I Had Never Heard of George Rodger...

[Brian Moore]

...until today, when I stumbled across a website hosting his photos. Now I am a big fan!

http://www.georgerodgerphotographs.com


Update: Using the web to learn more about the life of George Rodger, I discovered that his grandson was Elliot Rodger, who murdered several students at the University of California in Santa Barbara some months ago. What a strange coincidence.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Amazing photos. Ive seen one of the African ones before, with one guy on the shoulders of another, but the rest are all new to me. Great talent, wonderful images.

I also love this video and especially its soundtrack:

Thanks for the link, Brian!

 

[Julian de'Courcy]

Thanks for that Brian, I am taken aback at the quality, by far some of the best documentary images I have seen.

 

[Tom Dunne]

Excellent and interesting post Brian. Thank you.
I read the following interesting article recently in the Guardian which might have some relevance here and possible food for thought.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/16/nude-photographs-dinka-south-sudan

 

[Pete Askew]

Thanks for the link Brian. I have a smallish monograph somewhere - must dig it out.

 

[Brian Moore]

Excellent and interesting post Brian. Thank you.
I read the following interesting article recently in the Guardian which might have some relevance here and possible food for thought.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/16/nude-photographs-dinka-south-sudan

Thanks for the link, Tom. Although I read the article I haven't seen any of the photos in question. It seems to me the issue is about intent. Is the intent to document or to exploit? Is the photographer an eye witness or a voyeur? If the intent is to show what exists I am OK with it. If the intent is merely "look what I saw" then I may not be.

 

[Pete Askew]

An interesting article / discussion Tom. It all seems to pivot around the intent / consent issues. I think once this sort of image moves away from the 'National Geographic' context then the commercial elements become very difficult.

 

[Ivar Dahl-Larsen]

Thank you Brian. I knew and have seen numerous images made by George Rodger, but that is some time ago. Always nice to see them again and ones I haven't seen. A great photographer who inspires me to delve into more of black and white photography again. And as to Tom's link to the question of exploitation or documentation, is also a very interesting issue and a hard one to deal with. I hope that documentation of different lifestyles in different parts of the world shall not cease to exist, but there's a fine line between getting compensated for expenditure and greed. Should we then stop taking pictures on our travels throughout the world?