Amateur Photographer Magazine

Gabriel Fuchs is Back from the Front - It seems to me that Leica is as cool as photography can get.

Thursday 10th April 2008

Gabriel Fuchs

Having spoken with my photographer friend Anita and several other photographers (yes, I can annoy other photographers too, not just Anita), it would seem that there are two major Japanese camera brands in particular that are commonly used by the professionals. Between the users of these two brands, there exists something akin to a religious war over which is the best. Anita, using one of these two brands, obviously has nothing but disdain for the other. According to Anita, the other brand is simply worse. Period.

Sure, there are other brands, most of which are Japanese. For some top photographers, there are even a few non-Japanese brands – Hasselblad, for instance. Now this is a serious piece of camera, used by NASA on space missions, as well as many self-respecting photographers with their feet closer to the ground.

And then there is Leica. Oh yes, no other camera has such a ring to it as the Leica. In sheer reputation and perceived glory, it beats anything else. No other brand brings out such emotion among hardcore photographers. And no other camera brand is as sought after by collectors. Because of the disproportionate prices of old Leica cameras, there are even forgeries being made that are then sold at some expense. Does this happen to any other brand? Does anyone try to make a business out of forging Japanese cameras? Not really.

The Leica is unique in many senses. And it is cool, thanks to some of those who use it. Even though Queen Elizabeth II may not rank among the hippest people on earth, there are others. Robert Capa, for example, is the essence of a worldly photographer making a difference (even though, admittedly, some of his most famous photos from D-Day were actually taken with a Contax II camera). During his Leica-using days, he got to bed a major Hollywood star (Ingrid Bergman) while being part of some of the most interesting intellectual circles of his time. In the midst of this, it is also said that he spoke six languages – none fluently. Can anyone mention a Canon or Nikon user who can match Capa's CV? I didn't think so…

Then there's Henri Cartier-Bresson, an adventurous photographer, having once made a living as a hunter in Africa, and then escaping a German prisoner of war camp during the Second World War to join the French Resistance. Cartier-Bresson is said to have used only a Leica. With that camera, he got to portrait people ranging from Mahatma Gandhi and Richard Nixon, to Truman Capote, Marilyn Monroe and Pablo Picasso. Most other people with a camera haven't even portrayed half. (Ironically, Cartier-Bresson did not feel comfortable being photographed himself.)

Leica is a true classic, and few models are more classic than the M3, which was introduced in 1954. Somewhat illogically, the M3 was followed by the M2, the M1, and then the M4. But if Leica does not know how to count, at least they know how to design cameras. When Leica introduced their digital M8 more than 50 years later, the exterior design was still based on the M3. This is a design one does not change!

Simply put, Leica and its more famous users denote what is cool about photography. And remember that it is actually difficult to look cool while taking photos, as one cannot really wear the universally recognised object of cool – sunglasses. Or one can, but one shall not really know what the true colours look like, something that somehow matters to many photographers.

So, why then, does Anita stick to a major Japanese camera brand? Why isn't she using a Leica? Doesn't she want to be a really cool, worldly photographer? Well, get yourself a modern Leica with a few lenses and then do the calculations. What – if anything – can you afford to eat for the next six months? It costs a lot of money to be a really cool, worldly photographer. AP

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