Bang Bang!
Michaels Berch and Forsberg, Joslyn Art Museum, May, 2010, originally uploaded by Maggie Osterberg.
“He shot me dead! Bang bang! That awful sound! Bang bang! My baby shot me down…” (Y’all know the song from Kill Bill Vol. 1, right?)
OK, so I may be a shooter, but all of my victims walk away unharmed. Well, as far as I know. And it’s been a while since I shot for a newspaper, so I’m not gunning for anyone on purpose anymore.
A recent conversation in an online forum got me thinking about the convention of “shooting photos.” Stuart Richardson, a damn fine photographer, photo lab owner and all around good guy, posted about a visit from a pair of graphic designers to his lab, one of whom had a Leica M8 with her. Stuart compared the super-quiet, even more quiet than a Leica, sound of his Konica Hexar AF to the M8 as such, “I was showing them the Hexar AF. I think its shutter made them jealous as their M8 gunshots went off! (kidding of course). “
He may be kidding, but he’s not wrong about the M8’s insanely loud shutter. This Spring my SO and I went to Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum and I brought the M8 along, shooting pix in the galleries and on the grounds. When we were in the Michael Forsberg gallery, which was practically empty, I fired off the shot that’s today’s photo. Right after I took the photo, Michael spun around and exclaimed, “Good god! That must be the LOUDEST SHUTTER IN THE WORLD!!!” True story; there was even an echo. Well, two echos, if you count the shutter and then Michael’s exclamation.
Now, Leica was properly embarrassed by this, and they offered a paid upgrade to the original M8 and even brought out an M8.2, complete with a much more quiet shutter. Now, did I get my M8 upgraded? Nah, it would have cost crazy money and besides, since I no longer am paid to deliver a large number of photographs in a timely manner, I shoot with a pair of smaller, quieter and, dare I say, more fun, film Leicas. One of which, my M4-P, cost a third of what the M8 upgrade would have cost. Oh, aren’t I a smartie? Well, there is the cost of film and processing and the film scanner and…oh, bugger. Maybe not so smart, after all.
Bang bang! I shot myself!
What The Hell Am I Shooting Here? 