The Leica M Gestalt

In the 90-ties, Leica M cameras came in these spiffy, red velvet-lined presentation boxes. Just had to do a bit of Skript-Fu on that.

A film-loading Leica has it’s own Gestalt.

On the Edges

Today I want to talk a bit about framing. Not about the process of putting a picture in a frame, but about taking an excerpt of one‘s surrounding and making a picture out of it. In photography, they way you do this determines the quality of your art. Together with pressing the shutter at the right time, of course. Photography is easy *1), you just need to get two things right.

I Dreamt of the Bechers Tonight

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Error Circle

A smurf tied up in the forest

Sometimes there are so many errors in an image that quality comes round again to being, dare I say, good? Example in case above. I had expired

All Wrong, But Fabulous*

Pensive at the Fast Food Restaurant

These are heady times for photo gear geeks like me. The day before yesterday, Leica announced

Film Swan Song

Lock and load!

See that yellow in the film ID window?

Pattern Recognition

With apologies to William Gibson
Our brain seems hungry to find pattern in the chaos. It’s a functional principle I like to play with in an ongoing series. My brain in turn seeks out patterns in nature and makes me photograph them in a way both revealing to and demanding from the viewer.

Step Right Up

Photographing photographers has become quite an obsession of mine

Yes, of course I take photographs on the street as well with the Leica M9. Here are some examples from yesterday’s visit to the Christmas Fair.

The Leica in the Landscape

Banks of fog under a clear sky

Ok, sort of a reprise on the previous post. In coming to know the Leica M9 better,

Really Right For The Wrong Purpose

Lauchagrund at dusk

Leicas are for street photography, right? Perhaps reportage and situational portraits, too.
But then, the newest incarnation of the Leica M Gestalt is one of the best digital cameras on the market. It’d be a shame to limit it’s potential to hand-held use. And as every photographer worth his salt knows, the simplest way to make your photos sharper is to use a tripod.
A Leica on a tripod is an abomination. But not with this: