Legendary Leica customers by way of the ages and their greatest photographs

We might simply commit half of this web site to well-known Leica customers, as so many nice photographers had (or have) a lifelong allegiance to the pink dot. Here we rejoice among the most important and influential photographers who’ve been seen with Leica gear round their necks. Given that there was such a big and distinguished roster of Leica-loving photographers, selecting the choice right here has not been a straightforward process, however we’ve tried to incorporate a combination of the greats.

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004)

More than every other photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson has change into synonymous with Leica, and vice versa. The picture of the dapper, eagle-eyed Frenchman, gliding alongside streets all around the world along with his Leica M3 fastidiously hid, has change into an archetype in avenue images. Originally skilled as a painter and strongly grounded in basic and modern European tradition, Cartier-Bresson had an enormous affect on the event of photojournalism and avenue images within the twentieth century. He selected Leica as a result of the 35mm cameras had been small and discreet, enabling him to seize the ‘decisive moment’ because it unfolded, with out attracting undue consideration.

While he favoured a 50mm prime lens for its comparatively pure perspective, strongly believing that ‘the camera is an extension of the eye,’ he used a variety of Leica our bodies all through his profession. Before the Second World War, his cameras of alternative had been Leica II and III sequence rangefinders, however he might be endlessly related to the Leica M3, which was launched in 1953. As he writes within the introduction to his ebook, The Decisive Moment, revealed in 1952: ‘I had just discovered the Leica. It became an extension of my eye, and I have never been separated from it since I found it. I prowled the streets all day, feeling very strung-up and ready to pounce, determined to “trap” life – to preserve life in the act of living.’ Cartier-Bresson is Leica.

Inge Morath (1923-2002)

Inge Morath was solely the second feminine member of Magnum Photos and though this quirky and charming picture of Linda the Llama has change into world well-known, she nonetheless doesn’t get all the popularity she deserves. Morath joined Magnum in 1949 after assembly Robert Capa, himself a eager Leica consumer earlier than the Second World War, and was despatched to Spain in 1954 for her first huge reportage task. Her photos appeared in Picture Post and different photo-led magazines, shot on a sequence of Leica M-series rangefinders. As she defined in a biographical article on her web site, ingemorath.org, ‘I bought a used Leica, worked incessantly and, as I was known as the only non-photographing person in this milieu and knew I would not be taken seriously if I suddenly showed up with photographs, I turned my name around and, as Egni Tharom, started sending my picture stories to any magazine I thought might be interested.’

Morath went on working steadily as a documentary, journey and portrait photographer, effectively into previous age.

Fun info: In 1968 Cartier- Bresson gave her considered one of his black paint Leica M3s, which later bought for a pile at public sale; the pair additionally labored collectively capturing stills for the 1960 film The Misfits, starring Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable.

Bruce Gilden (born 1946)

Nobody is healthier identified for ‘in your face’ avenue images than Bruce Gilden, and though his ruthlessly candid, warts-and-all portraits strike some modern viewers as being chilly and even exploitative, you’ll be able to’t deny their affect. A local New Yorker, Gilden definitely isn’t the shy and retiring sort, qualities that had been positively required when photographing Yakuza gangsters in Tokyo and Osaka – lengthy earlier than these fascinating cities grew to become such a classy vacation spot for avenue photographers.

As with Cartier-Bresson, Gilden has lengthy favoured Leica rangefinders and lenses for his or her comparatively compact dimensions and low weight. M-series rangefinders permit him to rise up and shut and private to his generally shocked topics, which is a trademark of his work. ‘One of the reasons I use a Leica is that I couldn’t do what I do – and stroll round for so long as I do – if I had a heavy digital camera that was additionally fairly apparent,’ he mentioned in a 2011 interview. ‘This allows me to do the wonderful pictures that the whole world just loves (oh – some of the world loves). The Leica’s small physique is so cute, I used to name it my youngster. Then I had my daughter and I discovered what it was actually wish to have a toddler. Wow, I favor my Leica!’

Tom Stoddart (1953-2021)

Of all of the eminent Leica photographers featured right here, Tom Stoddart is the closest to AP’s coronary heart. This eminent and extremely revered photojournalist was at all times beneficiant about giving interviews, and was genuinely humbled to obtain our Exceptional Achievement Award in 2020.

Tom started his photographic profession on native newspapers in his beloved North East, earlier than transferring to London and constructing a stable status as a photojournalist, most notably for his protection of Desert Storm. He actually made his title, nonetheless, along with his photos from the frontline of the civil conflict within the former Yugoslavia (he was critically injured by Serbian artillery whereas masking the siege of Sarajevo in 1992). The picture used right here, of Meliha Varešanovic striding defiantly down ‘sniper alley’ within the besieged metropolis, is the stuff of legend.

‘I started shooting exclusively on Leica cameras around 1990 with an M6,’ he advised AP. ‘Ergonomically, Leicas are beautiful pieces of engineering and the quality of the lenses is a massive plus… Leicas allow you to be inconspicuous, work quickly and quietly and move on to the next situation, much more easily than you can with a huge piece of glass. You make great pictures with your head and your heart, not the camera you’re utilizing, however you need the easiest instrument accessible that will help you try this.’

Eve Arnold (1912-2012)

Eve Arnold was a pioneering US photojournalist and portrait photographer who shot Hollywood stars, notably Marilyn Monroe, while concurrently exploring racial equality, faith, sexuality and human rights in a fiercely male-dominated business. In 1957 she grew to become the primary lady to affix Magnum Photos.

