70 Years of LFI – the best covers – part 2
70 Years of LFI – the best covers – part 2
Günter Osterloh
September 6, 2019
Issue #3/1967, commented by Günter Osterloh
“I particularly like the cover picture for issue No. 3, 1967, for a variety of reasons. A bright red dominates this photo in a very effective manner, framing a little girl in a red coat waving out of the window of a London bus. Though a rather unspectacular motif, it caught the photographer's attention and he managed to frame the image perfectly at just the right moment. Classified as street photography – a genre for which the Leica was largely responsible – , this striking picture is, in my mind, an outstanding example of a felicitous snapshot. As far as I'm concerned, the magazine title at the top left and the unsharp, vertical bars on the right in no way reduce the impact of the image. Even the black band with white print across the bottom is not a problem.
Just like the renown photojournalist, Michael Friedel, who authored this cover picture, I started out training in business. In 1963, the Ernst Leitz Optics Works in Wetzlar gave me the opportunity to apply my hobbies – home movies and photography – professionally, in the Leica technology department. At first the focus of my work was on application techniques for the Leica in the medical field, in criminalistics and in photojournalism, and I was also able to contribute to specialised magazines with reports on all this. As of 1972, I also spent four years as editor for the technology segment of the magazine, Leica Fotografie.” (blu)
“I particularly like the cover picture for issue No. 3, 1967, for a variety of reasons. A bright red dominates this photo in a very effective manner, framing a little girl in a red coat waving out of the window of a London bus. Though a rather unspectacular motif, it caught the photographer's attention and he managed to frame the image perfectly at just the right moment. Classified as street photography – a genre for which the Leica was largely responsible – , this striking picture is, in my mind, an outstanding example of a felicitous snapshot. As far as I'm concerned, the magazine title at the top left and the unsharp, vertical bars on the right in no way reduce the impact of the image. Even the black band with white print across the bottom is not a problem.
Just like the renown photojournalist, Michael Friedel, who authored this cover picture, I started out training in business. In 1963, the Ernst Leitz Optics Works in Wetzlar gave me the opportunity to apply my hobbies – home movies and photography – professionally, in the Leica technology department. At first the focus of my work was on application techniques for the Leica in the medical field, in criminalistics and in photojournalism, and I was also able to contribute to specialised magazines with reports on all this. As of 1972, I also spent four years as editor for the technology segment of the magazine, Leica Fotografie.” (blu)
ALL IMAGES ON THIS PAGE: © Günter Osterloh
Günter Osterloh+-
Günter Osterloh worked for Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH as of 1963. In 1976 he changed to the photo marketing department, dealing with the Leica M and R systems. During the process when the Leitz photo sector evolved into the independent Leica GmbH in Solms – today Leica Camera AG in Wetzlar – , Osterloh took care of the new company's product management. In 1993, he took over the management of the Leica Academy. In this new position, his interest was especially focused on the possibilities of photographic art work.
After retiring in 2002, Osterloh took on a teaching assignment at the Justus-Liebig University in Gießen, and for ten years ran Photos for the Press seminars in the Journalistic History division at the Historischen Institut. Osterloh has published award-winning books on the Leica M and R systems, that were also translated into English, Italian and Chinese. He is currently working on a history of Leitz and the story of the Leica. More