Customer Reviews

The Elements of Photography: Understanding and Creating Sophisticated Images

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Once in a blue moon a book comes along that is so elegant, fresh, and deeply insightful that it takes your breath away. This is one of those books.

Photography has long been fraught with a divide between, as the author describes, two distinct disciplines - professional or fine art practices. Perpetuating these divisions is counterproductive to the photographic endeavor as a whole and often creates significant impediments for individuals from either camp in achieving their highest potential.

Angela Faris Belt is a professional educator on the faculty of The Art Institute of Colorado, and her new release is actually a textbook -- a beautifully crafted one. Her main premise is succinct and deeply insightful - that "photography is a unique form of visual language, and as such is based on a specific visual grammar." She asserts that four elements form the basis of this grammar, and that they "are specific to every image created through the action of light." The four elements are: the photographic frame and its borders; quality of focus as determined by the aperture or lens; shutter speeds and their effects in relation to time and motion; and the physical media used to the aggregate image.

The author believes that these four visual grammar elements must all be fully addressed in each image for that image to reach full potential, whether the intended end use is technical (commercial, reportage, portraiture, etc.) or artistic, and whether the medium is traditional or digital. Following the preface and introduction, each chapter addresses one of the elements in detail and is both illustrated and illuminated with small image portfolios by carefully selected artists.

The result is simply wonderful and provides a compelling entreaty for all photographers to embrace both sides of the photographic process in order to achieve their greatest potential in the use of imagery as a visual language for communication in all its variations, regardless of discipline or medium. The book belongs in the reference library of every aspiring photographer and deserves to be studied again and again until it is thoroughly internalized and thoughtfully applied in the ongoing practice of making images that communicate to their maximum potential.

This book is a very good book. It covers a great deal on the various aspects on what turns a simple picture into a great picture. It focuses a lot of energy on the photographer's ability to compose an image, and teaches a bit of the technical knowledge needed.

This book however does not cover in too much detail how a camera works, it assumes you have a moderately good understanding of what a camera is and what it can do. This is fine in a class room setting, as you would expect students to have a camera to take pictures with.

Pick up another book or read your camera Manuel if you want to master camera operations, read this book if you want to understand what kind of result can achieved with the various function of the camera, and how to compose a great picture with it.

This book is apparently based on a college course taught by the author, and I think that is the source of both its strength and its weakness. The material is highly structured, delivered in bite-sized pieces, and followed by class exercises. I'd guess the students have already taken a foundation course on photographic technique, and then in this course they learn about creative photography. There are four main chapters, that cover creative aspects of (1) the frame (2) the lens (3) the shutter and (4) the print and presentation.

What's good about this is that the material is well-selected to be interesting and effective with students. There is no slavish emphasis on formulas and rules of composition (like the Rule of Thirds). Rather the text encourages a more general awareness of the effect that each photographic decision has on the final result. This is entirely in keeping with the viewpoints of great 'straight' photographers like Ansel Adams who rejected rules of composition. The main points are well taken. This approach empowers the student to investigate creative possibilities, and it did help me in this regard.

Ironically, slavish adherence to rules and formulas seems to have been replaced by an addiction to philosophical statements (the idea that every artist must have a message and every photograph must make a statement), some of which seem very contrived. But hey, this is probably quite representative of art college.

The book adopts a non-committal, anything-goes approach to creative photography which has the downside that some of the text is extremely vague. Even the class exercises are stated in a very vague fashion. (Presumably students' class exercises were assessed and this is where the students get concrete feedback on their efforts, but we of course are denied this).

Regrettably, the amount of core material in the book is limited. There's a lot of padding. There's considerable repetition (occasionally an entire paragraph is repeated mechanically from one chapter to the next, which rather undermines the author's campaign against rigid formulas). An excessive fraction of the book is given over to examples of students' work.

It was however fascinating to see some of the students' efforts. Some of the images were extraordinary and thought-provoking, and some of the statements were clear and forceful. Some of the statements were fairly contorted and incomprehensible. The majority of the images were not effective as images, at least for me.

This is a book that is worth reading and absorbing once. It has some good points but it won't be the kind of book that I re-read every couple of years.

My new favorite book about photography. It has a wide range of creative artists, processes and styles represented, with beautiful reproductions, as well as examples on how to perform techniques in Photoshop and in-camera. Great inspiration for any artist or student of photography.

I have been using this book as a text for a college introductory digital photography course. Although, this book may appear to be more for the advanced photo student, I have found that by teaching the technical aspects of photography alongside the book have worked well for my students. The book approaches photography in a new and refreshing way that is easy for beginning students to understand. Angela Faris Belt presents a wide range of artists and creative processes.

A significant part of the book is dedicated to the portfolio pages of artists. Excellent descriptions and examples of these contemporary photographers provide a great knowledge base, as well as inspiration for new photographers.

