<\/strong>(in theaters), D.W. Young\u2019s documentary about the eminent photographer James Hamilton. It\u2019s not a biographical movie, at least not in the usual sense, though Young keeps the filmmaking stripped-down and simple. For the most part, \u201cUncropped\u201d involves conversations between Hamilton and various friends, mostly around tables in his apartment and others\u2019. Journalists, photographers and the odd celebrity or two (Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, the director Wes Anderson) discuss Hamilton\u2019s work and recount the old days. Interspersed with the conversations are shots of Hamilton\u2019s photos, often breathtaking images that make you want to pause the movie and just look.<\/p>\nThat is, of course, the point. Hamilton\u2019s photos appeared everywhere, though he\u2019s best known for his work as a photographer at The Village Voice from 1974 to 1993. His style is distinctive: sharp contrasts, bright highlights, often a telling or humorous detail lurking in the shot that you don\u2019t see for a few seconds. He photographed celebrities and prisoners, rockers and critics and, eventually, wars and film productions. He has always processed his own negatives, providing options to magazines, and editors know better than to crop the photos; Hamilton\u2019s eye for composition is unparalleled. It\u2019s an immense body of work that never stops being interesting to look at.<\/p>\n
Admiring his photographs could, of course, be accomplished in an exhibition or book (and there is one monograph, \u201cYou Should Have Heard Just What I Seen,\u201d edited by Moore and accompanied by a show in 2010). But what makes \u201cUncropped\u201d so great \u2014 and so memorable \u2014 is the way a chronicle of New York City\u2019s art and media scenes from the 1960s forward emerges from the conversations. Discussions about collaborations between writers and photographers and editors reveal a different media world, one in which you sometimes got the chance to do something wild and daring and great, and do it even though everyone thought you were ridiculous for trying.<\/p>\n
It was a time of experimentation and feisty editorial staffs, a time before algorithms took over the way we consumed news and culture. It wasn\u2019t perfect; the budgets weren\u2019t always great; nobody got everything right. But it\u2019s an era that\u2019s gone, and one worth mourning. Golden ages are generally mythical, but it\u2019s hard to say we\u2019re better off now \u2014 and \u201cUncropped\u201d makes an excellent case for what we lost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A photograph is a record of the past from the moment the shutter snaps, which lends the medium a bit of wistfulness.