Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013, seen here on his release from Victor Verster Prison in 1990, with then wife and fellow activist Winnie Mandela.
Photo by Peter Turnley.
The world is taking appropriate note of the passing of Nelson Mandela, one of the incandescent leaders of the age. Celebrated the world over, Mandela was perhaps the world's greatest natural leader since Gandhi.
It's curious that human beings are so much more impressed with violence than peace, with cruelty rather than kindness, with aggressiveness rather than gentleness, with competition rather than cooperation. For instance, here in the U.S. we have a hand gesture used by drivers, univerally understood, that means "f--- you." (It's actually illegal in most states—you can be ticketed for using it.) But we don't have a corresponding hand gesture which would mean "sorry / excuse me / please forgive me / I meant no offense." Yet wouldn't such a gesture be at least as useful?
Similarly, the world has a name for leaders who are narcissistic, sadistic, and ruthless—we call them "dictators." But we have no distinct, vivid, universally understood name for leaders such as Mandela, who change the world for the better through benevolence, spiritual steadfastness, kindliness, and wisdom.
Too bad.
Our friend Peter Turnley was present with his camera when Mandela was released from prison. You can see a short video of Peter's reminiscences here.
The world will take much less note of the passing of another éminence grise, one from the far smaller field of American photography. Master teacher, colleague, author, and friend and mentor to a whole generation of photographers, David Vestal died last week at his home in Connecticut. He was 89.
A career educator, he taught photography at the Parsons School of Design, the School of Visual Arts, and the Pratt Institute. More modestly, I learned photography from David, from a Dektol-stained copy of The Craft of Photography open on the tiny counter of my makeshift first darkroom underneath the basement stairs.
When I became Editor of the recently deceased Photo Techniques magazine in 1994, one of the first things I did was to contact David and ask him if he'd like to write a column. He readily assented. The previous Editor was incredulous—he'd been trying for years to get David to write more than just an occasional article for the magazine. Turned out my timing was lucky—David had just retired from teaching, or rather, gone very part-time, and he suddenly had more time to write. His column far outlived my tenure at the magazine.
For many years he published Grump, a private photo newsletter. Every Christmas, Grump subscribers would get a tiny signed original print in a folded rectangle of interleaving tissue. On the tissue would be written in pencil, "MC HNY."
He was the author of both Craft and The Art of Black-and-White Enlarging, both wonderful books about how to print in the darkroom. He wrote many columns for Photo Techniques. He and I always intended to collect and publish them; no telling what will become of those plans now.
David loved the fax machine; he hated the telephone, which would call him out of his basement darkroom where he was immersed in work and then stop ringing before his bad knees could get him up the stairs. The fax machine let him reply at his leisure.
I have a quote from David taped to my computer, a principle which he believed was the cure for what ailed many a student, and possibly a lot of the rest of the world as well. It's characteristically pithy (David loved pith):
"Do your work." —DV
R.I.P.
Mike
(Thanks to Oren Grad)
Original contents copyright 2013 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:
Les Myers (partial comment): "I am very sorry to learn of David Vestal's death...I still have many back issues of PT because of Mr. Vestal's columns. His writing style—short sentences, active verbs, etc.—inspired and helped me fine-tune my photographic philosophy and darkroom techniques. Thank you for alerting us to his passing."
jean-louis salvignol: "Peter speaks of that major historical event exactly as he lived and photographed it: with a tremendous intensity and without any trace of pathos."
Dennis Mook: "David Vestal couldn't compete with Mr. Mandela in changing the world. But David changed my world. Over many years, I hung on his every word, learning from him in whatever media he taught. I read and reread his words to ensure they sunk in. I didn't know he passed last week. Thank you. Both men give me reasons to pause for some thought and introspection."
John Garrity: "A couple of days ago I posted a promised book and a few connected prints to David Vestal only to hear in the afternoon, from a mutual friend, of his death.
"Well back in the last century, when first seriously attempting to make photographs, like many at that time, I looked to the writings of Ansel Adams for practical advice. Unfortunately, to me, Adams's books (first editions in black covers) at initial and all subsequent readings, were essentially incomprehensible.
"A frustrating while later, on a visit to the USA, I discovered David's writings—articles in Popular Photography magazine, which, along with those of Bill Pierce [a current TOP reader —Ed.], were models of clear, problem-solving practicality. I also obtained a copy of The Craft of Photography. Subsequently came the even better book, The Art of Black-and-White Enlarging, with its combination of demonstrative and exemplar photographs, clearly structured writing and a number of valuable test techniques. Sadly, its publication coincided with a hiatus in the publishing industry and it was poorly distributed, with limited sales. (If you wish to learn how to print black-and-white negatives well in the darkroom, it clearly and logically answers virtually every question you are likely to have about making effective, stable prints on silver halide papers. It also answers the equally important questions you didn't even know needed asking.)
