DO PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS USE LEICAS?

Recently I came across a small pamphlet with the title “Meisterwerke berühmter Leica Fotografen” (Masterworks of famous Leica photographers).  It is in reference to an exhibition in memory of Ernst Leitz II as the pioneer (besides Oskar Barnack) of the Leica.  The photographs appear to be from the collection of Dr. Knut Kühn-Leitz, but no date or location was given.

The back of the brochure makes reference to a relatively new book about Ernst Leitz II, titled “Ernst Leitz – Pionier der Leica” (Ernst Leitz – Pioneer of the Leica).  It is publisjed by Heel Verlag, Königswinter, 208 pages with more than 200 photographs.  ISBN: 3-89880-551-4

 

The brochure has a list of the Leica photographers whose works were shown in the exhibition.  They are:

Gianni Berengo Gardin

Werner Bishof

Henry Cartier-Bresson

Rene Burri

Elliott Erwitt

Ernst Haas

Thomas Hoepker

Franz Hubmann

Hanns Hubmann

Barbara Klemm

Stefan Kruckenhauser

Robert Lebeck

Ulrich (Bernhard Gerhard Antonius) Mack

Will McBride

Inge Morath

Hilmar Pabel

Mark Riboud

Fulvio Roiter

Sebastã0 (Ribeiro) Salgado

Erich Salomon

Emil Schulthess

Paul (Heinrich August) Wolff

That is certainly an impressive list of photographers, but many of them are no longer alive.  That reminded me of the many Leica haters that claim the Leica to be irrelevant these days because nobody uses Leicas anymore, that its very existence is supported only by collectors and individuals that see it as a status symbol.  Many even announce the imminent demise of Leica.

Leica S

Leica T

Leica Q

Obviously those are silly arguments, especially in view of the fact that Leica these days is doing better than ever before.  The company is on solid footing, the new multimillion headquarters in Wetzlar, Leitz Park is going to expanded, the Leica S system has gained an impressive following during its relatively short presence on the market where already it claims over 25 percent market share, and there are several new cameras like the Leica T, the Leica Q, which is doing very well with over 40% going to customers that never owned a Leica, and especially the Leica SL.  The Leica SL presents a camera which is new to the market, a camera that we have never seen.  It is the first professional caliber mirrorless, interchangeable lens camera.  Nobody else has anything like it to offer.

Leica SL

Besides these, The Leica M system remains the flagship of Leica.  No other manufacturer makes a camera that is comparable.  The Leica M cameras present a market segment all its own.

Leica M

This criticism made me think of who among the world’s leading photographers is using Leica equipment.  So I set out to make a list.  I certainly cannot claim for it to be complete, but I think it definitely dispels the notion that nobody is using Leicas any longer.

Here is the list:

