Customer Reviews

Perception and Imaging

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This is the second edition of Perception and Imaging, but is also the latest in a string of precursors that included the small-press "Perception and Photography" from the late 1970s.

This current edition adds almost 100 pages to the last. It explains why and how we see what we see. More, it provides the basis for the visual artist to take advantage and use that knowledge to make better images.

The printing is much better than the previous edition (thankfully) and the higher quality paper does away with the separate illustration section that the first edition required. The quotes from imagemakers in the margins (taken from two out of print Zakia works that should be back in print) are a valuable addition to the main text that helps provide a context for the material.

If you want to understand the psychology of visual images and visual messages, this is a unique book.

Most photography instruction books talk about equipment and subjects. Seldom is there a discussion of the psychological and physiological aspects of the photographer and the viewer in the process of creating and looking at pictures. This book attempts to fill that gap for photographers and other graphic artists with the aim of giving more impact to pictures created by those artists.

The contents are wide ranging, with everything from a discussion of Gestalt psychology field grouping to a discussion of the meaning of the "Kilroy was here" signs that proliferated during and after the Second World War.

Some of the material may be immediately useful to a photographer such as the discussion of figure and ground. Thinking in these terms may make it easier for the photographer to decide how, or even if, he wants to provide separation to his subject.

Other material will require a major mental engagement that could ultimately prove useful. For example there is a lengthy discussion of the use of rhetoric in photography. This will be a new concept for most photographers. Zakia suggests that rhetoric deals with structuring the photograph to alter its message in a certain direction. For example, the photographer can use the rhetorical device of identity to strengthen a picture through repetition. That device should be easily understandable to most photographers. On the other hand using dubitation for opposition (sic!) may leave the photographer wondering what the author is talking about. However, a close reading might reveal that considering this approach may lead to a stronger picture.

Finally there is material like the discussion of synesthesia, a situation where one experiences a sensual stimulus, like a sound, in another mode, like vision. While interesting, I failed to see the relevance of this information to the practical photographer.

And that is a major shortcoming of this book. The author frequently fails to make a connection between a phenomenon that he is describing and photography. To compound this shortcoming, when he offers a connection to a visual work as an illustration, he does not usually include the work in the book, but rather describes it in writing. For a book on imaging, the failure to include images is shocking.

I suppose there are photographers who are so skilled and so intellectual that they could benefit from this material. The rest of us can probably find other guides to better our photography.

This book is a nuts and bolts primer on how human beings make sense of the world they see. Anyone interested in learning more about visual literacy and the way pictures convey their messages would benefit by reading this book.

Pete Turner's eye-catching photograph on the cover of Richard Zakia's Perception & Imaging, Second Edition, invites one to pick up the book and examine it, and the text and illustrations between the covers capture the reader's eye and the mind. The objective of the book is clearly stated in the author's preface: "Pictures, regardless of how they are created and recreated, are intended to be looked at. This brings to the forefront not the technology of imaging, which of course is important, but rather what we might call the 'eyenology' (knowledge of the visual process--of seeing).

The table of contents provides a good overview of the wide range of topics, which include both the theory and the practice of visual perception, that are covered in the eleven chapters. Some 300 illustrations provide reinforcing connections between the printed words and the visual imagery, and, of course, are indispensable to the discussion of many visual-perception concepts, such as Illusions and Ambiguity (chapter 6).

A unique feature of this book is the inclusion of some 400 concise and relevant quotations from almost that many sources, ranging from Ansel Adams and Aristotle, to Edward Weston and Oscar Wilde, that in addition to being interesting and illuminating by themselves, emphasis the universal significance of the related topic. The reader-friendly writing style of the author is a bonus.

Dr. Leslie D. Stroebel

Your book is truly as much a feast for the eyes as it is for the mind in general. You have always been a treasure house of images and have enriched the theories of perception.

The book is a tour-de-force covering of human psychology and how it relates to photographic images. This sort of treatise has been done for screenplay writing where human mental principles are defined then shown how they affect storytelling. The author does the same for photography starting with Gestalt (grouping) psychology principles and then covering many others. Thus psychology principles that help photographers create and analyze photographs are given. This is not a book on camera technique but one one how a person experiences a photograph. Knowing how the mind of the photo viewer thinks really helps the photographer reach his/her photographic communication goal since the photographer can now press the correct psychological buttons to move the viewer's mind rather than relying purely on artistic intuition. I have a masters degree in filmmaking and this type of deep thinking into the photo experience is what I was looking for and the book delivers. Thank you author Zakia...one of the great photographic minds.

There are many different and useful ways to talk about images; aesthetically, historically, socially, technically, and so on. I have chosen the area of perception and psychology, and have selected those concepts that are highly relevant to photography-to image capture, creation, design, manipulation and editing. The concepts cross the various disciplines of imaging, from photography to graphic design, from camera to computer. Concepts such as synesthesia, pupillometrics, personal space, memory and association, archetypes, visual field dependency, color connotations, and subliminals are discussed. There is also a section on applied semiotics and an entire chapter on visual rhetoric.
When asked about the value of books, the author Eric Hoffer, remarked that any book that provides the reader with one new idea, has great value. I believe "Perception and Imaging" will do this and more. The book includes 125 photographs, 300 illustrations and 400 quotations that support the text.

I own the first edition of this book and I'm still reading and rereading it. This book is a source of ideas, methods, knowledge. What is more important, it is about the fundamentals. A serious, profound book for a thoughtful reader. It will not give you 1-2-3 easy to apply techniques to do this or that. It will do you better - reveal the basics so you can develop your own style and vision (it could take time and efforts, though :)

This book gives a practical presentation of Gestalt psychology for photography and imaging. No background is assumed, no complex theory or jargon is introduced, everything is very educational and remains completely oriented toward practical imaging. The style is very enjoyable, the book is full of excellent illustrations and all the chapters end with exercises which are not only useful in a classroom context, but are also very inspiring for artists and photographers. This book is an excellent invitation to have a different point of view on imaging.

It covers the figure/ground differenciation, the white/dark balance, perceptual grouping, associations, the importance of contours and in particular apparent contours, illusions, various morphisms (anthropo, zoo, ana, etc.), some subliminal aspects, personality, critique, etc.

The bias towards a Gestalt explanation of all phenomena may sometimes be a bit too much, you just have to be aware of it and keep a critic mind.

This book follows the landmark work of Pr. Arnheim on the subject (Art and Visual Perception), but with a more practical purpose and in a style which is easier to read.

Your book is truly as much a feast for the eyes as it is for the mind in general. You have always been a treasure house of images and have enriched the theories of perception.