated ISO dial, but nobody had an idea what it would look like. A traditional ISO

wheel like that of the M7 was not an option as its position is occupied by the display.

But there was an empty spot just waiting to be put to good use, namely the place of the rewind crank on the top plate.

Much thought went into the design of the ISO knob.

As long as it sits flush with the top plate it is locked; you need two fingers to pull it up and unlock it. In this unlocked position you can choose a setting between ISO 100 and 6400 in onestop increments, plus a highISO setting preselected in the menu, and an automatic setting. If a photographer prefers to change the ISO setting often, there is no reason to lock it, as any change of the setting takes effect immediately.

L ive V iew, V is o f l ex a n d focus in g . The

M240 was the first digital M to offer live view and thus the option of focusing based on the live view image. For accurate results you have to magnify the image but the M240 has one shortcoming: only the central portion of the image can be magnified, forcing the photographer to use the unreliable focusand-recompose technique if the subject is not in the centre of the image. With the M10 this limitation is finally lifted; you can enlarge any part of the live view image.

Focus peaking continues to be available to enhance highcontrast detail.

Criticism was also levelled against the optional electronic viewfinder of the M240. While it was certainly quite usable as a focusing aid, both its resolution and latency were not state →

The M10 is now much slimmer than previous digital models from the M9 to the M240; its depth of 38.5 mm compares to that of a traditional film-based M

The M10 inherits the electronic viewfinder interface introduced with the T; its contacts are hidden within the hot shoe.

The Visoflex (Typ 020) can be used on the M10

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The menu structure has been streamlined and simplified and the number of buttons reduced; there is a new dedicated ISO dial

Just like the SL, the M10 can create a Wi-Fi network and be remotely controlled via an Android or iOS app. JPEG and DNG images captured are stored on an SD card, but can be imported on the mobile device to be edited and shared on the internet

of the art. The M10 does away with the old EVF interface and its limitations; with the new interface hidden inside the hot shoe that Leica introduced with the T (now TL), the M10 now supports the Visoflex (Typ 020). With its 2.4 million dots, the display panel is not up to the record-setting resolution of the SL viewfinder, but is still a great step forward, providing for a clear and lag-free live view image.

The Visoflex also includes a GPS module that the M10 can use to add location info to the images. Of course the M10, like any M, is first and foremost a rangefinder camera; the electronic viewfinder is a welcome option, but no replacement for the optical viewfinder.

Th e Thir d Wish: No Vi d eo. Now this was a high-

ly controversial wish. Proponents of the “no video please, we’re photographers” faction have been quite vocal, but the crucial question was whether something could be gained from the lack of a feature. There is hardly a single component of a 88 |

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digital camera that was required for video but that would not also benefit still photography. Microphone and headphone jacks might be an exception, but then these could be an optional accessory. A sensor with a higher read-out speed, a more capable CPU, a larger and faster buffer memory, or a more effective way of dissipating heat, would be assets for any kind of camera. If you want a camera without a movie mode, you either get a camera that is a less capable stills camera than it could be, or – as in the case of the new Leica M10 – a camera that could do video just fine, but does not.

The apparent move away from video with the M10 might seem at odds with the recent introduction of the M 0.8 lenses, i.e. M lenses geared towards video use.

For one thing, Leica’s decision to omit a movie mode in the M10 does not imply that the M line is no longer for video. The M240 and M-P240 continue to be available and their ability to capture video is one reason for keeping these models

The new, smaller battery offers 28% less capacity compared to its predecessor, but it serves to allow for a slimmer and lighter body

in the M portfolio. Also the M 0.8 lenses are not really intended to be used with an M, even though technically that would be an option. In one of the next issues of LFI we will cover these lenses in more detail and explain the rationale for their design, including the decision to keep the M mount.

N o I nt e r fac e s. With the M240 Leica had already done away with most interfaces; apart from the connection for the optional electronic viewfinder that was just an interface hidden beneath the bottom plate.

You had to replace the bottom plate with the multifunctional handgrip to gain a USB socket. The Leica M10 retains the quaint bottom plate that needs to be removed to provide access to both the SD card slot and the battery compartment, but the interface is gone. Apart from the hidden interface for the electronic viewfinder there is no electrical connection to the outside world at all.

Having said that, the M10 features an integrated Wi-Fi module to provide wireless access, both for the remote control of the main camera functions and for the transfer of image files. The M10 can create its own Wi-Fi network that mobile devices with Leica’s app installed can connect to. The only parameter that for obvious reasons cannot be remotely controlled from the app is the focus.

While the wireless transfer of image data is reasonably fast, importing files on a computer is best achieved by putting the SD card into a card reader. →

Angelo Pelle

by ANGELO SMALDORE

ISO: 100

This cropped picture detail illustrates that you can confidently use the entire scale of the Leica M10’s ISO dial (ISO 100 up to ISO 6400) in order to expand the scope for hand-held shooting in low light. Even at ISO 6400, the uncorrected excerpt displays only a faint noise pattern while still offering a good rendition of details

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ISO: 3200

ISO: 6400

ISO: 32 000

Menu-dependent values such as ISO 32 000 are to be enjoyed with caution, as a gentle Lightroom colour noise reduction will be no match for the pointillism-effect. Nevertheless, compared to its predecessors the M10 greatly increases the range of photographic possibilities: the ISO shortcomings of digital rangefinder photography are officially a thing of the past

ISO: 32 000 with noise suppression

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Han dl ing. Whether the reduced depth of the body improves its handling is mostly a matter of taste.

Those photographers accustomed to film-based M models will find that the M10 finally feels like any M did during the first half century of its existence. It still weighs 50 g more though.

A curious case of retro styling affects the power switch of the M10: just like the switch of a film-based M, it only has two setting – on and off. Gone are the options to switch to burst mode or the self timer. As both setting were easily activated accidentally, this can be seen as an advantage.

Both functions can now be set via the new and improved menu. The previous

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two menus – one activated by pressing the Set, the other by pressing the Menu button – have been rolled into one. There is a new configurable menu page to provide fast access to the setting one changes most often. The number of buttons is reduced to three, providing for a clean, uncluttered interface that is a clear improvement.

