- ISBN13: 9780240809427
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Photography is a complex craft. Some excel at the technical side of image-making, focusing perfectly on the subject, releasing the shutter at just the right moment and making exposures with the precise amount of light. Others are artists and storytellers, capturing a fleeting moment in time which inspires a viewer to gaze upon an image and ponder its meaning. The best photographers are masters of both.
In this highly visual, informative book, Angela Faris B… More >>
The Elements of Photography: Understanding and Creating Sophisticated Images
#1 by KiwiExpat on May 23, 2010 - 9:53 am
Based on other reviews and the description, I was highly motivated to eagerly awaiting the enlightenment that was promised. Alas, it was not to be.
Belt’s writing style begins as difficult and convoluted, (more like you might expect of a doctoral thesis than a book aimed at providing insight to the general public), and then becomes more and more rambling and disorganised. After a preface and introduction that serve as little more than a rant against the prevailing split of photography practioners and education into either Technical or Fine Art disciplines – each at the expense of the other, Belt proceeds to assert that all photorgaphy can be viewed as falling into four key elements of photographic grammar. These are: the Frame and it’s borders; the Quality of Focus, as determined by aperature, Shutter Speeds and their effects in relation to time and motion; and the Physical media used to create the image. All good stuff, and it should be interesting, but it fails – dismally.
The discussion beginning each chapter topic is rather brief, and concentrates heavily on what you could at best call fringe techniques – like Pin-hole cameras, Holga plastic lens cameras, and the like. While I applaud the idea that we should be encouraged to stretch any pre-conceived horizons and expand into new conceptual areas, this book puports to be about how to understand and create sophisticated images, and nowhere does Belt offer any insight into that.
Following on from the discussion of the chapter topic, Belt suggests a few excercises to practice the ideas presented in the discussion, then moves into a series of Portfolio Pages presenting a selection of the work of a variety of artists. This is part of my major complaint with this book. The protfolio pages take up a total of 206 pages (out of 360 pages for the whole book). Now the photos chosen are interesting enough in themselves, but they do not really support the ideas presented in the text. You are left feeling somewhat cheated at the small amount of text supporting the title, and the large volume of ‘captive’ portfolio work. It would be much more prefereble to have given the subject matter a proper degree of treatment and then referred the reader to the portfolio material on the Internet.
So, did I learn anything from this book? Yes, at little, but nothing that related in any reasonable way to the title. This is NOT a book to increase your understanding of images, sophisticated or otherwise. But it can lead you to creating images using different techniques to what you may be using now. Will it help you make better photographs? Probably, but there are many better information resources available on the Internet if you want to explore the boundaries of photographic art.
Would I recommend it to anybody? No, sadly not. There are many much better works available, like Mary Price’s ‘The Photograph, A Strange, Confined Space’, or Stephen Shore’s ‘The Nature of Photographs’, or even better, John Szarkowski’s ‘The Photographer’s Eye’.
Rating: 1 / 5
#2 by Maurice Morales on May 23, 2010 - 10:31 am
I believe this book is not for beginners but for the intermediate student that desires to have his/her skills refined.
Rating: 4 / 5
#3 by Lisa Bevis on May 23, 2010 - 12:34 pm
Even though I am a professional photographer, this book inspired me to shoot in a different way and to just pick up my camera and play. I did what the book suggests which is to use its lessons in an ongoing project and I had great results. I especially love what Angela Faris-Belt says about the ‘truth of a photograph’. She is a compelling writer. I love how she broke the book into sections and then illustrated the content with wonderful portfolios from lots of different photographers – many whose work was new to me.
I have highly recommended this book to others and will continue to do so.
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by nando on May 23, 2010 - 12:58 pm
Other readers have written good reviews that were very helpful before I bought the book. So here’s my 2c.
The awesome:
This is an excellent book that every photographer, amateur or not, should own and read. The author discusses what she considers basic elements of the language of photography, focusing on one in each chapter. Each element is further illustrated through artists’ portfolios at the end of each chapter, along with practical exercises for the reader. Her idea of four elements is soundly explained and very useful both for creating and reading photos.
This book is not focused on the technical aspects of “picture-taking”, but on the expressive, communicative and esthetic elements of photographic images. It includes some technical information, but the reader must already be familiar with the operation and technical aspects of cameras and lenses in order to follow the discussions. It’s an intermediate level “course” that really helped me understand how to create better images.
What I didn’t like that much:
The book’s format is not very easy to handle (at least in soft cover). When you put it on your lap, it is too wide to stay straight and you have to hold it with both hands; actually, after some reading, my wrists were tired and I had to put it on table. It’s almost impossible to hold it with one hand. However, it is comfortable to read on a table and uses good quality semi-glossy paper that makes it look elegant.
I felt more could be said on each topic. At least half of the book is portfolios, something others might enjoy more. They are very useful and I found beautiful images in them, but I would have liked more text giving deeper explanations and examples of the principles discussed in each section.
In any case, this is an excellent book about creating compelling images with a camera (digital or not) and the processes of photographic production.
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by Frank Hamrick on May 23, 2010 - 2:44 pm
The Elements of Photography approaches the concept of the photography textbook with a refreshing perspective. The artist portfolios accompanied by the artist statements and process statements all work together to reveal the man behind the curtain. But the book does more than answer, “How did they do that?” It explains why they did that. Readers gain a greater understanding of how technique, choice of materials and concept work together to create successful photographic works. This book can be a great tool for beginning students who want to learn how photography works and even for upper level undergrads and graduates who are are searching for inspiration and an understanding of how to use their technical knowledge to create a solid body of soulful, meaningful work.
Rating: 5 / 5