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L e i c a F o t o g r a f i e I n t e r n at i o n a l E n g l i s h E d i t i o n
Armin Smailovic Ian Berry Clément Paradis Jeanne Taris
Sayuri Ichida
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9 6 | L f i . G a ll e r y
8 0 | Summ i c r o n -S L 5 0
Over 25 000 photographers present more than half a million pictures in the LFI Gallery. In this issue: a market scene in Addis Ababa and a visit to a bar in Havana
Top performance and compact size: Berlin-based photographer Jo Fischer puts the new Apo-Summicron-SL 50 f/2 Asph through its paces
P h o to
8 6 | INTERVIEW Of opportunities, crises and competitors: speaking with Stefan Daniel, Head of Project Management at Leica
1 0 4 | I n t e rv i e w
9 0 | L e i c a c o mpa c t s
Jeanne Taris: from the Les gitans de Perpignan series
How much potential is there within Leica’s compact camera range? What standards have been set? And which of the cameras has what it takes to become a modern classic?
Ian Berry 6 | Leica classic
He cleverly combined social documentation with psychological intensity: exploring the work of the British Magnum photographer
Jeanne Taris 2 6 | L e s G i ta n s d e P e r p i g n a n
A new lens with L-Mount: the Leica Apo-SummicronSL 50 f/2 Asph
Of clichés and unadorned reality: rare glimpses into the world of the Roma living in Perpignan’s city centre
Armin Smailovic 4 0 | B E Y OND THE S P OT L IGHT
What comes, what remains? Sensitive portraits of acting students about to launch themselves into professional careers
Sayuri Ichida 5 8 | M Ayu
A Japanese ballerina in New York captured by a Japanese photographer: musings on homeland, alienation and the beauty of dance
Report from down under: we spoke with Moshe Rosenzveig, founder and creative director of the Head On Photo Festival in Sydney, Australia 108 | exhibitions Sally Mann in Atlanta, Thomas Struth at the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the Swedish Photography Award in Helsingborg, Hassan Hajjaj in Paris, and Civilisation in Melbourne 1 1 0 | L e i c a G a ll e r i e s The programme of the Leica Galleries worldwide, including Joel Meyerowitz in London, Josef Chuchma in Prague, and Franziska Stünkel in Salzburg 112 | books New publications by Erwin Olaf, Anders Petersen, Harold Edgerton, Miguel Rio Branco, and Insights Worldwide – 100 Years of Steiner Education 1 1 4 | my p i c t u r e Joseph Michael Lopez explains how he captured this black and white picture full of symbolism and mystery in Cuba 1 1 4 | i mp r i n t
Clément Paradis 68 | 圏 Ken
Full of pride and determination: young sumo wrestlers photographed for a long-term project in contrast-rich black and white
Cover: Sayuri Ichida, from her Mayu series
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Die realistische SozialThe Fähigkeit, rare ability to combine realistic dokumentation mit psychologischer social documentary with psychoIntensität und subjektiver Empathie logical intensity and subjective emzu verbinden, zeichnet Ian Berry als pathy has made Ian Berry one of einen derremarkable bedeutendsten Fotograthe most photographers fen seiner Generation aus.Africa Vor allem of his generation. South and Südafrika und seine englische Heihis British homeland are among the mat gerieten dabei besonders intenLeica photographer’s most intensely siv in den Fokus seiner Leica. explored subjects.
LeicA classic
Ian Berry
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Photos: © Ian Berry/Magnum Photos
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Keen observations: an eccentrically dressed woman at Whitechapel Market, London 1972 (top); evangelical church service in London, 1983 (left)
Previous pages: supporters climb to every vantage point whilst awaiting the arrival of Nelson Mandela, Natal 1994 (left); a white child with her black nanny at a National Party meeting, Harrismith, South Africa 1994 (right)
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LeicA Q
Jeanne Taris
L e s G itans d e
P e r pignan lFI
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Dressed up as ‘little adults’ the two six year-olds, Cochon and Oui Oui, must live up to the male image of their father
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LeicA SL
Armin Smailovic B e yo n d t h e sp o t l i g h t
Twenty-six graduates from a school for performing arts say farewell to years of study: Armin Smailovic photographed them shortly before they stepped on stage; and into a whole new world.