One only wonders why Leica still clings to the removable bottom plate. With a digital camera the bottom plate serves no actual purpose, and separate doors for the card slot and the battery would improve the camera’s handling (a doorless battery compartment as featured by the SL would be even better).

Acc e sso r i e s. Just like its predecessor, the M10 can be used with lenses from the R system with the R-adapter M. As R lenses cannot be used with the rangefinder, and focusing is based on the live view image, the optional electronic viewfinder Visoflex is a useful addition.

The Visoflex also provides position data thanks to its built-in GPS module. The camera can be carried in a leather holster, although that is only really practical when the lens attached is relatively short. A padded leather protector absorbs shocks and prevents the display from getting scratched; as the flap protecting the back can be flipped, the camera is fully usable despite the added padding.

Final ly an M10. An M10

was long overdue. In 2012, three years after the introduction of the M9, everyone was expecting the M10, but the M actually announced at that year’s Photokina was the M (Typ 240).

The new naming scheme did away with model numbers and it actually made a lot of sense. A model was identified by a letter indicating the camera line, i.e. M, S, X, C, T/TL, and SL. There would be qualifiers such as ‘P’ for a model with added features (Leica M-P) and ‘E’ (Leica M-E) for an entrylevel model, and an arbitrary but unique ‘Typ’ number would serve to distinguish a model from any other.

Still this new scheme did not prove popular, and

moreover it prompted futile exercises in Leica numerology – just because coincidentally the number of the M (Typ 240) was equal to 10 times its number of megapixels, many customers assumed a rule, even when that rule was contradicted by every other Leica camera release since then.

These ‘Typ’ numbers carry no significance whatsoever, except that with a series of cameras, a higher number does indicate a more recent model, for example the Leica M (Typ 262).

With the new M10, Leica has reverted to the old naming scheme. Still the Leica M10 also has a ‘Typ’ number (3656). There only remains one question: why is the M10 not named M11?

With the leather protector available in red, black, or brown, all camera parts remain accessible, including the display

The M10 would be the successor of the M9, and that was the M240; the successor of that model would logically be the M11. No explanation has been forthcoming, but the reason might be that the M10 was originally scheduled for a release in late 2016.

If that had come to pass it would have been in time for the 10 year anniversary of digital M cameras, thus suggesting M10 as the new model’s name.

But then, what’s in a name? The new Leica M10 will have to carve its own niche on the strength of what it has to offer, and it can offer a lot of what rangefinder aficionados have wished for in recent years. michael j. Hussmann

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S p o n ta n e o u s F u n i n s ta n t p h o t o g r a p h y

Street photographer Craig Semetko had an early opportunity to experiment with the Leica Sofort. He had planned to photograph the way he always does – until his 14-year old niece convinced him otherwise.

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It took time for Craig Semetko to discover photography. After studying Communication Sciences, the Detroit-born artist initially worked as an actor, author and comedian. This is still reflected in his images, which often seem like a sketch, or a small everyday drama or anecdote. To Semetko, the world is a stage filled with actors whose performances are largely unobserved. In the volume Unposed, published in 2010, he presented spontaneous street photographs taken during his travels throughout Europe and

the US. The introduction was written by Elliott Erwitt – the ingenious observer and outstanding narrator who is a continuous source of inspiration for Semetko’s work. When Semetko participated in the 10 × 10 project marking the centenary of the 35mm camera, he addressed his idol’s work in the form of ten images.

The project subsequently yielded Semetko’s second book, India Unposed. Right now he is continuing with his long-term project on the US. The photographer lives in Los Angeles.

LFI: Craig, can you tell us the first thought that went through your mind when you were asked to try out the Leica Sofort?

Craig Semetko: Probably “oh my God!” or something along those lines. I suppose I was slightly dumbstruck.

I wasn’t quite sure what Leica meant by ‘instant camera’. My first thought was

Working with the Leica Sofort is so straightforward that this in itself initially confused the photographer – but not for long

of a Polaroid, as I’m admittedly old enough to remember these cameras well – we used to play around with them when we were kids. I think it’s intriguing to bring out an instant camera in our digital times. If you think about it, there are probably a lot of people around today who have no idea what analogue film is.

What were your plans for your project with the Leica Sofort?

I had a number of ideas, but not everything turned out the way I had envisioned. It was a bit of a learning curve.

The camera is so straightforward and, ironically, this confused me: I kept thinking that it can’t possibly be this easy, and I must be doing something wrong. I’m not a point-and-shoot photographer, so I wasn’t particularly used to the symbols in the camera’s menu. I usually set all my parameters manually. Holding the Sofort in my hand, I didn’t even know whether it had autofocus or if I was supposed to set the focus on the lens. I shot quite a lot of images just trying to figure that one out.

Did this put an end to the challenge?

Actually, no – the next issue was that I normally concentrate on street photography, so I inevitably went out to do the same with the Leica Sofort. But the printed image the camera produces is pretty small, and it’s also quite hard to capture the exact right moment. Once I had worked out the →

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best way to use the camera, I concentrated on a more graphics-orientated approach. This was something of a challenge as it’s not how I normally work.

So I was a little concerned about the end results.

What was it that dispelled your reservations?

Luckily, my 14-year old niece was visiting when I was just starting to familiarise myself with the Leica Sofort.

The girl was really excited, because she couldn’t fathom how or why this thing managed to spit out printed

pictures. “What’s going on there, Uncle Craig?” She was thrilled and loved every single photo that I took.

Regardless of my own criticisms, she thought all of them were fantastic. To her, it was about having a fun time. Because I had been so focused on trying to take good pictures, it took me a while to realise that,

The small size of the image calls for a graphic composition – this is Semetko’s core conclusion about shooting with the Sofort

more than anything, this camera is about having fun.

That’s what it was made for.

And it took a 14-year old kid to make me see it.

How does an experienced photographer work with a snapshot camera?

I tend to think that you should know your own camera like the back of your hand. And that’s exactly how I feel about my M240.