"However, before then, while still grappling unsuccessfully with the practical mechanics of the medium, I'd stumbled across an annual collection of international photographs—probably a Popular Photography item. Among the portfolios by Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon, etc., etc., was a single small image centred on a page surrounded by editorial text. It showed not much more than a nondescript door, neither old nor new. So quiet that you could flip the page without really registering it. Yet that picture was the one that stuck in my mind. Not those of the chest-thumping heavy hitters.
"David repeatedly made quiet photographs that at first sight could be dismissed as dull. However, the truth of their quiet ordinariness mask their power. A day or so later you realise they have contrived, burr-like, to lodge in the mind. They also force you to look anew.
"Despite being included in books such as The New York School (by Jane Livingston, 1992) (the thesis of which David disagreed with), his reputation as a photographer seems sadly limited. Living in the UK it is impossible for me to be entirely sure why, though I suspect a number of combining factors.
"As Mike has said, he focussed on doing the work. He photographed the ordinary quietly. He didn't spend time or energy promoting himself. He wasn't pompous. He was a sceptic who cheerfully pointed out the absence of the emperor's clothes. He wasn't unkind—he acknowledged others, though in private he could occasionally skewer someone who deserved it with a telling phrase. He didn't make big prints, or woolly statements. He characterised the Zone System as descriptive rather than prescriptive, after getting a complete understanding of it directly from Ansel Adams himself.
"He generally worked in single images, rather than projects or themes. (Though two trips to Brazil, first with his late wife Ann Treer in the '60s, then revisiting in the '90s, resulted in a few self-produced books made from inkjet prints. Similarly, I suspect an excellent small show or publication of pictures of his back yard in Bethelem, Connecticut, could be easily assembled.) He didn’t believe in limited-edition prints.
"He honoured and would try to support the work and reputation of others. He focussed much of his energy on writing. Writing clearly as possible in the mass media. (He blogged before blogging was invented. Firstly his newsletter GRUMP, then after a short pause 'FINITY, which continued almost to his end.)
"I hope someone can make a good book of his work—with no pictures running across the gutter [something David particularly disliked —Ed.]
"A good man, whom I, and many, will sorely miss."
David Vestal will be missed. He was so genererous with the most precious thing any of us have, his time.
He had the ability to get directly to the heart of the matter. Like his books, what you needed to know with no fuzziness to confuse.
Posted by: F Hall | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 01:30 PM
Mike, just a quick whisper in your ears...
Accord the adjective to the noun :
Eminence Grise
or
Eminences Grises
Cheers, keep rollin'
Posted by: Sylvain G. | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 01:34 PM
Dang it. Another wonderful person I won't get to meet. David Vestal, I mean.
His columns for Photo Techniques were flat-out brilliant, with an irresistible combination of incisive observation, common sense, and mordant wit. I would dearly love to seem them collected as a book.
Posted by: Geoff Wittig | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 01:43 PM
Good column, Mike. I have spent the last few days marveling at the life and career of Nelson Mandela--the rare revolutionary who, having won the revolution and been anointed leader of his country, not only disavowed retribution against the oppressors, but also presided of the peaceful transfer of power by stepping down after his first term.
Now I'm saddened by the passing of David Vestal. I know him mostly from a set of class notes that were published as a sort of magazine some years ago. I'm not sure how I got ahold of them, but they are filled with just the most sensible and practical information and advice about darkroom work.
I realized last year that he was still teaching an annual workshop at the Formulary, and had kind of resolved to take that class if he did it again this year--thinking there would not be many more chances to take a workshop from him, or from anyone remotely like him. I intermittently spend a bunch of time in a darkroom and would have loved to spend a few days with such a master practitioner.
[Robin, Check the editor's name on that "sort of magazine"...could be me. --Mike]
Posted by: Robin Dreyer | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 01:51 PM
"But we don't have a corresponding hand gesture which would mean "sorry / excuse me / please forgive me / I meant no offense."
We do. The mini wave of the hand. I see it multiple times daily. Perhaps it is just a west coast thing but I assumed it was national. Isn't it?
". . . human beings are so much more impressed with violence than peace, with cruelty rather than kindness . . . ."
Factory farms produce our meat, eggs, and dairy through extreme violence and cruelty so for most people violence and cruelty are part of their daily lives. We're numb to it.