A

Abbas - 1944- b.Iranian, based in Paris

Michael Akermann - 1967- American b.Tel Aviv, based in Berlin

Nubar Alexanian - 1950- American

Neil Ambrose - British

Evgenia Arbugaeva - Russian

Bernd Arnold - 1947- German

Eve Arnold - 1912- American

Jane Evelyn Atwood - American

Ragnar Axelsson - 1958- Icelander

Ivan Azzopardi - Maltese

B

Lee Balterman - 1920- American

Micha Bar-Am - 1930- Israeli b.Germany

Bruno Barbey - Moroccan

Johannes Barthelmes - German

Letizia Battaglia - 1935- Sicilian

Nomi Baumgartl - German

Harry Benson - Scottish/American

Louis Berk - British

Julio Bittencourt - 1980- Brazilian

Philippe Blayo - French

Philip Blenkinsop - Australian, based in Thailand

Pep Bonet - 1974- Spanish, based in Bangladesh

Vieri Bottazzini - Turkish

Eleanor Brown - American

Rinze van Brug - Dutch/American

René Burri - 1933- Swiss

C - D

Debbie Fleming Caffery - 1948- American

Tomeu Coll - 1981- Spanish

Anton Corbijn - 1955- Dutch

William Coupon - American

Bruce Davidson - 1933- American

Frank Hallam Day - American

Roger Deakins - 1949- British

Reza Deghati - 1952- Iranian/French

Nick DeMarco - British

Raymond Depardon - 1942- French

Claudine Doury - 1954- French

David Douglas Duncan - 1916- American

Conrad Duroseau - Spanish, based in Haiti

Jeff Dunas - 1954- American

E - F

Nikos Economopoulos - 1953- Greek

Claudio Edinger - 1952- Brazilian

William Eggleston - 1939- American

Elliot Erwitt - 1928- American b.Paris

Hans Georg Esch - 1964- Germany

Jason Eskenazi - 1960- American

Valeriy Evenkov - Russian

Benedict J. Fernandez - 1936- American

Donna Ferrato - American

Martine Franck - 1938- Belgian

Robert Frank - 1924- American b.Zürich

Bill Franson - American

Jill Freedman - American

Howard French - 1957- American

Lee Friedlander - 1934- American

Paul Fusco - 1930- American

G - H

Giammi Berengo Gardin - 1930- Italian

Ralph Gibson - 1939- American

Bruce Gilden - 1946- American

Nan Goldin - 1953- American

Jan Grarup - 1968- Danish

Stanley Greene - 1949- American

Ara Güler - 1928- Turkish

David Alan Harvey - 1944- American

Lois Hechenblaikner - 1958- Austrian

Douglas Herr - American

Thomas Hoepker - 1936- German

Hubertus Hohenlohe - 1959- Mexican

Sander van Hulsenbeek - Dutch

J - K

Frank Jackson - American

Ciril Jazbec - 1987- Slovenian

Sam Jones - American

Jonnek Jonneksson - 1974- German

Richard Kalvar - 1941- American

Michael Kamber - American

Klaus-Peter Kappest - German

Paul Kay - British

Mike Kirkinis - World

William Klein - 1928- French b.New York

Barbara Klemm - 1939- German b.New York

Mark Klett - 1952- American

Gary Knight - American

Michael Koch - 1973- German

Josef Koudelka - 1938- Czech/French

Antonin Kratochvil - 1947- Czech/American

Birgit Krippner - based in New Zeeland

Imants Krumins - Latvian

L - M

John H. Langmore - American

Jens Olof Lasthein - 1964- Swedish

Robert Lebeck - 1929- German

Saul Leiter - 1923- American

Ben Lieberman - American

Jesse Lirola - American

Liz Loh-Taylor - 1979- Australian b. Singapore

Kadir van Lohuizen - Dutch

Alex Majoli - 1971- Italian

Guy Mancuso - American

Tina Manley - American

Constantine Manos - 1934- American

Mary Ellen Mark - 1940- American

Jim Marshall - 1936- American

Peter Martin - Canadian

Charles Mason - American

José Antonio Martínez - 1950- Mexican

Will McBride - 1931- American/German

Don McCullin - 1935- British

Seve McCurry - 1950- American

Susan Meiselas - 1948- American

Jeff Mermelstein - 1957- American

Joel Meyerowitz - 1938- American

John Lou Miles - American

Daniel Milnor - American

Kai Müller - German /Icelandic

Tomas Munita - 1975- Chilean

N - O - P

James Nachtwey - 1948- American

Sven Nieder - 1976- German

Chris Opel - 1966- American, based in Switzerland

Bert Otten - Dutch

Thorsten Overgaard - 1965- Danish

Tim Page - 1944- British/Australian

William Palank - American

Gilles Peress - 1946- French

Sylvia Plachy - 1943- American b.Budapest

Mark Power - 1959- British

R - S

Jim Rakete - 1951- German

Marc Riboud - 1923- French

Eugene Richards - 1944- American

Norbert Rosing - 1953- German

Jean-Jacques Ruchti - Swiss

Sebastião Salgado - 1944- Brazilian

Nanni Schiffl-Deiler - German

Wolfgang Schmitzberger - Austrian

Craig Semetko - American

Fazal Sheikh - 1965 American

Jonathan Slack - 1952- British

Klavdij Sluban - French, b.Eastern Europe

Emmanuel Smague - French

Andy Spyra - 1984- German

René Staud - German

Chris Steele-Perkins - British

Guido Steenkamp - 1973- German

Bruno Stevens - 1959- Belgian

Thomas Stoffaneller - Austrian

