Book Review: Mastering Portrait Photography

Mastering Portrait Photography, Paul Wilkinson & Sarah Plater; Ammonite Press, 2015

This book is a must for anyone who wants to improve and is written simply.  Using few but well chosen words in explanation, it combines the expectation and excitement of studio photography with somewhat advanced photography. It builds an explanation stage upon stage, and following each stage I have reverted back to basics even going through my manual again.  This has surprisingly filled in many gaps in my knowledge and has encouraged me to check again what my camera is capable of and finding new limits by activating some of the functions I left on auto even though I shoot almost extensively with aperture priority. It has removed my fear of lighting and explained things so simply that I now feel in control of my studio sessions to a much greater degree.

Front Cover

Back Cover

Whatever You think, Think the Opposite

Title: Whatever You think, Think the Opposite; 
Author:  Paul Arden
Publisher: Penguin; 01 edition (2 Mar. 2006)
ISBN-10: 0141025719
  

Essential tips for people who do a creative job. We all know how difficult it is to struggle in front of a blank page if we don't know what to do. Creativity has no automatic button to push but this book will give you some clever advice and will tell you some short stories that will let you think positively.

I like the comparison between 'Steady Eddie' and 'Reckless Erica', there is a lesson there for taking the 'safe' route.  Some of the tips are a little obtuse or obscure, i.e. 'Bread. You know it makes sandwiches.'  I loved it!

Jane Bown; Exposure

 

 Product details

Publisher: Guardian Books; First Edition edition (22 Oct. 2009)
ISBN-10: 0852651414

This is a superb book with some wonderful portraits, all in black and white, taken over the past 50 years of a whole host of famous and now not so famous faces. I requested this book from my local library due to cost and really appreciated and enjoyed this well presented book. A great selection of the work from this very talented but modest photographer.  

I only heard of Jane when my work was compared to hers when I was working on Level 1 People & Place and have since followed her work with interest.  Such a modest woman who just gets on with the job and comes up with brilliant portraits.

Jane Bown, A lifetime of looking, published by Guardian Books, 2015

Jane Bown, A lifetime of looking, published by Guardian Books, 2015

(C) Jane Bown

This book, published in 2015, shows an all round set of images by an exceptional photographer.  I had to wait over 6 weeks to get a copy from my local library and there was such a wait list that I was unable to renew it to make a better study of it.

I was very interested in her quote that ‘some people take pictures, I find them’.  Jane’s images are mainly formal and reserved that allows the viewer to identify with them.  Many times I’ve looked at images by ‘famous photographers’ that completely distort the person from what would show their real personality.  Jane says, in the book, that she’s a ‘one-shot photographer and always has been’.  In fact, taking portrait pictures you have to be ready to catch a quick change of facial image which can take place in a minute.  You might well have been waiting for that image throughout the sitting and there’s only one chance to grab it.

Jane was expected to change to colour pictures in the 1960s but never really enjoyed the change as printing all her own work, she felt that there was no control over coloured images than black and white.  During my level 1 work in Portraiture my tutor compared some of my work to that of Jane’s. When I explored her work I had to agree that it was in a similar genre.

I find her portraits of people especially fascinating when they are staring straight at the camera.  This makes for a very strong image and even with her image entitled ‘Teddy Bear Exhibition’ in 1979 she had the bears staring at the camera.  It can be very difficult to catch that exact moment that makes the image and Jane captures the moment time and again.  Even her own self-portrait had her looking straight at the camera holding her own favourite camera.

  

(C) Jane Bown

 I’ve found this collection of images very strong and can identify my own portrait style, be it a formal studio setting or reportage style on the streets is very similar to Jane’s.

  

 

Two of a Kind; Sandrine Kerfante; published by Chronicle Books; 2016

Sandrine Kerfante was not the author of the images included in this interesting little book but rather has edited pictures from a myriad list of authors.

I was more that a little surprised to find on looking through the variety of images that they consisted of more than just pictures of twins, be they children, adults or elderly people.  These images have taken a variety of scenarios where there are two items, people, shadows, etc., and put them together in an engaging way.

Images featured even include two cinema signs and two benches in front of a porch by Gaetan Rossier, duplicated shadows by Ray Carofano and two swimmers diving into a pool side by side by Florence Douyrou.

Here are some examples of the images included in this book:

(c) Aaron Ruell

(c) Matthias Heiderich

Ariko Inaoka

There are plenty of images of twins in various poses but it was quite eye opening to see such a variety of subjects put together in one book.  It has given me inspiration to try to take this subject to another level rather than just the usual female twins pictures together.

Book: Women by Annie Leibovitz & Susan Sontag

This coffee table book by Leibovitz was featured in the manual accompanying the G&M course so I managed to get a copy from my local library to peruse.