With the Sofort, I had to let go of that notion and ended up approaching it like an up-market toy. And toys are meant to be fun! The

moment I realised and accepted this, I was able to relax into taking amusing pictures. I think that’s basically the key. The camera seems clearly geared towards a certain age group, and I reckon that the younger generation, who have most likely never even seen anything to do with analogue film, will love this mysterious machine that can instantly spit out the picture it’s just taken. Actually, a lot of people don’t print any of their photographs anymore, but simply keep them on their computer. For them, too, a family photo or a party shot could be a really lovely thing. When my niece left I gave her ten pictures to take home with her, to remember our time together.

So from that perspective it’s actually a wonderful tool – even if it took me a little while to get it.

How would you describe the experience in a nutshell?

Once you’re familiar with the Sofort, you realise that you have to go up close and really fill out the frame.

That’s not so different from other cameras, but because the printed image is so small, it calls for a more graphic approach. You still want to be able to recognise the contents of the picture at arm’s length, and the image has to draw you in purely with its design. Of course you can’t expect detail rendition in pictures of that size – but you can pretty much rely on having a good time. interview: bernd Luxa

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WHY THE RULES OF COMPOSITION IN PHOTOGRAPHY ARE NOT NECESSARILY THERE TO BE BROKEN .

Photo: Alex Webb/Magnum Photos/Agentur Focus

At first glance, it seems as though Alex Webb disregarded all convention when composing this image. Rather than looking ‘framed’, the different elements seem to have been pasted together into a confusing collage of colours, shadows, lines and shapes. But keep looking, and order does emerge: both subjects are positioned on the thirdpoints of the image; also, the image is divided into three distinctive bands from top to bottom; and in the central section, a triangle is formed – its points made up of the two men and the top corner of the boat.

It is always tempting to encourage aspiring photographers to break the rules, but very few compositions break any rules at all. Even the most abstract images contain a coherent underlying structure. It may not hit you instantly, but look hard enough and you will find it.

Henri Cartier-Bresson would turn an image upside-down to see if a composition is working. This forces the eye to break free from any literal understanding of the subject matter, and reduces everything down to shapes. If the image still retains its balance, then it works. To create compositional balance, you need to use those tried and tested rules. They are probably the ones that make you groan when you hear them, such as ‘the rule of thirds’, ‘leading lines’ and ‘the golden section’. But these rules exist for a reason, and when it comes to composition, there is no beauty without balance.

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09:45

Sectional drawing of the Summaron 28mm f/5.6, showing its perfectly symmetrical construction (top). A Leica IIIf with mounted optical viewfinder (SLOOZ) for a 28mm focal length (below)

S h i n i n g E xa m p le L e i ca H i sto ry

In late 2016, Leica launched an almost identical re-edition of the Summaron 28mm f/5.6 – with an M bayonet replacing the screw mount of the original version introduced in 1955. We look back at the historical lens and its era.

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The six-element ‘Summaron f = 2.8 cm 1:5.6’, as the engraving on the lens body specifies, is one of the last Leitz lenses to have been produced exclusively with a screw mount even after the release of the Leica M in 1954. In the years when screw mount Leicas were still catered for, most newly released lenses were available either in the form of both M-bayonet and screwmount versions, or were already produced exclusively with an M bayonet mount.

The screw mount models could, however, also be used on an M camera with the aid of a bayonet adaptor (IRZOO).

The Summaron 28mm f/5.6 features the optical construction of a perfectly symmetrical double lens with four lens groups whose front and rear groups each consist of two cemented elements. The rear group is slightly larger in diameter than the front group. With a front-element diameter of just 9 mm and an exceptionally short length of only 16.5 mm from the flange, this screw mount Leica lens is one of the smallest in its category. The same is true for its weight, which amounts to a mere 150 grams.

The lens was manufactured from October 1955 to March 1963 with a total production volume of approximately 6200 units.

The model pictured here with serial number 1537423 was built in around 1957.

The earliest models of this wide-angle lens featured only a metric distance scale, though Leitz later also offered a version with the distance markings indicated in feet. The aperture

stops of the depth-of-field scale were engraved on the flange ring in red. The mushroom-shaped lens control lever was designed to lock into place on the infinity setting. A clamp-on lens hood, black-lacquered in textured paint and shaped in a distinctive rectangular design, completed this unique lens. The viewfinder options available at the time were either an optical viewfinder (SLOOZ) for a

The standard-version 28mm Summaron, mounted in reverse position to a Leitz Aristophot via the GUIIT reverse ring

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for 1 –2 leica m and 2 – 3 lenses

2.8 cm focal length, or the universal viewfinder VIOOH with TUVOO adaptor.

When the lens is stopped down (as is advisable with many wide-angles in the interest of achieving an even light distribution) the image quality increases, reaching very high levels of performance at aperture 11. This is the reason why both the front and the rear elements of the Summaron are considerably larger than the relative aperture of the lens necessitates. At the same time, this measure greatly minimises vignetting – ultimately enabling the lens to reliably meet the full spectrum of its requirements, especially in the field of macro photography. The Summaron was on the market at a time when Leitz

not only offered a number of lenses corrected especially for scientific research and microscopic photography, but also recommended specific lenses for application in the macro range. These were predominantly lenses with a relatively symmetrical optical construction.

Some of them could also be mounted back-to-front with the aid of reverse rings to fully harness their magnifying abilities.

The inside of the Summaron’s front ring features an E-34 filter thread, which supports not only a filter but alternatively also a reverse ring (GUIIT). This made it possible for the lens to be attached to specialist devices such as the Leitz Panphot or the Leitz Aristophot for the purpose of macro-photography applications. In the mid-sixties, Leitz also released a modified Summaron complete with GUIIT, which was offered specifically as a magnifying lens. Today this is likely to be one of the rarest macro lenses on the collectors’ market.

With its compact size, high-level performance and excellent optical design, the Summaron still remains a fine example of the aesthetically appealing lenses that were borne out of the Leitz construction philosophy, especially in the heyday of the screw-mount Leicas.

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Ba h m a n Bawen di The author

is an honorary member of the Leica Historica Association. He is always interested in receiving information on Leica-historical topics, and can be contacted at bawendi@t-online.de

www.dothebag-mono.de

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o n t h e r i g h t trac k S m a r t p h o n e PH o t o g r a p h y

The modern smartphone has undeniably surpassed the compact camera – though it has not yet mastered every photographic task. Can add-on devices offer a solution?