I highly recommend using this book as a text for a beginning photography course. I have not found a better resource that combines both professional and fine art practices.

The Elements of Photography, a great book for all photographers. I read a few chapters in this book and found that the concepts in it were insanely simple. It is simple because every photographer has been taught (or self taught) most of the topics discussed in this book and "insane" because some how the author makes it an "ah ha" moment. This book forced me to ask myself questions like, what camera will give me my desired affect and WHY; what focus works best with my imagery AND my concept; etc. Chapter four was even more interesting to me because it discussed the affect of materials and processes used to make images. My project is heavy on the process and materials that my images are printed on so this was a chapter I paid particular attention to. Chapter four made me ask more questions of myself and also gave me many more ideas for exploration (toning, texture, size). Overall, this book gave me the lesson that there are many choices that a photographer can make when producing images, and every one of those images will have a consequence on the overall work.

The photographic literature is chock full of books and magazines that focus (pun intended) on the technical aspects of photography, but pay short shrift to aesthetics. The literature is also full of photo books that show off the portfolio of one photographer or another, or that analyze photography in a high-level ivory-tower way, but that aren't accessible to ordinary people or beginning students.

In stark contrast, "The Elements of Photography" sets forth a simple and easily-understood grammar of photography. Copious examples of artist portfolios illustrate what the author means by that. Faris Belt also provides a number of exercises that can be performed by students as part of a class, or by individuals who simply want to make better photographs. "The Elements of Photography" is a great introduction to the art of photography, and is accessible enough and short enough for ordinary amateur photographers (or those who appreciate good photography) to gain substantial information from it. Highly recommended.

Here is a book that may be highly useful for one kind of reader but perhaps useless for another kind of reader.

The author offers just four topics in her book: frames, borders and multiple frames; apertures, lenses and depth of field; shutter speeds; and materials and processes. Each of the topics offers some discussion including some rather generalized exercises; a portfolio of pictures that Belt says illustrate the discussion; and tutorials on the subject.

I might have guessed I could have been a reader who found the book useless. I think I'm accurate when I say that like most serious photographers, I'm what Ansel Adams called a straight photographer. Among other things, straight photographers try to duplicate reality, at least as they perceive it. (Don't put too fine a point on this; I know about vision and Photoshop.) I'm not certain that a single name has evolved for the practitioners at the other end of the scale but I'll use interpretive photographers (even though every photographer is offering an interpretation.) From the early pictorialists to many of the post-modernists, these photographers try to alter their image, either by blurring the focus, or creating movement in the image, or by collage, or other methods. As far as I can see, straight photographers believe that if you lead the viewer to the image, he will explore it and get the message. Interpretive photographers believe that the picture must be manipulated to help the viewer get the message.

This book is aimed at interpretive photographers.

I don't want to start a flame war, but I suspect that straight photographers, including myself, take the kind of pictures they do because of their personalities. I also suspect that if straight photographers could adopt some of the tricks of interpretive photographers they might find new pleasures and even some more interesting pictures. So if you are a straight photographer who is still able to adopt to something different this may be an ideal book. Whether interpretive photographers will benefit I can't say as a straight photographer, but at least the portfolios included may provide some inspiration.

All of that being said, this is not a perfect book. For example, anyone trying to construct a pinhole attachment for their SLR from the instructions in the book will be disappointed because at least one vital step has been omitted. I also felt that the author was sometimes on shaky philosophical ground, as when one of her tutorials suggested a way to use Photoshop to make a straight photograph look like it was taken with a cheap Holga plastic camera. If there is a value in taking pictures that look like they were taken with a Holga, it is not just because of the way the images look, but it is the fact that they were taken with a Holga! I also wonder if the exercises in the book will be of much use without the supervision of someone to provide critique and guidance concerning the results.

As I read this book, I was alternately pleased and disappointed, particularly since I wondered if I could ever adopt some of its suggestions. And that's probably a good thing.

This is a fantastic book for the appropriate reader. If you just want to take sharp images with beautiful colors and need inspiration or advise on that, this is not the right book. However, if you want to use photographs to convey a message, mood or feeling to the viewer, this book will make you aware of how the author's four crucial elements can be utilized to further your statement.

The book assumes you are quite familiar with how to use a camera to create a photograph. I would also say it assumes you know the basics of composition and can appreciate that the elements of composition may be viewed as a grammar of the visual language of photography. Once you are there, this book takes you the next step:

The book is about the photograph, the print and specifically how to become aware of how the elements that lead up to its creation influence the impression on the viewer made by the final product. The author claims there are four crucial elements:
* the photographic frame and its borders
* the quality of focus determined by aperture or lens
* shutter speed in relation to time and motion
* the physical media used to create the aggregate image

I see that one critical reader comments on the authors writing style as being "more like one might expect of a doctorial thesis". Although the tone is by no means casual, I would suggest that for the intended audience the book is well thought out and an easy and enjoyable read.

Highly recommended.

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'.