Star letter
The passing of talent
I’ve been finding your mini-mags celebrating 175 years of photography fascinating and have discovered an absolute wealth of knowledge. However, there is one thing that disturbs me on a personal level: the very apparent fact that of the people you mention as being pioneers, 10 have passed from us within living memory.
Some of the names mentioned were familiar to me, others less so; but all deserve the title ‘pioneer’ and a few minutes of our time to reflect – not only on the work they produced but also the conditions under which they laboured, and the passion and commitment they brought to photography.
In the interests of avoiding this lack of awareness again (surely I can’t be the only one), would it not be possible to run a regular feature detailing the work of those who you consider to be modern day pioneers, and where their work might be viewed, so that we might enjoy their efforts and perhaps tell them of this fact before the only option that becomes available to us is some kind of retrospective exhibition.
Where you might start with this list is anyone’s guess – but maybe what’s needed is a ‘decisive moment’ of a different kind.
David Richards
We’d like to think that our regular interviews provide a great showcase for some of today’s best photographers. But if you’d like us to go further and offer a more formal survey of today’s photographic pioneers, drop us a line at digitalcamera@futurenet.com.