Smartphone with camera-look: launched in 2014, the Panasonic DMC-CM1 featured a 1-inch sensor, 20-megapixel resolution and a Leica DC Elmarit 10.2mm f/2.8 (equiv. to 28 mm in 35mm format)

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In the 1990s, the foundations had been put in place for the almost concurrent introduction of two groundbreaking technologies to the mass market: mobile phones and digital cameras.

In 1992, Motorola released the first GSM phone, and in the same year IBM presented the prototype of the world’s first smartphone, the IBM Simon, at the Comdex computer expo. ‘Simon’ was launched on the retail market two years later, allowing users to make mobile calls, send E-mails and fax messages – and it even featured a touchscreen. In the midnineties digital photography followed suit with cameras that were no longer geared towards professionals, but specifically targeted the consumer market of amateur photographers.

Cameras with resolutions of 0.3 or 0.5 megapixels marked the beginning of what would later be known as the megapixel race. And just before the decade was over, Toshiba released the Camesse in 1999 – the first mobile phone with a built-in camera, offering a resolution of 0.11 megapixels.

The first mobile phone with VGA resolution (0.3 MP) to be launched in Europe was the Nokia 7650, released in 2002. LG subsequently produced the first phone with a 5-megapixel camera in 2006, only to be outdone by Samsung with a 10-megapixel release in the same year. And finally, in January of the following year, Apple launched their iPhone – the first smartphone to feature all the components and functions that still define the product category to this day:

touchscreen, swipe control, internet capability, camera, and expandability via apps.

Smartphones are simply computers, and as such follow a relatively similar path of development to their large-screen counterparts. Most manufacturers seem to have settled into an approximately one-year innovation cycle. As well as featuring alterations in design, the newer models are inevitably equipped with faster processors, more RAM, improved displays – and better cameras.

The latter has led to a dramatically steep decline in the sales of digital compact cameras. The majority of consumers clearly find the capabilities of their smartphone cameras sufficient for their needs – which is unsurprising considering that in many shooting situations, the recording quality of top-end phone models comes very close to that of some compact cameras. With only marginal discrepancies in sensor size and resolution, the advantages of compact cameras are now limited to their optical zoom and superior flash, along with a better performance in

low-light situations owing to the larger sensors found in the more upmarket models.

There have been repeated attempts to level out these few remaining differences in the form of optimised smartphones and add-on devices. Nokia, for example, released the 808 PureView in 2012, featuring a comparatively large 1/1.2 sensor with 41 megapixels.

Its fairly chunky design did not meet the spirit of the times, and Nokia released no further versions. In 2014, Panasonic introduced the DMC-CM1 with 1-inch sensor, 20-megapixel resolution and a Leica DC Elmarit 10.2mm f/2.8 lens, recording in an equivalent focal length of 28 mm. Although far more elegant than Nokia’s PureView, this model also looked more like a camera than a phone (pictured left), and was never followed by a successor model.

Sony took a different approach in 2013: with the Cybershot DSC-CX10, the Japanese company brought out a 10x-zoom camera which, with the aid of a simple clamp mechanism, could be docked onto most of the smartphone models avail-

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11/4/12

Apple introduced dual lenses to the iPhone 7 Plus to provide a 2x optical zoom (left), while Huawei and Leica equipped the Mate 9 with one monochrome and one colour sensor, as previously with the P9 (right)

able at the time, using their display as viewfinder (page 101). However, users had to first sequentially start up the phone, followed by the camera and the accompanying app, and finally establish a WiFi connection between the two devices.

So this solution was fine for pre-meditated stills, but hopeless for snapshots.

Hasselblad introduced a similar concept in 2016 with the Hasselblad True Zoom (page 101). But the camera, also equipped with a 10x optical zoom, is only compatible with the Moto Z by Motorola (Lenovo).

While this is a considerable improvement from Sony’s Cybershot in terms of speed, it is uncertain whether the True Zoom will also fit the next-generation model of the phone, and →

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T he in d ustry tre n d is m ovin g towa rds optim is in g in tegrated sma rtp h on e c a meras, but th e dev elop ment of a n opt ic a l zoom rem a in s a ma jor c ha lle n ge .

The DxO One connects to iOS devices exclusively via a Lightning port. Though it offers a reasonably sized 1-inch sensor, the run-time of its battery leaves a lot to be desired

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whether Motorola are going to supply the current version with Android updates.

The DxO One (pictured left) was developed along similar lines: a separate camera with 1-inch sensor, 20 megapixels, Raw processing, an aperture of 1.8 and a 32mm lens (35mm equivalent), it is suited to all iOS-devices with Lightning connector, again utilising the phone’s display as a viewfinder. The firmware policy of the DxO One is exemplary, with continuous updates expanding the camera’s capabilities. For example, the DxO One can now also be used independently from a phone, since its small OLED display has become capable of acting as a viewfinder with bitmap resolution. Unfortunately this is not enough to redress its major weakness, which is a truly dismal battery performance. Should DxO find a way to resolve this issue, the One would be an interesting alternative to integrated smartphone cameras. And ideally, new smartphones ought to feature universal connectors in order to make these types of add-on

products compatible with all brands across the board.

However, the industry trend actually seems to be going the other way: with the introduction of Huawei’s top-of-the-range models, the P9 and P9 Plus with a dual lens camera by Leica (see LFI 4, 5 and 6/2016), integrated smartphone photography has made an enormous leap forward. The two companies immediately took their achievement to the next level with an improved dual lens camera in Huawei’s Mate 9 Phablet (LFI 1/2017).

