Since reading his book on B&W I have gained substantial respect for the photography books published by our course designer. Having nearly given up on the How To genre of photography publishing and turning almost entirely to philosophy/history/criticism, it is good to find someone who manages to combine the technical and compositional aspects of photography with the more cerebral elements of the art. This volume looks at intent, style, and process i.e. why we take photographs, how we construct our vision within the frame, and finally how we translate that into a finished print/image. The first two chapters are excellent, but in my mind slightly let down by the final one. This chapter deals with different interpretations and, strangely to me at least, is very focused on how digital compares to different film brands and how this is reproduced on the computer. This did not diminish the value of the book, it just did not seem to follow.
As with all books of this nature the content adds to my world view of photography without necessarily imparting a single strong message, other than to THINK more about why and what, slow down and look.
I read this on a 12 hour flight to Singapore, tomorrow I head back in the opposite direction with another Michael Freman work, "Perfect Exposure" to occupy my time, if I don't sleep the whole way!
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