1. The eye is part of the brain and we see what we have learned to see
2. The brain processes about 1% of the visual signals from the world outside our head.
3. The brain processes and reacts to specific visual patterns and changes over time in these patterns.
4. We do not see what there is, but we see what we want to see or have learned to see.
5. We need a trained detective eye to analyse a photograph. Read Sherlock Holmes!
About photography
6. Photography is a two-dimensional medium. The camera lens records all information and projects a pattern on the recording surface with a correct linear/optical perspective.
7. A photograph is a record of everything physical in the real world that is within the field of view of the lens and camera.
8. Photographs in themselves are meaningless. They are historical records without context.
9. When I look at a photograph, I ask myself what happens there and not why is this a beautiful picture.
10. Every photograph is constructed according to a conventional template and when we take a photograph we simply try to copy the reality along these templates that exist only in our head. These templates are of course the iconic pictures of the great masters.
11. A photograph is interesting or beautiful according to how close they replicate these templates.
12. The main area of photography is domestic photography and not art photography.
13. Art photography is a method to give some photographers a certain status.
14. The classical picture elements (viewpoint, location, situation and time) to give intentionality to a photograph are overvalued.
15. Photography is easy to learn: buy a camera ans start taking pictures. Continue to do it and take the pictures you want and do not mimic other photographers.
16. Digital photography has made it impossible to take a failed picture.
17. The real task is to know when to take a picture.
About Leica photography
18. There is no specific photographic style or genre that can de designated as Leica photography. There is only photography with a Leica camera.
19. Leica photography is not a style but an experience.
20. Leica lenses are great tools for domestic photography because they can record the unexpected in great detail.
21. The more detail there is in a picture, the less room for interpretation there can be and the more facts are collected: you start to discover and really observe.
22. The Leica camera is a great instrument for recording pictures that are basically only collections of facts about which questions can and must be asked.
23. The best Leica pictures are made with deliberate neglect of rules and intention: simply photograph what happens to be before the lens. The important idea is to understand what we do not see.