Huawei and Leica were not the first companies to pursue the concept of a dual camera. Even in 2011, the LFI_EDDYCAM_Neu.pdf HTCAnzeige Evo 3D, the LG Optimus 3D and the Aquos Phone

SH80F by Sharp all featured dual cameras in order to create 3-D effects. But the novelty soon wore off, and it was not until 2014 that new phones with dual cameras once again became available – and these were still more of a curiosity rather than a dedicated effort to improve image quality. There were, however, some attempts to use the particular files created by a dual lens camera to simulate bokeh – a visual quality no smartphone camera can produce due to limitations to their optical design. This is an area the industry very much continues to develop, given that the results are still not 27.01.17convincing 14:04 entirely – not even in the Portrait mode

1

10x optical zoom through external lenses: the Sony Cybershot DSC-CX10 (left) and the Hasselblad True Zoom (right)

of the iPhone7 Plus, which now also features a dual lens camera. That being said, the image quality of top-of-therange smartphones already supersedes that of many compact cameras in several shooting situations – with

the Mate 9 being a prime example. It therefore seems likely that products such as the Cybershot DSC-CX10 or the Hasselblad True Zoom will remain interim technologies, while manufacturers continue to focus their efforts on the evolution of integrated smartphone cameras – even though the issue of an optical zoom will no doubt remain a very tough nut to crack. BernD Luxa

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best o f L F I . G a ller y

H ava n a , Cuba Symphony in blue or visit Havana as long as it’s still there. One of those famous old-timers has broken down.

“A photo that a tourist could have taken on any street corner.” But not this specific image, because the ruins are gone and a new hotel is being built there.

Volker Figueredo Véliz Leica M9-P, Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 Asph

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l ig h t box

Eye to Eye w i t h M a r i ly n “In the Caribbean, many women decorate their hair with artificial or real flowers. In this case, however, it was the image of Marilyn swinging back and forth that appealed to me.

I grabbed the camera, set the aperture and waited till I could catch Marilyn’s eye again.”

Johannes Barthelmes Leica M240, Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 Asph

o n B r oa dway “This picture was taken on a Saturday evening in Nashville, Tennessee.

The contrast between the two youths with their modern laptops and the vintage car they’re sitting in, caught my eye.

To me it represents a glimpse of the kind of American culture seen only in Nashville.”

J Ben Eliezar Leica M Monochrom 246, Summicron-M 35mm f/2 Asph

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G ua rd i n g T h e a rtefacts “On one of my many trips to Chicago, I stumbled across this group of wedding guests at Tribune Tower. They were friends of the bridegroom, waiting for the official photo shoot. I came up with the title Guarding the Artifacts, because they were leaning against one of the city’s architectural pearls.”

James Rice Leica M9, Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 Asph

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L i T tle i n d i a “The first thing I noticed about this street in Singapore’s Little India district, was the geometry of the houses and the structure of the installations. Then a figure, whose outfit worked well in the setting, stepped into the picture. The man noticed me briefly, then turned away and walked on.”

James Chan Nyein Aung Leica X2 with Elmarit 24mm f/2.8 Asph

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Ne o n Ta x i “My idea was to photograph as many of the old neon signs as possible together with one of Hong Kong’s typical red and white taxis.

I’d barely framed the picture, when the driver rolled down the window and shouted at me to get off the street.”

Jonathan Seah Leica SL, Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 Asph

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c o m p lete Obl i v i o n “I spotted this young woman at the London, Westminster underground station.

Her concentration on what she was reading was so deep that it almost looked like her face was buried in the page.

I’d never seen someone holding a book so close to their nose before.”

Hyonwo Kim Leica M240, SummicronM 35mm f/2 Asph

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Viviane Sassen, Silver Dollar, 2013 – her exhibition Umbra is on show in Chicago until 1 April 2017

p h oto – b o o k s – e x h i b i t i o n s – fest i va ls – Awa rds –

Alec S o t h f o m u, A n t w e r p

Photos: © Eggleston Artistic Trust 2004/Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London; © Alec Soth/Magnum Photos; msab-Institut d’Histoire Sociale, Gand © Eli Lotar

W i ll i a m E gglesto n FOAM , A m s t e r d a m

It started out as an extraordinary ambition: in twenty books filled with more than 2000 photographs, William Eggleston intended to articulate the way he sees the world. From 1966 to 1974, he went on countless road trips together with curator and author William Hopps to document America and its people. Los Alamos chronicles this endeavour, taking us from Memphis and the Misissippi Delta to New Orleans, Las Vegas and South California, ending at Santa Monica Pier. On their travels they passed through Los Alamos in New Mexico, the place where the nuclear bomb was developed, and which became the title of the series.

“I had this notion of what I called a democratic way of looking around, that nothing was more or less important,” Eggleston once said. This approach of imbuing everything with equal importance made him an astute observer of the world around him. Despite the wide range of locations, his images seem unbound by time and space – almost like a higher, abstract reality. This transcendental atmosphere is further emphasised by his subtle use of muted colours. The project was eventually abandoned, and for four decades Los Alamos was forgotten – until its rediscovery in 2003 led on to an exhibition. The Foam gallery in Amsterdam now presents 75 photographs from the series in a visual array of still lifes, landscapes, architecture, traffic signs and diner interiors. Eggleston examined the world like a poet, in great depth and minute detail. A glass of Coca Cola may appear trivial at first, yet it can convey an impression of a whole society.

17 March — 7 June 2017, Photo: William Eggleston, Memphis, ca. 1965–1968, from the series Los Alamos, 1965–1974

The exhibition Gathered Leaves at the FOMU is the first showcase of the Magnum photographer’s work in Belgium. The show is comprised of four series: Sleeping by the Mississippi (2004), Niagara (2006), Broken Manual (2010) and Songbook (2014) – all of them a lyrical expression of the fascinating, vast expanse that is America.

Until 4 June 2017; Photo: Alec Soth, from the series Songbook

E l i L o ta r J e u d e Pa u m e , Pa r i s

In the 1920s the French photographer, who was closely linked with the surrealist movement, captured the back streets of Paris: slaughter houses, red-light districts, markets, bistros. This retrospective encompasses over 100 vintage prints as well as original book and magazine publications of his work.

Until 28 May 2017 Photo: Eli Lotar, La Viande, 1929

V i v i a n e Sa sse n MOCP, C h i c a g o

Umbra is Latin for shadow.

A fitting title for the Dutch photographer’s series, which is centred around the interplay of light and shadow.