Jérémie Galiana. Smailovic’s images reveal the metamorphosis the actor undergoes
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LeicA M
Sayuri Ichida M ay u
The city as a stage: Ichida has photographed Mayu, a Japanese ballerina with the New York Theatre Ballet, for a project dealing with more than just dance. Her themes are homeland and the sense of alienation.
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Rather than smooth parquet flooring, her feet dance their way across concrete and raw paving. There are no spotlights to illuminate the dancer as she works through her exercises, steadying herself on a signpost or a bicycle stand. Walls of buildings and broad cityscapes create backdrops for surreal displays where the big city becomes a stage for the dancer. The audience are the passing strangers who happen to be walking along the same route. “Even though pedestrians frequently stopped and stared, Mayu remained completely unperturbed and highly professional. It was as though she was unaware of the people around us.
I think that once Mayu starts to dance, any setting becomes a stage for her,” the Japanese photographer Sayuri Ichida explains. “Some passers-by tried to inconspicuously take photographs with their smartphones while others asked for permission.” The photographer’s long-term project is dedicated to a ballerina from the New York Theatre Ballet, an institution that has been part of the city’s cultural scene since 1978. Ichida however, wanted to capture more than the beauty of dance and the graceful movements of a young woman. Themes of homeland, alienation and arriving all played a central role in the conception of the series. “When I met Mayu I had already got over the toughest part of being an immigrant
who needs to find her way in a foreign situation. I believe it was the same for Mayu. If I’d still been bemoaning my situation at the time, I wouldn’t have been able to complete the project – because I wouldn’t have wanted to give it up. However, for the two of us it represented something of a milestone from different perspectives. In addition, the chance for a wonderful collaboration with another artist made me once again realise how free and independent we are.” In 2012, after working in Tokyo and London, Ichida moved to New York to work as a photo-retoucher in the fashion industry. →
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“ I t h i n k t h at o n ce Mayu starts to da n c e , a n y s e tt i n g be come s a stage for h e r . �
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LeicA M
ClĂŠment Paradis ĺœ? KEN
For hundreds of children, the yearly Wanpaku tournament in Tokyo is the first step into the world of sumo wrestling. The French photographer followed the scene closely for four years, using an M Monochrom to dive into a proud culture steeped in tradition and determination.
The annual sumo competitions are not just about the sport itself, but about the feeling of solidarity that comes from participating
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Paradis prefers to get to know new worlds more than explain how they function. He does not see photography as simply a way to reproduce facts, but prefers to use his exploratory eye to lay out paths to individual insight
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FA M I LY OF FOUR Ap o - Summ i c r o n - s l 5 0 f/ 2 a s p h
The Summicron range of lenses for the Leica SL welcomes a new addition. Photographer Jo Fischer has agreed to put the high-performance Apo-Summicron-SL 50 f/2 through its paces.
Father, mother, son and daughter: for a long time, this was the definition of a picture-perfect family. If such conventions were to be applied to Leica’s Summicron-SL series, the lens range could now be considered perfect and complete. After the almost simultaneous release of the 75 and 90mm models, followed by the relatively recent 35mm variant, Leica now introduce the Apo-SummicronSL 50 f/2 Asph. Berlin-based photographer Jo Fischer certainly came to this conclusion when he set out with a Leica SL and the new lens. All images captured during his field test were shot without a tripod, whereby the Summicron’s diminutive size proved a great advantage. Fischer usually works with the Leica M, which is, of course, smaller and even more manageable than the Leica SL. However, Fischer did find the SL considerably faster – not least due to its outstanding autofocus, which the photographer lauded for its speedy as well as quiet operation. i nnovat i v e Fo c usi ng
Beneath its smooth exterior, the Apo-Summicron-SL 50 f/2 Asph houses a complex interior complete with autofocus, aperture priority and processing unit
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m e c h a ni sm . Aside from optical performance, the SL-Summicron’s developers especially focussed on practical application. This has manifested itself not only in the compact dimensions of the lens, but also its exceedingly fast autofocus. Earlier on, we likened the four Summicron-SL lenses to a family – a comparison that is based on more than their identical aperture. All four members of the lens range, which now covers the main focal lengths, were devel-
oped concurrently – with initial plans dating back as far as the conception of the Leica SL itself. Consequently, they share various fundamental traits in terms of construction, optical design and exterior appearance. Among these commonalities is a specially developed focusing mechanism which Leica have termed the Dual Synchro Drive. This innovative concept ensures that the mass to be shifted during focusing is as lightweight as possible, resulting in a correspondingly fast autofocus. In this case, there are only two moving lens elements, which naturally weigh much less than the larger groups that have to be shifted in many M lenses. This, in turn, means that they are light-weight enough to be moved by fast stepper motors. While the two lens elements move independently from each other, they are electronically synchronised to ensure perfect coordination. High-speed autofocus.
