EnglishJean Gaumy’s initial project sought to photograph a Kyrgyz community living in the very high mountains of Tajikistan. However when he arrived in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, he found the border was closed due to the recent assassination of a Tajik politician. After a waiting period at the border, it became clear that he had to find a replacement plan. Playing with chance and luck, our protagonist decided to travel to Kyrgyzstan, a place seemingly captured in time, trusting in the people he would meet. Following gut instincts is just part of the photographer’s job, as usual…
Our next stop along the series BACK TO KYRGYZSTAN: A Photographic Journey With Jean Gaumy follows our protagonist on the road in search of landscapes. Landscape pictures using long Leica R telephoto lenses is a unique feature of the new Leica M camera
– Leica Internet Team
Ian
I wish the photos published on this blog were more interesting, and showcase more the capabilities of the new M (low light condition coupled with a fast lens instead of pictures taken under a midday sun)
Mah
Is the video recorded with the M as well? ‘Cause there is plenty of chromatic aberration visible on the contrasty edges.
Melissa
Awesome. Dig it! Love the lines and detail …. thanx for taking me to a place i’ve never been.
Anne
I bet it was a cultural journey! Great photos and nice layout.
Paul Holland
Wow, that’s a dull video! Really bad. Looks like it was shot on an iPhone 3G, no idea what’s meant to be happening,apart from being on a long boring road trip. Confusing and very low rent.
You’ve got the use of one of the worlds best cameras coupled with arguably the best optics available to man and you’re taking pictures out of the window of a cab. Not very inspiring.
Sorry to sound so negative but come on guys you’re meant to be the best. I think you may need to spend a bit more £$€ on your production vallues.
Dariel Palacol
I love the setting. More pictures please….
Yves Kraus
TY for the first pictures I saw from the new M.
I love the 1st one.
Peter
The quality of the movie is pretty poor.
An the composition of two last photographs can be used as no-no examples in 101 courses.
Sorry but we all can see it.
Girmantas
When I saw first pictures of Leica M thought than so bad JPG’s from Leica did not expect. But later looked at many DNG files and can yet say that this awesome camera! Very sharp and detailed pictures, easy to make pictures like slide film. Only worry about quality in dark scenes.
harvey
Sorry to say it, but these are boring pictures. How is a bunch of brown cows standing in the middle of a brown field supposed to be interesting?
inigo
really enjoyed that, obviously people are more concerned with the camera jean is using rather than his work, great work jean keep it up
Steve Caddy
It’s easy to look at the pictures here and wonder what they’re supposed to reveal about the people, the land, the new camera or the photographer’s eye. The story certainly isn’t evident and I agree that the evolution has seemed bland.
I’m probably too late with my comment on this article now, but photography is, as Alex Majoli said — I think in a Leica interview! — editing is photography. Take a look at the final M system brochure to see how the story is revealed. The PDF is available to download here:
http://us.leica-camera.com/service/downloads/rangefinder_cameras/leica_m/index.html
The ‘boring picture’ of the cows in the middle of a brown field has its place supporting the stronger images in the reportage.
Leica blog team, if you’re reading, the story behind how the assignment came about, how Jean Gaumy approached it and how it was researched, written and edited into the final M-system brochure would make a fascinating series of posts.