Viviane Sassen, born 1972 in Amsterdam, is always keen to experiment: photography as geometry; photography as an expression of colour; and now, photography as a means to draw attention to what the darkness may conceal. The shadow is a space devoid of light; in psychology it is the archetypal symbol of the collective unconscious; it is a synonym for the soul, the night and all manner of projections. In Sassen’s series, the shadow becomes an entity – and yet continues to be a mystery of fears and desires, memories and expectations, fantasy and illusion. As a whole, the series seems not unlike a lifetime of memories – a silhouette that has been painted in the richest, most beautiful colours. The exhibition will subsequently travel from Chicago to Germany, with a stop at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg in May 2017.

Until 1 April 2017; Photo: Viviane Sassen, Green Vlei, 2014

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Sandra Mehl (France): Ilona and Maddelena, 2016; Kristof Vadino (Belgium): Refugee Odyssey to Europe, 2015; Weronika Gesicka (Poland): Traces, no year; Philip Kanwischer (Canada): Inhospitably Ours, no year; Frank Herfort (Russia): Ball in Forest aus Fairy Tale from Russia, 2014 (clockwise from the left)

E merg i n g Ta le n t Awa rds 2 0 1 6

What direction is actual photography pointing in? Who is opening up new paths? These are the questions asked by the LensCulture Emerging Talents Award, currently in its fourth edition.

Over 1000 photographers from more than 120 countries submitted works, and an international jury picked 50 whose imagery and photographic ideas struck them as noteworthy and groundbreaking. “This was not a beauty contest, but a thorough investigation of what photography can do in the 21st century, and how it can be manipu114 |

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lated to varying degrees to achieve a desired effect,” states LensCulture editor-in-chief, Jim Casper. In addition to the Emerging Talents, each jury member chose a so-called Juror’s Pick.

Each photographer selected received 2500 dollars in prize money.

Open to all professional photographers, the competition does not see itself as specifically supporting newcomer talent – after all, the selection and awards are given for the work, independent of the age or experience of the respective photographers. This spring,

all the works will be on display in digital form at the newly-opened museum at the International Center of Photography in New York. They will also be projected at over 50 festivals around the world. In addition, LensCulture have provided over 100 photo editors and curators to speak with the photographers, give them feed-back on their work, and arrange the possibility of a future sponsorship for them. www.lensculture.com/2016-lenscultureemerging-talent-award-winners

Photos: All rights lie with the photographers mentioned

LENSCULTURE PRESENTS THE 5 0 WINNERS

— S MAGAZINE — L e i c a G a ller i es germany

polAnd

W etzl a r

w a rs a w

Joel Meyerowitz: Leica Hall of Fame 2016

Pszemek Dzienis: Pureview

Am Leitz-Park 5, 35578 Wetzlar 18 January — end of March 2017 F r a n k f u rt

Mysia 3, 00-496 Warsaw 9 February — 26 March 2017 Portugal

Vincent Peters: Personal

P o rt o

Großer Hirschgraben 15, 60311 Frankfurt am Main 20 January — 19 March 2017

Daniel Casares Román: Cor Humana

N u remberg

Ara Güler: Das Auge Istanbuls Obere Wörthstr. 8, 90403 Nuremberg 11 February — 15 April 2017 Z i n gst

Per-Anders Pettersson: African Catwalk Am Bahnhof 1, 18374 Zingst End of February — end of April 2017

Rua de Sá da Bandeira, 48/52 4000–427 Porto, 28 January — 5 April 2017 Turkey

i st a n b u l

Kurt Hutton: From Strasbourg to London – from Hübschmann to Hutton Bomontiada - Merkez, A, Birahane Sk. No:1, 34381 Şişli/İstanbul 20 December 2016 — 11 March 2017

Austria

S a lzb u rg

Mary Ellen Mark, François Fontaine, Julien Mignot: Film ab!

Gaisbergstr. 12, 5020 Salzburg 3 March — 1 April 2017 S c h l o ss Are n berg

USA

L o s A n geles

Danny Clinch 8783 Bever­ly Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90048, 2 — 31 March 2017 B o st o n

Mario Marino: Faces

Mathieu Bitton: Darker Than Blue

Arenbergstr. 10, 5020 Salzburg 25 February — end of June 2017

74 Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116, 9 March — 30 April 2017

Vienna

Alfons Walde Walfischgasse 1, 1010 Vienna 16 December 2016 — 25 March 2017 I ta lY

Milan

Current exhibition unknown at time of publication

Brazil

S ão Pau l o

David Burnett: Man Without Gravity Rua Maranhão, 600 Higienópolis, 01240-000 São Paulo 14 February — 15 April 2017 Ja pa n

Via Mengoni, 4, 20121 Milan To kyo czech Republic

Pr a g u e

Elliott Erwitt and Werner Bischof: Platinum Print exhibition

Jaroslav Kučera: Silent Dialogues

6-4-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 3 March — 4 June 2017

Školská 28, 110 00 Prague 1 3 February — 2 April 2017

Kyoto

Anju: The Invisible Kyoto 570–120 Gionmachi Minamigawa, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto 11 March — 8 June 2017

ELLEN VON UNWERTH —

www.s-magazine.photography

M a r k Ne v i lle Fa n c y P i c t u r e s

British photographer Mark Neville (born 1966) is known to tread the fine line between artistic and documentary photography. This new book presents an overview of his photographs taken over the past 12 years, and includes seven series dated since 2004. For this book, Neville has chosen a broadly conventional form of distribution. In contrast, his first book, published in 2005, documented the former shipbuilding town of Port Glasgow in a time of post-industrial recession and was distributed to only 8000 homes in 116 |

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the small Scottish town, where Neville had lived for a year. There was no other place where one could purchase a copy. The new book showcases a selection of that original Scottish series, together with six other groups of pictures and a variety of documentary material that also explore social conditions within small communities.

One series is about rural life in the Scottish countryside, another details everyday life in Corby, an industrial city in Northamptonshire; yet another chronicles life in London and the

US city of Pittsburgh. In another work of particular significance, his focus is on British soldiers doing their tour of duty in Afghanistan. This is certainly not a typical coffee table book, and Neville’s stated intention is quite different: “By presenting these projects in Fancy Pictures, I mean to open up a dialogue about the nature of audience and the purpose in contemporary photographic practice.” An exciting contribution, without a doubt.

