Digital, livros e política por David Alan Harvey

Um humanista que se revela através da fotografia

Não se deixe enganar pelo disfarce de Hell's Angels...

Primeiro livro aos 22: Época do auge da revista Life

Cartier-Bresson como influência direta

A poética da alma hispânica

Hiphop se transforma em poesia visual

Álbum de família vira livro de arte

Trocamos algumas idéias com David Alan Harvey quando de sua visita ao Brasil na última semana, a convite do Luiz Marinho. O que mais impressiona neste ícone da fotografia é sua infinita curiosidade, tanto sobre os seres humanos quanto com a tecnologia. Sua capacidade de criar uma poética visual sobre o hip-hop, por exemplo, não é algo que aparece todo dia no mundo da fotografia.

Nascido em San Francisco em 1944, David descobriu a fotografia aos 11. Adquiriu na época uma câmera Leica usada, com o dinheiro obtido como entregador de jornais. Começa então a fotografar sua família e o bairro em que vivia. Aos 22 publica seu primeiro livro, Tell it like it is, sobre famílias negras que viviam em Norfolk, Virginia. O fotógrafo já fez mais de 40 ensaios para a revista National Geographic e tem diversos livros publicados, entre eles Cuba e Divided Soul. Tornou-se membro permanente da agência de fotógrafos Magnum em 1997. Vive atualmente em Nova York.

Com vocês, a entrevista. Leia também o bloggy sobre o assunto.

Nós:
It seems like you move freely between film and digital realms. And that's something we don't see often among photographers. It seems like the new ones don't know a thing about film, and the old-timers tend to despise the digital capture.
My question is actually two:
- What would you recommend for the younger generation in order to "rescue" some of the insights that the film brought to several generations?
- And what would you talk to the old fellows in order to make them accept the inevitable change?
Você aparentemente circula de forma bastante descontraída entre os mundos digital e analógico. Isto é raro entre fotógrafos. Os jovens parecem não saber nada sobre o filme fotográfico, e os veteranos parecem desprezar a captura digital. Minha questão, na verdade, se divide em duas:
- O que você recomendaria aos jovens fotógrafos para que estes possam recuperar um pouco da "sabedoria" vinda através do uso da película?
- O que diria aos veteranos, para que estes aceitassem a mudança inevitável?

David:
For the younger generation, I do not see too much of a problem... I do think that for those of us who did learn film first, digi becomes a bit different than for those who started with digi. Perhaps there  is too much reliance on photoshop for the new generation and they do tend to "chimp" (look at the screen too much), but basically the looseness of digi is more of an advantage than a disadvantage... one other possible advantage to  film: You must always move FORWARD (always thinking about the next picture, rather than the one you just took)... with digi there is a tendency to spend a lot of time moving BACKWARDS (ie. looking to much at back of camera and endless hours on the computer)... but, all in all, digi is here to stay and so photographers must just acquire new "disciplines".
For the older generation, it just depends... for some, as long as film is around they will use it... film definitely has a "look" (particularly in black & white) that digi cannot match... in most of the art world, film is still preferred and i think it will stay that way for a long time... most of the photojournalists have switched to digi with no problem... it took me about a half an hour to "get it"... that is, at least as far as picture taking is concerned... the  "back end" (archiving etc) is my only worry about digital... it is still "up in the air" about how long hard drives will last etc etc...
I think that if you shoot digi, you must force yourself to make "hard copies" i.e. PRINTS... no matter  how good your work flow, your must still REMEMBER you took a particular picture... with digi it is very easy for pictures to get "lost"... nobody is going to find them in an old box somewhere after you are dead!!!
All in all, I think this is absolutely the  LEAST INTERESTING DISCUSSION IN PHOTOGRAPHY TODAY... There is a lot of time wasted on it and i just did it myself!!!!
I mean, it is about the photograph!!! The picture !!!!
In reality, does it really matter so much about the medium??? I think photographers need to be AUTHORS and not technicians...
I implore young photographers to find something that works, think think think and SAY SOMETHING...
Film or digi??? It does not really matter too much...

Nós:
Lots of people are enthusiastic about self-publishing. Can you share some tips and secrets of the trade with us?
Muita gente está entusiasmada com a possibilidade de publicar seus próprio trabalho. você pode nos falar um pouco da sua experiência no assunto e compartilhar alguns "segredinhos" conosco?

David:
Everyone should be enthusiastic about self publishing...
It is the future and I find it very exciting... Of course, this also means that there will be more and more really bad books out there to see!!! But, it also means that for some this represents a really golden opportunity...
If you have a website, and great work, and have someone to print and market your books "on demand", then this is very very interesting I think... You still cannot beat the experience of discovering a book in a bookstore... But the reality is that the net will be where people eventually will buy all of their books I think... So, you should "set up shop"... Put out something good and meaningful and the net will allow you this opportunity for exposure..."

Nós:
How do global issues and politics worldwide influence your inspiration and choice of themes?
De que forma os problemas globais e a política ao redor do mundo influenciam sua escolha de temas?

David:
Global issues affect my work in every possible way... I do not shoot "news"... But, i have always photographed themes or issues that were the "result" of the "news"... Longer lasting issues and themes, rather than a demonstration or even a war... It is ironic, but people tend to forget about wars very quickly... But the issues stay... That's why so much of my work has concentrated on the issues of my particular generation... The issues of African descended people, the Vietnam debacle (I worked a lot in Vietnam and Cambodja after the war) and Cuba...
"Tell It Like It Is" was about living with a black family in a ghetto... In 1966 when i did this book, this was an "issue"... It still is today... Not news, but long lasting reality... A lot of "news events" have come and gone, but this work  still shows a "reality".
"Cuba" was about the people living in a country with whom my government considered an "enemy"... I wanted to show who these people really were and something of their culture... These pictures will outlast all of the news broadcasts that have been made from Cuba... Yet, i am very aware of the current events making the work hold up.
"Divided Soul" was basically 500 year old news!!! The esoteric results and manifestations of the Spanish and Portugese conquests of the Americas... Iconic imagery here may go way beyond anything I could have done as a news photographer...
"Living Proof" is essentially about the lyrics of African descended peoples, translated into music, translated into life today... Controversial ghetto lifestyle... Fame... Drugs... Jail... And "normal life" all mixed... Again, transcending "immediacy".
My upcoming project 'American Family" will explore the "divide" in my own country by showing these "differences", by letting all kinds of families "speak"... I will cross all political, cultural and religious barriers and let the families "speak"... But still it will show, through vignettes and portraiture, absolutely every "issue" confronting my country and the rest of the world as well...
All in all I "key off of" issues... But i want the work to have meaning beyond just the "current events"... Whether this happens or not, will be up to historians to judge...

Vale a pena uma visita ao seu site. Além das informações de praxe e do seu belo portfólio, podemos ainda encontrar referências ao Emerging Photographer Fund, bolsa de estudos voltada a jovens fotógrafos.