The result is an extremely fast autofocus which palpably enhances the SL’s performance. In order to determine the correct focus point, mirrorless system cameras such as the SL carry out two contrast evaluations via the image sensor, whereby the focus is changed in between the two measurements. It takes the Summicron-SL 50 a mere quarter of a second to engage the entire focusing throw. While the Dual Synchro Drive might seem like a relatively straightforward concept, its execution was ambitious. It not only necessitates a different →
Photos: Š Jo Fischer; product photography: Leica Camera AG
The new 50mm lens allows for easy handling and a broad range of applications
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g r eat an d sma l l L e i c a c o mpa c t s
LFI has set out to compile an overview of Leica’s camera lines. Following no particular sequence, we start with the compact ranges, which have long – and undeservedly – been overshadowed by the company’s more substantial camera systems.
In the minds of most photography enthusiasts, the Leica brand is synonymous with classic rangefinder photography and, by inference, legendary system cameras. However, the fact is that even Leica’s compact camera portfolio, whose beginnings date back to analogue times, features some genuine classics. When the industry transitioned from analogue to digital, the classics potential within the compact camera segment was temporarily hampered: like many other manufacturers, Leica took some time to ensure that their digital system cameras could match the performance levels their customers had come to expect. During this period, compact cameras served as something of a testing ground for digital photography, allowing manufacturers to 90 |
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liberally experiment with sensor sizes, zoom ranges and configurations without having to adhere to the classic film formats. The smartphone boom (which Leica have become a part of through their collaboration with Huawei) put an abrupt end to the rampant sales figures of digital compact cameras – leading to the disappearance of entire companies and product lines from the market. While Leica could not completely escape the ‘smartphone slump’, the company was affected to a much less severe degree – mostly because Leica have had the foresight to only release distinctly high-end compact models that always significantly outperform any smartphone (see our interview with Stefan Daniel, Head of Project Manage-
ment at Leica, on page 86). This applies just as much to Leica’s smaller compacts as it does to the segment’s most sizeable representatives, the Q and Q2 – a series with which Leica set exciting new standards by pairing a compact camera with a sensor that records in the classic full-frame format. To this day, the compact camera segment continues to be a successful part of Leica’s catalogue. We take a look at the compacts currently featured in their product portfolio, and investigate which of these four models might have the potential to become a modern classic. While the Q2 appears to be the most likely contender, this does not render Leica’s other three compacts any less attractive. After all, the nature of a camera’s performance
takes precedence over its status on the market – particularly if you are searching for the perfect companion to take on your travels. L e i ca C-Lux: t h e co mpac t a ll-ro u nde r.
Released in summer 2018, the C-Lux is a perfect introduction to the world of digital compact cameras made by Leica. Some manufacturers might categorise it as a travel zoom camera, owing to its compact yet extremely capable lens: the DC Vario-Elmar 8.8–132 f/3.3–6.4 Asph covers an enormous focal length range of 24 to 360 mm (35 mm equivalent). In addition, the lens is collapsible – meaning it hardly protrudes from the camera body when the C-Lux is switched off, and only extends to its full size at maximum focal →
The compact body of the Leica C-Lux houses a large image sensor as well as a lens with an enormous zoom range
With its fast lens and large sensor, the D-Lux 7 prioritises high performance over attention-grabbing spec-sheet data
The not-so-compact body of the V-Lux 5 is ergonomic, ensuring a steady hold on the camera when working with longer focal length
The size of its image sensor and superior quality of its lens allow the Q2 to actually surpass most system cameras
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best o f LF I . Ga l l e r y
M acau S u n “I’ve often photographed sunsets at this place, which is one of the last authentic fishing harbours in Macau without any modern hotels and casinos – and yet I find new, exciting motifs every time. On this occasion it was the parked seven seater van, with the sun reflecting so beautifully on its roof.” António Leong Leica M10 with Summicron-M 28 f/2 Asph
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