224 pages, 109 images, 29 × 26.2 cm, Steidl

B i rte Kau fm a n n THE TRAVEL l ERS

K i r i ll G o lovc h e n ko Out of the Blue

Anyone who enjoys dreaming about hot summer days on sandy beaches to help them endure cold, grey winter days, will have made a good choice by taking a look at Golovchenko’s (born 1974) latest book. For this project, the photographer returned to Ukraine – where he has never forgotten the golden summers spent with his grandmother on the beaches of the Black Sea. The place of his memories however, has changed a great deal since he left the country in 1997. Back then, the beach and the sea meant adventure, they were not so crowded as they are today, and people treated the little seaside communities with care. In this book, the viewer is drawn to take a closer look at life on the beach through the curious feature of a bright blue rubber ring framing each image: its circular form is reminiscent of a port-hole. The ring is an ideal accessory for the photographer, veiling his photographic voyeurism. “It fits to the beach, and not just as a formal device. I was never just an observer but also a holidaymaker. One of them,” Golovchenko remembers. The beach is all about seeing and being seen. “I did my watching through this ‘hole’. It felt spontaneous and fun while taking the photos. The rubber ring conceals you, isolates you, but also makes you visible. It helps you focus, both as the photographer and as the observer. It’s like a spotlight illuminating a certain situation for a brief moment.”

With this playful trick, Golovchenko has successfully been able to overcome the contrast between documentary and staged photography.

104 pages, 47 images, 27.5 × 18.5 cm, Engl./Ukrainian, Rodovid Press

Between 2011 and 2015, the German photographer (born 1981) followed the daily lives of Ireland’s largest minority group, portraying them with sensitive and empathetic images. Distanced from real life in the 21st century, roughly 25 000 people try to maintain their traditional identity, preserving their language and living in mobile homes.

144 pages, 58 images, 21 × 25 cm, Kettler publishing

Rag n a r Ax elss o n FACES OF THE NORTH

For more than 25 years, the Icelandic photographer (born 1958) has focused on the fascinating world of the far North, and people living in extreme conditions in regions of perpetual ice. This new edition of the photographic book has twice the number of pictures, and underlines RAX’s importance as a landscape and documentary photographer.

412 pages, 300 black and white images, 31 × 29 cm, Crymogea

The Life and Work of

S i d G r o ssm a n Following his untimely death, Sid Grossman (1913–1955) and his photographs were mostly forgotten. However, this remarkable new book has returned the photographer’s work to the public eye. Born in New York City, Grossman began his career as a freelance photojournalist and in 1936 was one of the founders of the left-leaning Photo League.

Time and again he photographed the transformation of his hometown, interspersed with extensive travelling.

After the war, Grossman and the Photo League were under FBI surveillance until the association was dismantled in 1951. In addition to his sociodocumentary pictures, this book is dedicated to the full breadth of the photographer’s work: from the personal and dynamic street photography of the late forties and ballet pictures from the fifties, to abstract experiments.

Last but not least, through his influence as a teacher, the significance of Grossmann for US photography cannot be underestimated.

252 pages, 150 images, 25.2 × 26.4 cm, Steidl

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Since 2010, the German photographer Robin Hinsch has travelled several times to Ukraine, where he sensed “the abandonment and melancholia of a collapsed political system.� Taken from his Kowitsch/Ato series (2015)

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“ W h at we d o i s n o t a b o u t a rt f o r a rt ’ s s a k e .” i n t e rv i e w

Photo left: © Robin Hinsch; photos right: © Marie Hald, © Pierfrancesco Celada; all courtesy of the artists

As one of the four curators of the European Photo Exhibition Award, Norwegian photographer Rune Eraker promotes political journalism in photography.

The European Photo Exhibition Award (EPEA) aims to create a space where socially-pertinent topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by new talent. Twelve photographers, mentored by four EPEA curators, are nominated to translate their observations and statements on a sociallyrelevant subject into a photo essay.

The results are presented in a touring exhibition throughout Europe.

LFI: Mr. Eraker, the third edition of the EPEA is currently in progress.

Please let us know something about your involvement in this project.

Rune Eraker: Each curator is in charge of nominating three to five

outstanding photographers and takes on the role of mentoring and curating the exhibition. The curators are Ingo Taubhorn (curator at the Haus der Photographie der Deichtorhallen, Hamburg), Sérgio Mah (curator and sociologist, Lisbon), Enrico Stefanelli (founder and artistic director Photolux Festival, Lucca) and myself. Each of the participants takes part in two workshops and then we do coaching and evaluate the work in progress.

LFI: When did you and your co-curators establish this project?

Eraker: Six years ago, in collaboration with The Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Körber-Stiftung, who support the EPEA. We wanted to bring excellent new talent out into the scene.

LFI: Who comes into consideration?

Eraker: We’re looking for photographers who have a characteristic and consistent form of expression. We’re reaching out to photographers with potential. On the whole, there is no call for applications; the works we deal with are only based on our recommendations as curators. We started out with 400 pieces of work. →

Above: the Italian photographer Pierfrancesco Celada explored the peripheral regions of Milan’s metropolitan area, an urban territory in expansion. Taken from his Milano, Hinterland project (2015); Left: With her series, The Girls from Malawa (2015), Marie Hald from Denmark investigates the inner and an outer boundaries of teenagers. She portrays young people who are “fighting a war against themselves”

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Above: Margarida Gouveia: Untitled #4, from X, Y and Z and Another One for Luck (2016)

Above: Marie Sommer explores architecture and territories on the edge of oblivion: Kumrovec Library (2015), taken from her The Circular Ruins series (2015); Very top: Arianna Arcara shows the consequences of the division of the island of Cyprus. Taken from her series, The Other side (Where Time Passes by but Stands Still, 2015); Right: Jakob Ganslmeier travelled throughout Poland, a land that is shaped by processes of transformation: Untitled, from his Lovely Planet: Poland series (2015)

LFI: The EPEA is about political photojournalism. Why do you think photography is a good medium for reflecting this?

Eraker: What we do is not about art for art’s sake. It’s about enhancing the understanding of photography and communication. In the end, it’s about how photographers and viewers look at a theme, a motto.

LFI: After European Identities (2012) and The New Social (2014), the actual motto is Shifting Boundaries.