From Breaking News For South Africa:
Johannesburg – The National Society For the Prevention Of Cruelty Against Animals (NSPCA) has expressed its grief over the death of former President Nelson Mandela, and the animal welfare society’s Patron-In-Chief.
“For nearly 20 years Madiba has been the Patron-in-Chief of the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA), and we have been truly honoured to call him one of our own,” said the NSPCA’s Brenda Santon on Friday.
“A man dedicated to humankind, to our country and to all her inhabitants, friend and foe, animal and human; he stood for equality throughout his life."
Posted by: scott | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 02:00 PM
With Minor White and Ansel Adams, David Vestal was one of those figures that have fascinated me in this strange margin of the photographic universe, where black magic encounter alchemy. Very sad news. Salut!
Posted by: jean-louis salvignol | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 02:14 PM
Your words touching me because I always think the same about the first point and I always was sympathetic with Vestal. In the first case we can take the last World Press Photo. There are lots of images that show the things to be fixed, as told Cornell Capa several years ago. But few about why worth the pain to live. Some french photographers catch the thing in the past century, I mean Doisneau, Boubat and Ronis. Maybe because they suffered the pain of war they want to tell other things. I don't want an adorned side of life. But I ask for some balance. Most of the young and successful photographers need to have a war or conflict coverage. Is like the oficial thing for most the awards and editorial work. But I am sure that there are a lot of works that show the imperceptible things of every day life that can make us understand why stupid we are to lost time in those "important things".
About Vestal, I read several old articles wrote by him cause my father was a photographer. He left me a lot of magazines that I read when I was very young. I commented one that I found recently years and I published in my blog about Sid Grossman. The writing and the photo was made by Vestal. And for me they were unforgettable. I am very sorry to hear that he passed away. All my condolences and respect for his family.
http://hernanzenteno.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/the-viewfinder-as-your-world/
Posted by: Hernan Zenteno | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 02:31 PM
by the way, Vestal was just an example of those quiet photos as the French men I mentioned in my other comment. I remembered several photos of him published in Popular Photography in the 60's. I always missed to know more in the times of internet. But appears that there are no links or archives on line. Hope someone can fix that. If I not remember bad he included had an alternative formula for d-76.
Posted by: Hernan Zenteno | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 02:44 PM
David was also on the staff of New York Institute of Photography where he lent much credibility and creativity.
With the passing of both Mandela and Vestal, one will be no doubt be photographing the other in the hereafter.
Thank you Mike for both mentions.
My little peso.
Posted by: Hugh Smith | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 02:44 PM
I for one would be very interested in that compilation of Mr Vestals column. My collection (dragged from house to house) is incomplete and a bit tatty, but always one of my go to's along with this site to ground me when I drift (or help me to drift when I feel grounded!).
Posted by: Rod Thompson | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 03:13 PM
Nice eulogy of your friend.
Posted by: Jim | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 03:31 PM
Vestal's column in the old Photo Techniques was my favorite part of that magazine. I even tracked down a used copy of one of his darkroom books. Honest and pragmatic advice on how to print without driving yourself nuts. One of the best.
Posted by: psu | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 03:32 PM
I knew DV by DR&CCT. For me he was a philosopher. I love his articles.
Posted by: pedro-rafael | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 04:27 PM
After closing Grump, Vestal relented and in 2006 started a second newsletter called "Finity." two sides of one sheet of paper, appearing roughly monthly, with a small digital print centered in other text on each side. Same pithy style, and dry humor. THis aimhe MCHNY pictures also continued, right up to 2012. He frequently reviewed shows, in the US and in Europe, and a most idiosyncratic group of books, usually found used. As always, he abhorred pictures bled to the edge or spread across the fold. The last issue that I received was May/June 2013. His aim in this last series of newletters, expressed in the first issue:
"spasmodic and inconsistent achievement of imperfection in all that it undertakes. Nothing less will do."
Posted by: scott kirkpatrick | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 04:28 PM
I use the same gesture for "sorry" as for "thank you" when driving (raised hand, fingers spread). I picked it up from my parents, and I've seen at least a few others do it while driving.
Posted by: david | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 04:32 PM
Actually we had a hand gesture from the 60's I use to this day that means sorry.. It is the peace sign.. But it means something totally different when used in England.
Posted by: Dave Baker | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 05:12 PM
Living just down the road from Mr. Vestal, I kick myself for not trying harder to meet him. When I retired my darkroom I donated my well worn copy of "The Craft of Photography" to the Woodbury library. That was an ill considered decision; I doubt that anyone has ever checked it out, and now I miss having it.
