Broken People

It's always difficult for me to find someone's photography I enjoy. The problem being that there's too many photographers out there, in my opinion. Too many times have I been suggested to "like" someone's photography page on Facebook. It's a flood of young girls who take photography for granted. I'm not saying all of them are but it seems to be an ongoing trend. The similarities in style are noticeable, whether it be a picture of a broken heart or a self portrait of themselves gazing towards the ground in a depressing manner. The point is I think too many photographers concentrate on how deep and meaningful their pictures are going to be rather than letting the pictures speak for themselves. Deep and meaningful pictures don't always need over exhausted artistic flare.

Recently I've run into an onslaught of black and white photography online. More and more I see new black and white photography popping up like weeds. Ironically you have to weed through these to find the good stuff. For me, a black and white photo is supposed to be raw. It would be redundant to say it needs to capture the moment because, well, that's what cameras are supposed to do. I like it to be honest. I don't want a slender model or a teenager staring out into distance through their disheveled hair like they're in a train of deep thought. I want the broken people. I want the sincere moments.

Leon Levenstein has seemed to do just that and not through recent photographs but from pictures that hale from 1950-1980 titled Hipsters, Hustlers, and Handball Players. For the time being if you'd like to preview some of the photos you can check them out at the Glenwood Luxury Blog which has a pretty decent selection. It portrays the broken people I've mentioned earlier including an old lady with a bag on her head. What's even more cool is that these photographs will be exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum Of Art in NYC. I enjoy blasts from the past such as these. Photographs from times I never experienced have always intrigued me. It gives me a chance to wonder "What was happening at the time of this photo and what was the person in the photo thinking?" Maybe one day in the future a photograph of me will turn up somewhere and someone will ask the same question, wondering about me. Maybe the same might happen to you.

Tags: &, black, leon, levinstein, luxury, white

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Comment by nathan mccreery on September 4, 2010 at 8:42am: I am a little frustrated with you. You begin a blog post on a subject that could bring an interesting, and informative, discussion. Yet when there are posts in response you are "checked out". Apparently your post was only intended to allow you to "vent" your perceived frustrations, or to sound thoughtful, rather than to enter into a meaningful dialog with others of like, or different, mind. Why has there been no response from you? I can only conclude that you really aren't all that interested in the topic you posted.

Comment by Ed Harp on September 3, 2010 at 8:16am: In just about any art form there is the natural and contrived. The key is to create, though contrived, a look that has impact and evokes certain emotions. As stated, photography that tells a certain truth has great value. I think Levenstein has captured truth, however it would be nice to see his works different from the style of his collection of images displayed at the Metropolitan Museum Of Art in NYC.

Comment by nathan mccreery on September 2, 2010 at 3:52pm: In your view, if I'm understanding what you're saying here, unless the photograph portrays the run down people of society it isn't authentic. I think that's a terribly narrow view. I photograph almost exclusively in black and white. I also photograph the American landscape in a classical style using film only, no digital, for my personal work. So, is my work "less authentic", and does it have less importance or significance because I search out beauty rather than "bums" on skid row? From what I've seen there is as much danger that photographs of "broken people" will become derivative and cliche' as any other particular genre' of photography. The truth is, in my view, that photography becomes important when it tells the truth or reveals a truth, even if that truth is that the American west is a wild and beautiful place. Maybe just the fact that I bring beauty to someone's office space or home is important and that the great traditions of photographing the landscapes of the American west are being maintained is also important.

Comment by Papa Rotzzi on September 1, 2010 at 4:35pm: Interesting thoughts and nice introduction to a photographer we should get to know. Thanks for sharing, Mike.