Her begin in images was not auspicious, nonetheless. Back in 1950, she attended a masterclass by photographer Alexi Brodovitch in New York, solely to have her photos ridiculed by the remainder of the category. Undeterred, Arnold went out and shot the style exhibits which happened each Sunday in black church buildings. This time, Brodovitch responded positively to her work, and among the photos had been revealed in Picture Post journal – catching the attention of Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa and resulting in the historic invitation to affix the not too long ago fashioned Magnum Photos company.

Cartier-Bresson specifically was an enormous affect on Arnold, and he or she too change into a eager Leica consumer; in 1963, Robert Penn photographed her utilizing a Leica M rangefinder and 50mm lens on the set of the Richard Burton film Becket, although she too went on to make use of a variety of different cameras throughout her lengthy and storied profession.

Susan Meiselas (born 1948)

While Susan Meiselas is arguably greatest identified for her hard-hitting photos of the Nicaraguan civil conflict within the late Seventies, she can also be a massively versatile documentary photographer who’s labored in every single place from Kurdistan to the Black Country (a few of her early black & white tasks, together with strippers at US county gala’s, reminds one of many work of one other nice Leica photographer, Mary Ellen Mark – a comparability we’re certain Meiselas can be happy with). While she’s gone on to make use of a variety of digital gear, Meiselas primarily shot the Sandinista rebellion in Nicaragua with Leica M4 and M2 rangefinder cameras, coupled with 28 and 35mm prime lenses.

‘The camera is an excuse to be someplace you otherwise don’t belong,’ she remarked in an interview with the Whitney Museum of Modern Art. ‘It gives me both a point of connection and a point of separation,’ she has remarked.

Some of Susan Meiselas’s photos from Nicaragua was on show at this yr’s Photo Frome pageant, which happened within the Somerset city from 5 April to 27 April 25.

Nick Ut (born 1951)

Nick Ut wants no introduction to anybody with an curiosity in documentary images, or the often-traumatic historical past of the twentieth century.
His picture of burnt and terrified Vietnamese kids working from a napalm assault in 1972 can by no means be forgotten, nor ought to it’s. The stunning image, which many historians imagine helped to finish the agony of the Vietnam conflict, was taken on a Leica M2 coupled with a 35mm f/2 lens and loaded with Kodak Tri-X movie.

‘As soon as I clicked the shutter, I knew I had something special,’ Ut advised me in a 2022 interview. ‘It took Horst Faas (chief photographer of the Associated Press’s Saigon bureau) to battle for it to be revealed, however battle he did… and the remaining is historical past.’

The first image editor to see Ut’s developed picture rejected it, fearing that the nudity of the burnt lady meant it might by no means be revealed within the US. Unbelievably, the picture was nearly binned, however Faas, together with Associated Press correspondent Peter Arnett, returned from lunch within the nick of time and realised that they’d one thing very particular on their fingers. On their orders, the {photograph} then went from Saigon to Tokyo to New York by radiophoto transmitter, and shortly was horrifying the world.

The story of ‘Napalm Girl’ took one other twist earlier this yr, when a brand new documentary film known as The Stringer aired allegations that the picture was taken by one other South Vietnamese photographer, regardless of Ut getting all of the credit score and profitable a Pulitzer Prize. Both Nick Ut and the Associated Press strongly refute this, and he stays a eager Leica consumer and evangelist, travelling the world for occasions and workshops.

Martine Franck (1938-2012)

Martine Franck was a British-Belgian documentary and portrait photographer and member of Magnum Photos for over 32 years. Indeed, it was one thing of a household affair, as she grew to become the second spouse of Henri Cartier-Bresson and served as president of the muse bearing his title.

There was far more to Franck than being Cartier-Bresson’s different half, nonetheless. She first made her title as a photographer throughout a visit to Asia within the early Sixties, taking alongside a Leica digital camera that was borrowed from her cousin, coupled with 35mm and 50mm prime lenses.

Following this, she constructed a powerful profession as a photographer for numerous information and trend magazines, co-founding the Viva image company in 1972 and becoming a member of Magnum Photos in 1980.

Alex Webb (born 1952)

A massively versatile and inventive photographer, in addition to a famous Leica consumer, Webb took an interest within the medium throughout his highschool years – finding out images on the Carpenter Center for the Arts whereas additionally incomes a level in historical past and literature from Harvard University. In 1974 he started working as an expert photojournalist, changing into a full member of Magnum Photos in 1979.

During the mid-Seventies, Webb photographed within the American South, documenting small-town life in black & white. He additionally started working within the Caribbean and Mexico, which prompted his beginning to {photograph} in color – one thing which he has continued to do to today.

‘The first Leica that I owned was an M2,’ Webb advised AP in a 2014 interview. ‘I find that working with a rangefinder enables me to work in deep space differently than I would with a single-lens reflex. I like being able to see all elements of the potential photograph in focus simultaneously… I simply take photographs differently with a Leica rangefinder camera than with an SLR.’

Famous for different causes

Leica has additionally introduced out special-edition cameras and equipment in partnership with well-known customers who made their title exterior the world of images. Notable examples embody a Leica M-P set with US rock star Lenny Kravitz, plus a Leica M Monochrom signature version with former Police guitarist, Andy Summers.

The firm additionally teamed with US singer Seal on a limited-edition Q2 compact in 2022, and introduced out a Leica Q2 ‘007’ version in 2021 to rejoice the Bond film, No Time to Die. The most up-to-date superstar tie-up got here final month, when Leica launched the Burton Edition of the Sofort 2 immediate digital camera, in partnership with snowboard pioneer and long-time Leica consumer, Jake Burton Carpenter.

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