What approach would you like photographers to take with it?

Eraker: It’s not a purely photojournalistic approach; even artistic photographers have something to say about the motto.

LFI: Where would you draw the line

between journalism and art?

Eraker: When you look at Scandinavian art in photography, you see 120 |

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that it came mainly from the documentary side, whereas in Germany it usually came more from the artistic side – this is my impression. While working with the EPEA we always try to get closer to both sides: the artistic and the documentary.

LFI: What about the power of images, especially of political images?

Eraker: I come from a political background. I picked up my camera as an activist. I choose my themes to shed light on certain things and hopefully create a debate around those themes.

That’s a very concrete way of making photographs political. Whatever you do with them, is a matter of how you deal with a theme.

LFI: How can photographers create awareness through political images?

Eraker: Photography has the power to make people look at things. I don’t think there was a time in history

Photos: © Margarida Gouveia, © Arianna Arcara, © Jakob Ganslmeier, © Marie Sommer, all courtesy of the artists

“Art a n d D o c u me n ta ry – we try to get clo ser to b ot h s i des .”

when, because of social media, so many images were circulating as today.

LFI: Has there been more political

content in the past?

Eraker: If you look at art and photog-

raphy today, the images are very self centered: photographers are turning the camera around themselves, trying to show how they sense or perceive the circumstances they are in. In the seventies and eighties, it was more political. Now it’s changing slightly.

I’m a politically motivated photographer and I’m glad it’s getting more political again. Photographers want to say something about the world. The EPEA wants to contribute to that via the themes it deals with.

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LFI: You mentor young photographers, helping them find their visual language.

How do you go about it?

Eraker: I ask them questions and constantly discuss their approach. I look at their way of dealing with the topics and try to enhance it. Although I’m a photographer using classical equipment, I’m open to new techniques.

I always make it clear to them that you want to be known for your photographs. You will be recognised for the photos you cherish – those are the ones that don’t earn you any money.

If you don’t pay attention, you will be known for what you get paid for, because those are the pictures that are published and, in the end, that’s what people connect with you. You have to be aware that you quite literally become the pictures you take.

LFI: Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Eraker.

Interview: Carla Susanne Erdmann

Ru n e E ra ker (* 1961) has worked as an

independent documentary photographer for more than 25 years. His photos have been published in magazines and newspapers in Norway and internationally. He currently chairs the editorial team of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.

Ex hi b i t i o n : European Photo Exhibition Award: Shifting Boundaries, Haus der Photographie, Hamburg, 3 March to 1 May, 2017; www.epeaphoto.org

o rd e r n ow:

lfi-online.com/Sofort

Leica Fotografie I n t e r n at i o n a l

S t é p h a n e L avo u é my Picture

The encounter with the Russian Premier lasted barely half a minute. An intense portrait was the outcome of the fastest photo session Lavoué was ever involved in.

69th year | Issue 2. 2017

LFI PHOTOGR A PHIE GMBH Springeltwiete 4, 20095 Hamburg, Germany Phone: +49 / 40 / 2 26 21 12 80 Fax: +49 / 40 / 2 26 21 12 70 ISSN: 0937-3977 www.lfi-online.com, mail@lfi-online.com Editor-in-Chief Inas Fayed, Frank P. Lohstöter (V.i.S.d.P.) A rt Direction Brigitte Schaller EDITORIA L OFFICE Carla S. Erdmann, Michael J. Hußmann, Katrin Iwanczuk, Bernd Luxa, Edyta Pokrywka, David Rojkowski, Holger Sparr, Olaf Staaben, Simon Schwarzer, Olaf Stefanus, Katrin Ullmann Photo Editor Reportage Carol Körting layout Thorsten Kirchhoff Translation, Sub-Editing Robin Appleton, Hope Caton, Anna Sauper, Osanna Vaughn CONTRIBUTORS to this issue Bahman Bawendi, Katja Hübner, Ulrich Rüter M anagement Board Frank P. Lohstöter, Anja Ulm Commercial M anagement Johanna Schulz Media SA LES A nd M arketing Kirstin Ahrndt-Buchholz, Samira Holtorf Phone: +49 / 40 / 2 26 21 12 72 Fax: +49 / 40 / 2 26 21 12 70 E-Mail: buchholz@lfi-online.de holtorf@lfi-online.de

Vladimir Putin in Paris, May 2008

I was on an assignment for Le Monde at the Hôtel d’Estrées, the Paris residency of the Russian Ambassador to France. We had an appointment with Premier Vladimir Putin for an exclusive interview and photo shoot. Security checks took for ever but finally I was allowed to enter the huge Salon Rouge, the living room of the residency. At that time, I was only shooting with available light; so I immediately started walking round the room to check the conditions.

Suddenly, Putin came in with his crew. I shook his hand and asked him to look at me. The first pictures. Then looking towards the window. A few more pictures.

Sixteen seconds and eleven photos later he was on his way. That’s my fastest photo session ever. With Putin, what’s more!

REPRODUcTION: Alphabeta, Hamburg Printer: Optimal Media GmbH, Röbel/Müritz PA PER: Igepa Profimatt Distribution LFI (USPS no 0017912) is published 8 times per annum.

Subscription price per annum (including shipping) worldwide: 69 € LFI is also available as an app at the Apple iTunes store and at Google Play LFI Subscription Service P. O. Box 13 31, D-53335 Meckenheim Phone: +49 / 22 25 / 70 85-3 70 Fax: +49 / 22 25 / 70 85-3 99 E-Mail: lfi@aboteam.de

Stéphane Lavoué was born in Mulhouse, France in 1976. He has an engineering degree in timber industries and lived for two years in Brazilian Amazonia. In 2001 he decided to start working as a photographer. He is well known for his exceptional portraits.

We accept no responsibility for unsolicited material. All articles and illustrations contained in the magazine are subject to copyright law. Any use beyond the narrow limits defined by copyright law, and without the express permission of the publisher, is forbidden and will be prosecuted.

This applies particularly to reproduction, translation, microfilming or the storage and processing in electronic systems.

LFI 3 / 2 0 1 7 w i l l a p p e a r o n 7 A p r i l 2 0 1 7

Printed in Germany

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