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Leica M8 Used By NBC News Correspondent Ann Curry In Darfur


johnbuckley

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Now everyone can get back to shooting a-political brick walls to insure they have the most sharpness possible known to man.

 

Right on, Charles... :)

 

Again, her work is very, very good... Hopefully all her amazing work can be made into a book for everyone to enjoy, raise the public awareness on a lot of this issues and help out a charity. This was my recommendation to her.

 

Cheers,

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rami--

I, for one, appreciate the points you have made, and I am fascinated to hear of the anti-war demonstrations you mention. I had heard nothing of them and am glad for the information.

 

Off Leica topic warning...

 

Thank you Howard,

Probably I got far enough off topic already so I will try to make a brief word. As you might know, the recent elections in Israel two weeks ago brought a strong victory to the militant right wing. What is less known is that a major reason for the weakening of the left wing is that the zionist left wing parties supported the first steps of the war, so their traditional voters, many of whom opposed the war, simply were left with nothing to vote for. (The other reason is that many were so fearful of the power of the extreme right wing and Netanyahu that they preferred to compromise and vote for Livni, that had the highest chances to counter-Bibi). Some had no problem to vote for the non-zionist jewish-arab party, (many people don't know that 20% of the citizens of Israel are arabs, that legally have equal rights, though they are discriminated in various ways, but officially, they are different from the palestinian arabs of the occupied territories in that they are voters, passport holders, and subject to all rights and duties apart from serving in the army). The non-zionist party opposed the war from its outset and was highly involved in the demonstrations . As a result, the number of Jewish voters for the party tripled, during this elections. However, it is still a small party (4 seats in the parliament, though in the city centers, caffes and in the academia and the arts they become very dominant). Many left wing Israelis are being paranoid and misinformed as the media simply does not give a fair coverage of the jewish-arab peace activities within Israel, such as the demonstrations, which threatens the image that all arabs as blood thirsty enemies of Israel. Why the international media doesn't do better is a mystery to me. Some say it destroy their image of the Jews as blood thirsty enemies of the arabs or of the world.The problem is that the outcome does not merely misrepresents reality, but it also influences reality, by hiding the hundreds of thousands (both jews and arabs) that believe in peace and are refuse to accept the militant nationalist rethorics of both sides.

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Rami--

Thanks for the additional insight.

 

I understand your frustration if these things are going on in Israel but aren't getting media attention.

 

I believe there are reasonable people on both sides of the matter, but somehow the hardliners seem always to come to power. Hatred seems an easier sell than peace.

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Leica also has is known as "a reporter's camera." Can't remember where I read that, but I think from the manufacturer. Curry epitomizes the concept that a reporter in such important places would do well to have a Leica for its practically and prercision, as witnessed by the shots she makes.

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Here is a link to a few of her shots from the trip.....

 

In Darfur, a school house named 'Obama' - The Daily Nightly - msnbc.com

 

And from a prior trip

 

Curry commentary: Gutsy reporting- msnbc.com

 

I'm impressed

 

Judging by these photos Ann Curry has a very good photographic eye and these are the types of shots suitable for any Leica M. I applaud her efforts to bring the Darfur Genocide to an end. As a great person once said: "All that evil people need to succeed is for good people to do nothing." I say evil people succeed because most of us good people do absolutely nothing.

 

I'm attaching some of the images from my work with Orange County for Darfur. A play titled: IN DARFUR will be performed at my church on Sunday March 15 at 7:00 PM so if you live in Southern California you might want to come pay us a visit (Saint Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church-Garden Grove, CA (Orange County, California, USA)). The portrait of the man with the candle is from one of the OC for Darfur vigils. The last image is one of the cast members in costume for the play.

 

It's fun to bring attention to a celebrity with a Leica but please remember there is nothing fun about Genocide and ask yourself what have you done to bring it to an end? Have you at least contacted your elected officials and registered your outrage over the brutal death and land dispossession of hundreds of thousands of people? Have you done nothing? All images copyright Wilfredo Benitez-Rivera.

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Edited by wilfredo
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Here's another cast member in costume. The horrors faced by women in Darfur go beyond what most of us could ever imagine. Copyright Wilfredo Benitez-Rivera

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Henri Cartier-Bresson.

 

To the rest of your post, well, that was exactly my point, wasn't it? This forum is indeed not the right place for a political debate, but let me just say I share the worries regarding media coverage of conflicts. When, a month ago or so, my great nation (Israel) performed an "election war", in which it executed a revenge operation against helpless civilian population, not only that they did not let a single reporter be present in Gaza, but even a 10000 Israelis demonstration at the center of Tel Aviv, marching against the war (week after week through the military assault), was covered neither by the Israeli media nor the International media, because it would a. threaten the fake atmosphere of unity, or (in the case of world media), b. destroy the image of the militant israelis supporting the war. To make it a little off topic- as my M8 was, and is still at Solms for upgrade and repair, I had to cover it using my LX-3, but it does have a Leica lens though. ;>

 

 

Rami,

 

Thank you for sharing these points. I recognize it takes great courage to do this as someone advocating for peace in the Middle East and using my Leica M8 as much as possible toward that end . Too bad your M8 was away at Solms for repairs. I just got mine back from Allendale. Hopefully Ann Curry will not have problems with her M8 (I saw a Darfur report on NBC this morning and she had an M8 hanging from her neck. She looked like a classic photojournalist from another era, very cool, more power to Ann Curry).

 

Peace...

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5 years of war, hundreds of thousands dead, hundreds of thousands of refugees, but never mind that, someones got a Leica! :rolleyes:

 

Harsh, man, harsh. I think we all know that the world is a defective generation ship (The B Ark) with homicidal hairless monkey roaming the corridors with automatic weapons.

 

Chill, dude, we can't be bitingly SIrius all the time. :eek:

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exacly 2 years later and NBC and George Cloony visit a few camps and the result is 'look, a Leica!'

I wonder if tens of thousands of New Yorkers, Dubliners or Londoners were being murdered and raped that would be a harmless subject of general interest?

 

Incidentally, Gary Knight is a Leica user as well, just dont ask his opinion of the M8...

 

OK, I'm finished with this thread. Enjoy your harmless fun

 

Well, if you've been paying attention to the issue, you'll know that this was Curry's (and Clooney's) umpteenth visit to the region. Give them both credit for keeping the story in the public eye, as it generally receives f*** all in terms of coverage on the American networks.

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I...I am one of those who believe that shooting people with a Leica can be much more respectful than shooting them with...

 

Bit more responsible that shooting them with an AK too. We should make all the arms manufacturers make cameras instead of guns, bombs, rockets. Of course, you could dent someone pretty well with one of those phallus-cam Canon pro bodies and lenses. :cool:

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  • 10 months later...

I think it is an M9 not an M8. (no lcd frame counter on top of the left body).

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Uh - Jerry - this thread is from a year ago? No M9 existed? Curry had an M8 then - and has upgraded recently (as have many of us)?

 

A hint - those little numbers in the gray bar above each post - they are the date and time of the post.

 

So 26.02.2009 is February, 2009.

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