Norman Weiss Photographer / Adventurer / Dentist / Dad |
by Steve Weiss his Son (Film/Video Producer/Director / Photographer) |
If there has ever been a great adventurer in the style of Ernest
Hemingway, its my father, Norm Weiss. Ever since I can remember he has been going to
great places all over the world in search of some knowledge but more importantly, great
photos. He has been a photographer for almost 50 years and although he went to dental
school and became a dentist, hes is first and foremost an artist with film and lens.
Though Im sure he doesnt realize it, I owe most of my photographic and
cinematic abilities to him. We grew up in a very creative environment and lots of my
memories are of sitting in the darkroom talking to my father with the lights off. That
total blackness on Saturday afternoons helped me and him imagine great scenes and images. When I show some of his shots to friends and guests, I hear things like National Geographic, Eisenstaedt and Ansel Adams. And thats what his work is like, a kind of combination of all of those. I sometimes call it a fancy snapshot, but its really more than that. Sure hes got the tools to get the beautiful depth of field and color, but we all know thats not what makes a great shot. Its being in the right spot or finding it. Having God work the sun just right for you. Having the subject doing the right things for you. And you, as the photographer, need to coordinate these elements in a couple of seconds and push that magical button to immortalize that moment. My father is a master at doing all that. As we build this website you will see images from all around the world. Places I remember looking up in an atlas when my dad told me he was going there. Places like, Tibet, Tanzania, Morocco, Egypt, Katmandu, Timbuktu, Equator, Papua, etc. As well as, Europe, Russia, the Netherlands and all the places he loves going with my mother. I heard someone the other day say that there is no-one worse than a doctor whose a photographer. But I think youll agree that my father is really a photographer whos a doctor. Recently, on a trip to Tanzania, some of those doctoring skills came in handy when he helped several native people who needed medical attention, and if I know him, after he fixed them up, he probably snapped their picture. Enjoy what we his family & friends have been enjoying for years, his work. |
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