The Iconic Leica Images - Assembled on the Leica Website for the 100th Anniversary of the Leica Camera

"Flood in Wetzlar - Oskar Barnack, 1920"

Image Source: http://us.leica-camera.com/World-of-Leica/100-years-of-Leica-photography/Leica-100-years/Iconic-photos

 

100 years ago, Oskar Barnack started a revolution in photography by making a 35mm still camera that was worthy of commercialization. Originally built to test exposures for movie films, Barnack quickly recognized that the smaller negative (as compared to the standard 4x5 or larger of the day) was a reasonable compromise in image quality that gained you amazing portability. This eventually turned photojournalism on its head.

 

As part of their 100th anniversary celebration, Leica has added a very nice section to their website, including a collection of iconic Leica images taken over those 100 years.

 

(Click Here) to see the images, many of which you'll probably recognize.

 

The small camera revolution, started back in 1914, continues today. In my way of thinking, the new compact digital cameras, including those in cell phones, are pushing the compromise between ultimate image quality and the ability to have your camera ready and get the picture at all. I think APS-C and Micro 4/3 sensor technologies are both cases in point. It's pretty well-accepted these days that APS-C can provide professional image quality, even at high iso settings. Micro 4/3 is right on the cusp, in my opinion. We'll see where this all leads in the coming years.

 

In the meantime, I'm still having lots of fun with Leica cameras, including those designed early on by Barnack himself!

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

10 X 10 = 100 Years of Leica

This is an important time for Leica. Celebrating their 100th anniversary and moving into a new headquarters in their original home of Wetzlar, Leica is having fun on several fronts.

 

In addition to introducing highly exclusive camera editions that most of us will never see, they've commissioned an exciting series of photographs from contemporary photographers, pairing each of them in style and spirit with an important photographer from the past.

 

Image Source: http://blog.leica-camera.com/leica-news/leica-gallery-wetzlar-inaugural-10-x-10-exhibition/

 

The ten photographers, and their conceptual partners from the past are listed below:

 

Jing Huang and Henri Cartier-Bresson

Craig Semetko and Elliott Erwitt

Julia Baier and René Burri

Dominic Nahr and Robert Capa

Evgenia Arbugaeva and André Kertész

Kirill Golovchenko and Lee Friedlander

Alec Soth and William Eggleston

Amedeo Turello and William Klein

Thomas Ruff and Alexander Rodchenko

Saga Sig and Jeanloup Sieff

 

Each of the ten chosen photographers created ten images, which are now on exhibition in the Leica Gallery.

 

(Click Here) to read more about the show on the Leica Camera Blog.

 

The blog shows one representative image from each of the featured photographers. I'd like to see the rest, as what they show is intriguing. Reading this also reminds me of how many great photographers have come before us, and how I should become familiar with their work. While many of the names of the greats listed above are familiar to me (some are not), I would have trouble pointing out the style of any of them with the exception of Bresson and Capa. There is a lot for me to learn from them.

 

I appreciate the Leica is celebrating the past and looking to the future with this event.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Happy 100th Birthday, Leica Camera!

 

Image Source: http://leicarumors.com/2014/01/21/today-leica-camera-is-100-years-old.aspx/