Mikhael Subotzky - 1981- South African

T - U - V - W - Z

Kenneth Tanaka - American

Edmond Terakopian - 1969- British

John Thawley - American

Guy Tillim - 1962- South African

Larry Towell - 1953- Canadian

Christopher Tribble - British, based in London

Victor Ben Tzvi - Israeli

Nick Ut - 1951- Vietnamese/American

Riccis Valladares - American, based in Miami FL

Florian Wagner - 1967- German

Alex Webb - 1952- American

Stewart Weir - British

Wim Wenders - 1945- German

Gary Whalen - American

Johan Willner - Swedish

Vanessa Winship - 1960- British, based in Istanbul

Piotr Zbierski - Polish

________________________________________________________________________________________

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MASTER PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE FEMALE NUDE - GÜNTER RÖSSLER

Günter Rössler was one of the leading photographers of the female nude in the former East Germany.  He didn’t gain international recognition until after the reunification of Germany in 1990.  Günter Rössler died on December 31 in 2012 at age 86, but his creativity lives on in the excellence of his work.

 

Günter Rössler in december 2005 in his studio in Markleeberg by Leipzig

In the West he was often referred to as Helmut Newton of the DDR.  He himself didn’t like this title at all.  He preferred to show women more pensive and assertive at the same time in the sensitive aesthetics of black and white.  He explained on his 85th birthday, “With Newton, the poses dominate.  For me it is important to show the highest possible authenticity of the girls”.

Günter Rössler worked with a multitude of cameras, including Leica.

"Renate" 1969

He became famous with his photographs in fashion magazines like “Sybille” and “Magazin”, a journal which published a nude photograph on a monthly basis, more often than not photographed by Günter Rössler.  In addition Rössler became the head photographer for the DDR fashion magazine “Modische Maschen” (Fashionable Mesh) which was published four times per year with fashion photographs, including knitting instructions, which made it one of the most popular magazines of then DDR.

In 1984 even Playboy published a ten page pictorial of Rössler’s nude photographs titled "Mädchen der DDR" (Girls of the GDR) in their German edition.  The Playboy concept of the girl next door presented no problem for Rössler, it was simply the result of his daily work routine.  Since modeling was not very well paid under the East German socialism, Rössler’s subjects usually were not professional models.

 

"Heidrun" 1977

After the German reunification, Rössler’s popularity initially suffered considerably.  He was told that his work was no longer needed.  The East German magazines that he had worked for were all discontinued by 1995.  Even Playboy had little interest in his work after the reunification.

 

"Jutta" 1974

However, in recent years Rössler and his work gained renewed interest.  In 2005 he published a new book with the title "Mein Leben in vielen Akten" (My live in many nudes) which turned out to be an autobiography with a multitude of photographs.  In 2010 he followed with the publication of "Starke Frauen im Osten" (Strong women of the East) and "Akte 1953-2010" (Nudes 1953 – 2010).   Finally, in 2012 a documentary film by Fred R. Willitzkat called "Die Genialität des Augenblicks" (The genius of the moment) paid tribute to the photographer.

 

"Stefanie" 1997

Anyone interested in this genre of photography will do well to remember the genius of Günter Rössler and his work.

________________________________________________________________________________________

To comment or to read comments please scroll past the ads below.

All ads present items of interest to Leica owners.

                                             

www.mgrproduction.net

MGR STORE: NEW ULTRA FIT LEATHER CASE FOR LEICA M9/M6/X1

www.eddycam.com

http://www.eddycam.com/en/home/#&panel1-3

www.9days.hk

Inventive Camera Bags for All of Your Gear

 Trifecta Backpacks

http://www.thinktankphoto.com/affiliates.aspx?code=AP-969

For more information on KOMARU and for orders go to: www.taos-photographic.com

NEW  Komaru Colors

For more information and pre orders go to: www.lenstab.com

http://www.tamarkin.com/

Upcoming shows in Tamarkin's Rangefinder Gallery

http://www.tamarkinauctions.com/

Click on image to enlarge

Order: info@gmpphoto.com

Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography

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Order: info@gmpphoto.com

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