Customer Reviews

50 Years of Photographing Hollywood: The Hurrell Style

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I must confess that before I went to college I have never heard of George Hurrell before. My first approach to his work was when I was at Brooks studying photography. I was amazed by his work, the glamour of it, his lighting techniques, and of course, his talent. To me, what 's even more amazing is the great shots he got with a 8X10" camera, which is somewhat complex to maneuver.

This book is a true gem, not only because of the photos in it, but because of the texts. Through them you get to know more about his life, how he got started, with whom did he work most, his freelance periods, how he worked, what he got out of every shot, how he got the best poses out of this people, etc. I purchased another book of his work like 20 years ago, but it only had large photos, no texts. And even though I enjoy looking at it from time to time, I totally loved this book of him. I guess I'll be reading it many more times in the future.

When I finished it I was really moved by the incredible passion this man had for his work. He really enjoyed and loved photography to its full extent. The up's and downs, the rewards, the pleasure of it, the whole package. I rescue a phrase of his that says "...We were talented, we were working, we all assumed we'd make money, so we didn't worry and fret about it like they do today...we were too busy being alive. We were children of the gods..."

And he was so very right. George Hurrell is a man who truly enjoyed all the rides of life and lived life in detail. He took the time to get thing done right, no rushes, no mundane worries. I have much to learn from him, not only as a photographer, but as a human being. Like him, I should focus more on being alive and enjoying life, than worrying about keeping the pace with a world of people whose main concern is pointless accumulation of stuff (everything fits in here).