Customer Reviews

The Creative Photographer: A Complete Guide to Photography (Abrams Studio)

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Ingledew's "The Creative Photographer" should be required reading for anyone picking up a camera seriously for the first time. Covers everything from the technical (depth of field, silver gelatin printing) to the psychological (the snapshot, persuasion through advertising), the history of photography from Niépce's first photograph to the digital photography integrity debated today. Most memorably, he writes about alternative and upcoming processes (pinhole photography, cyanotypes, digital manipulation) also suitable for the advanced amateur.

In a word, this book is "timeless". I read this book for the first time in mid-2006, and since then, have read it many times through for inspiration. Flipping through the book as I write this review, such names come up like David LaChapelle, Duane Michals, Weegee, Ernst Haas, Andy Warhol, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams, Hiroshi Sugimoto. These are the queens and kings of the photo world. Ingledew has an eye for selecting excellent photography and a mental clarity for the clear and concise written page.

The book is well written, interesting and informative. It is being used as the text for a begining photography class. However the many descriptions of photographers and their photographs leave one wanting to SEE what the author is talking about. There are not nearly enough photos in the book and it is a somewhat frustrating read.