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January 21, 2010
[LEARNING FROM THE MASTERS]
Imaging's shelves groan under the weight of massive photographic books, but that hasn't stopped us adding a couple more since Christmas.
Books of photos by great photographers are an ambiguous inspiration. On the one hand they show what can be done and, in most cases, it is easy enough to work out how it has been done. On the other hand they are a temptation to be mere mimics of the masters. We fall for that temptation every time!
Photo Wisdom – master photographers on their art, compiled and edited by Lewis Blackwell (Hachette Australia www.hachette.com.au) is a massive collection of photographs and interviews with photographers in which they talk about their training, philosophy, inspiration and equipment.
Not surprisingly several of the photographers talk about the challenge of making something unique in a medium where billions of photos are being taken every day with the ubiquitous digital camera.
Jill Greenberg, who takes stunning portraits of animals and humans, says: "You have to work very hard, try to develop and hone your own vision, find something that is personal to you. With all the photographs that are being made daily, it may seem impossible to make something that stands out, but you have to do it."
Many of the photographers in the book still work with film. Joel Meyerowitz gives an interesting rationale. "With digital it is a negative asset that you can immediately see what you have got...When you only have film in the camera and you start to shoot something, a small event is transpiring in front of you. Well, you move closer and keep pushing...only focusing on the event. But with digital I have noticed so consistently that photographers take a picture and then look at the back to see what they've got, while the event is still going on."
Nude Photography–the art and the craft by Belgian photographer Pascal Baetens (Dorling Kindersley www.dk.com) delivers what the title promises -- a comprehensive guide to photographing the human body.
Baetens' introductory essay on the history of photographing nudes is a good guide to sorting out the various categories from the coyly allegorical works of the 19th century up to the explicitly erotic photography of Playboy and its ilk. In between there are categories of pictorial, surrealist, scientific, fashion and feminist.
Our preference is for the portrait category where the nudity is a secondary feature of a photograph that captures the personality of the subject. The August 1991 Vanity Fair cover photo of a naked and pregnant Demi Moore (by Annie Leibovitz) is a good example of portrait nudity.
The most helpful section of the book is the "Photographers' Gallery" where splendid examples of the art are illustrated with one particular picture, followed by a detailed photo essay on how the picture was made. This is accompanied by a selection of each photographer's works. Australian photographic partners Lyn Balzer and Tony Perkins are featured in this section.
Altogether two valuable additions to the photo book library.
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Posted by terry at January 21, 2010 08:10 AM
