Photos: gun with knife -- why?

[Thirties]

Please enlighten me. Why are there so many photos of guns posted with a knife in the picture?

Is there a specific aesthetic in weapon photography that folks are adhering to?

I'd appreciate a thoughtful explanation as I'm genuinely curious about this.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Marko Kloos]

There has to be a knife in the picture when you take beauty shots of a handgun.

It's either in the Constitution, or somewhere in Deuteronomy, I think.

 

[Tamara]

I first noticed it in Ichiro Nagato's work in American Handgunner. I like my knives, too, so it's a cool way to get both in the picture.

Plus, I think it's a misdemeanor offense to take a picture without the knife...

 

[Baba Louie]

Its the old Mutt and Jeff thing.

Think Fred and Barney

Lucy and Ethel

Abbot and Costello

Penn and Teller

Lewis and Martin

Sides that, its unAmerican to Not have both... they comfort each other

Adios

 

[Thirties]

OK, Tamara, thanks. I guess I've been missing some demeanor by not puting my little pocket knife in my gun photos. <G>

 

[Don Gwinn]

Guns are neat. Knives are also neat. Put them together, and each synergistically increases the neatness of the other. Soon your picture is three times as neat, not twice.

 

[BigG]

Call me sexist but I would prefer a babe myself.

 

[Ewok_Guy]

Also,
Many a knife are carried with the handgun they're pictured with.
It's like putting a couple spare mags in the photo..
They are tools which simply go together.

 

[10-Ring]

Do you question movies & popcorn, peanut butter & jelly, steak & potatos or mom & apple pie. Guns w/ knives are just photo karmic bliss

 

[Litlman]

Simple. It looks cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Unisaw]

I have always assumed it's because the magazine publisher wants to sell more advertisements for knives.

 

[BerettaNut92]

IMO there has to be a common theme. The gun has to match the knife in its own way.

The firearm says something about the shooter, and the knife just adds more. As Oleg once told me, you can take a good photo of anything, but what message are you trying to get across? Each photo I take has to have a story behind it.

I've taken my photography much more seriously ever since I heard his spiel (twice ) about equipment, tactics and logistics.

 

[MMcCall]

It's basically just a convention now.

I don't have anything against knives at all, but I know when I drop five bones on a magazine called American HANDGUNNER, it cheeses me a little bit to see an eight page article about how Bill Wilson's kid is God's gift to knifemaking or some crap like that. Stick to guns, guys.

 

[Blain]

The knife makes the guns look......badder?

 

[CWL]

Goes back to first days of photography. Adoration of military men/lifestyle.

In US, Civil War & Western photos always had men showing both their guns & knives. Take a look at portraits from that time & you will see a share of Bowie knives (& revolvers) being brandished.

 

[Hardtarget]

Where does my knife spend 99.9999% of its life? In my POCKET! So the only time its seen is in a picture. It needs to get out to breathe every so often.
Mark.

 

[mack]

Peanut Butter & _______

Gun & _______




The answer is out there.

 

[BerettaNut92]

Guns & butter?

 

[podwich]

Well, I think PB and jelly, and, possibly unfortunately, guns and ammo.

 

[rick458]

You should always take a gun AND a knife to a Gunfight thats why

 

[voilsb]

I think partly it's just because it looks cool. which it does, and I won't try to fault people for it, because I agree it looks cool.

I also agree that it goes with the theme. guns and knives tend to go together. people who like guns tend to like knives, too. people who carry guns tend to carry knives. they're both useful tools, and one of their common tools is defense.

I also think it's sometimes used to portray some scale. it helps to give a mental image of the size of a gun relative to something else, even if there is no standard for it. kinda like showing a guy or a chick in a car photo; you don't know how tall they are, but you get an estimate for scale due to the additional measure.

 

[El Tejon]

Same reason people buy all kinds of goofy stuff--coolness.

Freedom doesn't have to make sense (fortunately).

 

[Gewehr98]

Because it's fun...

to see how much steel the glass on your scanner bed can handle before it gives out!

 

[geegee]

It's a "yin & yang" kind of thing. Who's ever held a gun with a sharp edge? Or held a knife that went bang! ? See...makes perfect sense now, doesn't it? geegee

 

[pax]

BigG: Sexist!

I am nothing, if not obliging....

pax

Don't be sexist. Broads hate that! -- Archie Bunker