9 August 2012 - Horst Faas - Master Photographer

Quote of the day:


"God must love crazy people


 ... because he made so many of them."


G'day guys,


As a keen photographer myself, I love to look at photographs taken by others. My favourite works are those pictures taken in black and white or sepia. The detail is so real. In my study is a book I love: N J Caire, Landscape Photographer. Why, because it has early photographs of an area I lived in and fished for ten years - a pristine valley of massive tree ferns, tall mountain ash trees, lyre birds and other Aussie animals.  Whenever I fished that area, I took my camera, probably venturing to places man has never been - or spoilt.


I recall one day standing in the middle of a mountain stream, The Taggerty River, way up in the mountains, just off Lady Talbot Drive. There I was with my fishing rod, concentrating as I let my float head down the river, hoping a trout would snatch my bait, pull it under, head to the bottom and swallow it. If not, I'd wind it back and start again. Then, I noticed two platypus playing on the left bank. It was wonderful. They didn't care about me. What I cared about was that my camera was sitting three metres away on the bank with my fishing gear. So, rather than scare the beautiful creatures away, I stood still and watched them do what platypus do. Man, what a sight. It was better than going to a zoo, which by the way, is a great place for animals to view humans.


Anyway, you get the picture ... right? A photograph tells a million words, eh? It does indeed. And, you can imagine how I have often used my camera and photographs to provide a mental image for many of my characters and their actions.


Today I want to feature a top photographer who captured more unpleasant sights and scenes than a playful platypus - WAR! His name is Horst Faas. He was a Pulitzer Prize-winning combat photographer who became one of the world’s legendary photojournalists in nearly half a century with the AP and captured these images during the Vietnam War. Faas died Thursday, May 10, 2012 in Munich at age 79. Many thanks to the Denver Post for providing these amazing shots.


Comment: When you have checked them out, re-read the quote at the top of this post. Mm ... what more can I say when you see the eyes on some of the people in the photographs?


Horst Faas - Master Photographer




Pax vobiscum, Horst Faas - CT


Keep writing!


Thanks for listening.


I'm Clancy Tucker.


www.clancytucker.com.au


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