Posted by: Steven Willard | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 05:21 PM
Hi Mike,
Just to tell that you surprised me with the absence of "I'm sorry" sign in USA: it is so common in Portugal that I thought it was an universal driver's sign. I do it all the time even when the other driver is wrong: it's not being weak is that there are so many fights and if I say sorry I close that possible argument immediately and this fight is forgot immediately, if I reply back _even if when I'm right_ I just enlarge something bad that is really not important. (driver's sorry in Portugal is raise your right hand and optionally nod down slightly your head).
But I learned the "thank you" driver's sign from Mandela's South Africa: blink 4 lights twice. They do it all the time even when other drivers do the obvious. Now I also do thank you.
Peace is a much better thing, particularly when there is nothing to win on these "road battles".
R.I.P. Mandela, peace is really a better option.
RG
Posted by: rg | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 05:41 PM
"He and I always intended to collect and publish them; no telling what will become of those plans now."
Do everything in your power to bring this about. I have wondered for years why it has not happened yet. It would be a sure block-buster for your new publishing venture and would garner instant credibility for the project.
Walter
Posted by: Walter Glover | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 06:10 PM
Two deaths in one week, a master of color and a master of black and white.
Nice commentary on your friend, Mike.
Posted by: Rob Atkins | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 07:05 PM
See "shaka".
Posted by: Tom Williams | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 07:20 PM
Although my copy of The Craft of Photography wasn't Dektol-stained, I don't know that I learned as much from any other book.
Sleep well, Mr. Vestal.
Posted by: karamanoğlu | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 07:39 PM
For some reason, I have two copies of .."Craft...". Also, mentioning the book always brings to mind the photo on page 309, "Decisive Moment,I, which I always thought was of the author, though probably not.
Posted by: Bronislaus Janulis | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 08:32 PM
Dave Baker: the V-sign with the offensive connotation in the UK, is two raised fingers held palm-in, and jerked upward.
So that's 180 degrees rotated from the peace-sign / cutesy-cheesy-photo / papal-blessing gesture, with palm facing outward.
(In wartime photos, Winston Churchill is sometimes shown holding up two fingers, as in his most familiar "V for victory" gesture... only, the rude way around - further accessorised with a rampant cigar.)
Posted by: richardplondon | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 08:32 PM
Two things occur to me about Nelson Mandela.
One - you don't need to do much to be regarded as a good man. It's not hard to be good. Kindness, politeness, respect for others are not difficult. Forgiveness might be a bit harder sometimes, but you can learn it. And you'll find that what you give, you tend to receive.
To the contrary, you have to work at being bad. Dictators have to claw their way to the top and once there, live in constant fear of someone trying to knife them. Gang bosses need paid bodyguards. Mandela may have had protectors, but they did it out of love.
Second - what about the people who put him in prison for 27 years, robbed him and humanity of those years. Have they been named, shamed, punished?
Posted by: Peter Croft | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 08:58 PM
Yes, we have the mini-wave or held up hand here in Alaska too. It usually means thanks or go ahead, like when a person lets you cut in front. A friendly wave. I think you can also use it for oops.
Posted by: John Krumm | Sunday, 08 December 2013 at 09:56 PM
Mike,
about a positive gesture - not sure about Europe, but in Germany some are using the thumb and the first two fingers to form the character E for Entschuldigung (apologies).
Kind regards
Posted by: Winfried Heyland | Monday, 09 December 2013 at 02:34 AM
In Britain multiple variations on waving are used as 'thanks, sorry' etc - ranging from exuberance resulting in 'did I know them?' to merely a finger or two raised while still holding the wheel - an acknowledgement, not the insulting variant! Seems a bit localised, too - where I live the gesture is very subdued, sometimes down to a barely perceptible index finger raised, whereas a clear lifted hand seems far more normal. But then we actually look for it - if thanks or acknowledgment would seem appropriate, it is taken as blatant rudeness if it isn't done! This makes NOT gesturing a gesture in itself... :-)
Posted by: andy sheppard | Monday, 09 December 2013 at 06:20 AM
Sorry to read about David Vestal. I always enjoyed his writings for their clarity and encouragement. Hopefully, his writings will be collected into book form - perhaps a future project for TOP International?
I have the set of prints he made for the (first?) print offer organized when you were editor at Darkroom Techniques.
Posted by: Paul Van | Monday, 09 December 2013 at 06:56 AM
"Similarly, the world has a name for leaders who are narcissistic, sadistic, and ruthless—we call them "dictators." But we have no distinct, vivid, universally understood name for leaders such as Mandela, who change the world for the better through benevolence, spiritual steadfastness, kindliness, and wisdom."
