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Author Topic: Geoffrey Crawley, the world-esteemed former editor of BJP passes away  (Read 1479 times)

Rob C

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Re: Geoffrey Crawley, the world-esteemed former editor of BJP passes away
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2010, 05:16:19 am »

What sad news. I read his tests of about every bit of Nikon that I bought during the 60s and onwards; he was honest, articulate and truthful. I never regretted a single purchase that I made based on his critique. What a breath of fresh air he was in a magazine world dominated by the chase for the advertising buck.

After he left the BJP he seemed to vanish off my radar until he reappeared in the AP one day when I bought a copy for old-time's sake in an airport, or some other such lonely place.

How unlike the comments that posters post here were his analyses of the bits and pieces that make up photographic equipment. It also  surprised me that someone so much older than I was at the time could make the change into the digi world with such consumate ease. Perhaps the basic reason that was possible is that he had interest in those things, whereas I only saw complication entering my life.

Perhaps it's the same today: I don't seek challenges, I seek reliability; I don't enjoy surprises from tools, I enjoy surprises from images. Also, important, this, he didn't earn his living from making images; his buzz was derived from the tools and materials that went into the making of... thank goodness he felt that way. With retirement from the BJP we lost a great guide long before his death.

Rob C

Rob C

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Re: Geoffrey Crawley, the world-esteemed former editor of BJP passes away
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2010, 03:37:09 pm »

There was another rather special guy in the British photo world: Norman Hall. He edited a seminal magazine called, get this: Photography. It was the best such magazine I found, US alternatives notwithstanding. He covered a lot of different bases, but was very keen on photojournalism; I think I seem to remember first meeting Frank Horvat on those pages - I DO remember that they represent my very first published picture - you guessed, a girl. I shared a page with Peter Sellers' work. In fact, with reference to what I've written here on LuLa before about making the same shot over and over for ever, the thing was a headshot almost identical to the one that makes my home page. The first one was a humble Exakta shot made at home against a roll of paper (I sabotaged everything on the altar of photography, even the home décor) whilst the second one is from Rhodes out of Nikon. If the girls weren't so beautiful I'd be tempted to say that that sounds like the provenance of a horse.

Anyway, Norman Hall also edited one or two of the BJP Annuals, which is where I discovered Michal Kenna. He had a wonderful eye, Norman; obviously. I should also add, with respect to Exakta, that it was far from humble: it cost me a bomb and was one of the top slr machines of the 50s. They also made the Exa, a cheaper version. If you look at Leica's 8 model of reflex (I think eight) (Note: I'd originally written 8, the numeral within the brackets, but when it showed as a post, the 8 had been converted into one of those daft faces! can't allow that.), you will see echoes of the wedge that was the hallmark of Exakta. Boy, it was strongly built, that Exakta!

Rob C
« Last Edit: November 06, 2010, 03:44:04 pm by Rob C »
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