The photos are beautiful and portray women from all over the US and with all types of backgrounds. There is also a short section written by Susan Sontag, Leibovitz's late partner, with background information about them.  The book helped me realize that there are lots of opportunities in life as one gets older. Many of the women in the book are old but they still seem very much alive. Most of them have done some astonishing things in their lives!

There are photos of actresses and other famous faces, but I prefer the pictures of "ordinary women" - the ones that we meet every day but don't pay attention to.  Whether famous or unknown each woman is photographed by Leibovitz to bring out their strengths. Image after image of staged and unstaged shots draw you through the book, revealing each woman. Ultimately it is a book which celebrates and empowers womankind.  The book is one I would like to own but its cost is prohibitive.

Book: What Are You Looking At?: 150 Years of Modern Art in the Blink of an Eye

Will Gomperetz is best known as the rather eccentric looking BBC News arts correspondent. However, his cultural pedigree is impeccable. He was Director of the Tate Gallery for 7 years and a seasoned journalist with the Times and Guardian.

Moving through the past 150 years since the recognized birth of 'modern art' Gompertz looks at the different schools of art which sprang up and analyzes each movement in a clear, matter of fact way, without losing the reader in intellectual pseudo-speak.  Nicely illustrated as well, what you are looking at is a great reference book for anyone interested in art.

This is a book to dip in and out as the fancy takes you rather than one solid read from cover to cover. Entertaining and informative for those who want to learn more about art trends. 

Book: Europeans by Henri Cartier-Bresson

I was given a copy of the above book recently, having read it many years ago when I first started studying photography, and found it profoundly moving to work through the images again seeing many old friends

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) travelled across Europe, from the Scandinavian fjords to the Irish bogs, in order to produce this collection of photographs. It brings together images spanning the years from the late 1920s to the early 1970s, and seeks to capture what it meant to be European.  Cartier-Bresson used his camera to document a way of life.  He thought of photography as a way of life and for almost five decades he used a camera to document life with a camera.

Brilliant beyond words, just as great photography should be. Cartier-Bresson was one of the most important photographers of the 20th Century and this book is a great reminder of why. The images are funny, sad, surreal, beautiful and above all humane.  He was undoubtedly a Master and for those who wish to understand what the decisive moment means, this is the book. We follow Cartier-Bresson's voyages in Europe and his impressions of the people and places he found along the way. This is a great sum-up of work from one of the big masters of photography.  

My favourite images include 

Copies of the book are available through all the major outlets (Amazon, Play, etc) from £10 upwards. 

Book Review: Georgia O’Keefe (1887-1986) – Flowers of the Desert

Publisher: Taschen GmbH (25 Aug 2000);

This was a brilliantly informative book and just the right length and with the right amount of

detail for a novice art appreciator like me.  I thought the colour reproduction of the pictures were excellent.  I also liked the style in which it was written, which was neither condescending nor high-flown.  Others in my photographic circle were very impressed with the book and agreed with me that it was excellent value for money.

O'Keeffe’s interest in photography led her to use the 'close up' in a photographic way to spectacular and sometimes sublime effects.  Her sense of composition was never less than powerful and her everyday subject matter was presented in new and remarkable ways.

A book that opens up new ideas and provides new directions for reading and photographing is especially exciting. I strongly recommended it.

Book: Martin Parr - Over 55s; published by Phaidon; 2013

Martin Parr's work is never anything but impressive and as quoted on the first page of this pocket sized book he is 'one of photography's great social observers'.

Martin catches those moments in life that many photographers aspire to catch and fail by pressing the shutter button just too late.

Book Review: Pictures on a Page; Harold Evans; Heinemann Ltd, 1978

 Whilst reading other students’ blogs for this Level 2 module, I read a review on an out of date book called ‘Pictures on a Page’ which had been published in 1978.  I managed to obtain a copy which looks a little old but is still a very interesting read.  The book is well set out and each chapter clearly described.

There are dynamic introductions to each chapter giving compelling explanations of famous images, some of which I had seem before.  The author stresses the importance of honest, reality captioning which I have found interesting.  Harold Evans emphasised that a caption could make, break or distort the truth.

Harold felt it was important to spot the differences which moved an average picture into one that was unforgettable.  He described a session with Henri Cartier-Bresson about picture composition and was advised by Bresson to turn a picture upside down to highlight the good and bad points of it.

He quoted that W. Eugene Smith (page 123, Beauty out of Minimata) who felt that cropping should be carried out selectively as ‘the world did not fit conveniently into the format of a 35mm camera’.

It's a very old book considering how the fast today's digital world moves but all the chapters are still very relevant today.  So many times a photographer today pushes his shutter button knowing he could

manipulate the subsequent image to improve itextensively.  Looking at the images in the book shows that manipulation was rife in the darkroom for skilled darkroom technicians and you are given a glimpse of what could be achieved 30-50 years ago.

If you are keen to produce excellent images within a publication, then find a copy of this book and scour it from end to end.  You will be amazed how relevant it still is.