Benevolators?
Posted by: CarstenW | Monday, 09 December 2013 at 07:20 AM
I, too, am indebted to "The Craft Of Photography" and David's aesthetic sensibilities.
Posted by: Robert Schellhammer | Monday, 09 December 2013 at 09:17 AM
Mike, I love that brief, concise quote you noted. So much is wrapped up in so few words.
Children are often told to do [school] homework and I wonder if there's something in being told to do something potentially unpleasant that plants a bitter seed, thereby placing a roadblock as adults in finding the work we love and [still] should be doing.
Posted by: David | Monday, 09 December 2013 at 09:26 AM
I enjoyed very much his columns in Photo Techniques, I think I red every single one. It will be a great contribution to photography and to his memory if you Mike take lead on publish them as a book, in the way Brooks Jensen does with his columns.
RIP David, you will be missed.
Posted by: Marcelo Guarini | Monday, 09 December 2013 at 09:52 AM
Too many eulogies of late.
Vestal seemed to write the same thing over & over again regardless of whatever new material was in his columns: "Be Yourself". Apparently that can't be expressed enough & he crusaded for that notion to his eternal credit.
Last month we lost good old Uncle Saul (Leitner, not an actual relative, but someone I felt kinship with from the first moment I saw his work). Shalom Saul...
And before that Ben Lifson (another whose written output seems to demand anthologizing).
We'll do our best to Live in Peace.
Posted by: Lance Evingson | Monday, 09 December 2013 at 10:30 AM
I'm very sad to hear of the passing of David Vestal, a loss to me in much the same way as that of Bill Jay. In both cases, I thoroughly enjoyed their writing for both its content and style. The only reason I bought Photo Techniques was for David's regular column. I think I'll start re-reading them tonight.
Posted by: John Friar | Monday, 09 December 2013 at 10:51 AM
I had the good fortune of participating in a few of David Vestal's workshops. The first, (around 1980) was a one-day event in Boston with a large audience, but the other two, much more recent, were small, intimate workshops that David taught with his friend Al Weber. The two had quite different outlooks on many things, but their mutual respect and good humor made for a great learning experience. David will be greatly missed.
But, Photo Techniques magazine does still exist, albeit with a slightly changed name, Photo Technique, and a faint shadow of its former rich content (in my opinion, of course).
Posted by: David | Monday, 09 December 2013 at 11:17 AM
Sorry Mike, but it just won't do to represent Mandela as against violence. He wasn't. He explained clearly in his Rivonia speech why he believed that violence against injustice and oppression is sometimes necessary. In this respect he was quite different from Gandhi (and I'm on Mandela's side). He did support reconciliation after victory and therein lies part of his greatness, but part of it also resides in his toughness in the face of injustice. As with Martin Luther King, what we're seeing here is a posthumous reinvention of a great leader to make him palatable to middle America, a reinvention that diminishes and falsifies the fighters against injustice that they both were.
Posted by: Chris Bertram | Monday, 09 December 2013 at 12:47 PM
I just bought the new issue of PT last week and it is still in the bag awaiting time to go through it. I got hooked on the magazine with Vestal's insightful columns coupled with humorous observations. While his columns had disappeared, I have enjoyed the new look to the magazine under its current editor. I too would like to see a book of his columns but please try to add a selection of his photos too. This would give both the written and visual efforts for a better view of his output.
[A pity, but when you get that magazine out of its bag I'm afraid you'll find that it's the last issue. (At least if we're both talking about the American "Photo Technique.") RIP PT. --Mike]
Posted by: Mathew Hargreaves | Monday, 09 December 2013 at 03:07 PM
Sorry to learn David is gone. He and Bill Pierce were two of my favorite authors on photography.
Posted by: Jon Porter | Monday, 09 December 2013 at 03:55 PM
Mike, I was saddened to read here that David Vestal has died. Like others. I knew his writing through Popular Photography. I particularly recall a series on darkroom technique printed on non-gloss paper and designed as a pull-out section. These came in handy for me in 2002-03, when I was called upon to teach darkroom printing to high school classes. Using them, I was able to quickly bring myself up to scratch, and distributed at least one as a workbook. Since then, it's been interesting to me to spot his name and articles in a surprising variety of publications. He is always mentioned in high regard. Only a few months ago I wondered about his age and state of health. I second Paul's urging to you to bring together his wider writings as a special TOP publication. Thanks for the note.
Posted by: Rod S. | Monday, 09 December 2013 at 05:58 PM
I fell like an orphan...
Posted by: Hélcio J. Tagliolatto | Tuesday, 10 December 2013 at 08:41 PM