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224 of 228 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not your typical book on photography, May 12, 2005
This review is from: Photography and the Art of Seeing: A Visual Perception Workshop for Film and Digital Photography (Paperback)
I bought "Photography and the Art of Seeing" knowing nothing about it. I had not even heard of the author, Freeman Patterson. I had a certain expectation based on current photography books of the same genre, but what I found is a book beyond compare.
I would recommend this book to any level of photographer with a desire to truly express themselves through their photography. You won't come away with a list of rules and instructions about when to apply them. Nor will you end up with a cheat sheet of camera settings that achieve particular effects. If you are open to it, however, you will learn new ways to look at, think about, understand, and portray the world you see through the lens of your camera; you will become more empowered to express yourself in your photography.
I was happily surprised that this book is more about photography than it is about the author. Certainly he includes many personal experiences to explain himself and his work, but he does so without the self-aggrandizing rhetoric of similar books. You really begin to feel as if you are part of his process, rather than someone he is trying to impress, as he describes his approach to his work.
And the photos! While they are exceptional, this is not a book to flip through, pause for the pictures, and then put on a shelf. Instead, it lives up to an important word in the subtitle, "workshop." You may never attend an expensive workshop with an accomplished photographer. But Patterson generously provides a workshop that includes intriguing, mind-expanding exercises all for the cost of this book.
Yes, I love this book! So much so that I've ordered two more of Patterson's books, and I can hardly wait to get started on them.
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106 of 109 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't buy this book - PLEASE!, November 29, 2006
This review is from: Photography and the Art of Seeing: A Visual Perception Workshop for Film and Digital Photography (Paperback)
Please don't buy this book. It will change your photography. I bought it, and now I have an advantage, and I want to keep it!
Seriously, this is probably the most disturbing photography book I have found. It will challenge everything you do in photography, and that is unsettling.
If you follow the exercises properly, you will develop a whole new way of seeing and taking photos.
Sure, if you want to, you can read it from cover to cover and go "Ho, hum, very nice." and take it no further. But if you want to improve your photography, take your time, and do the exercises carefully. You will be surprised at the results.
I especially like the one where you lock yourself in a small room (bathroom) and have to take 20 images. "If you don't feel desperation before you finish this exercise, then you have to take another 20 photos."
Don't buy this book! Run away and hide. Keep taking boring photos.
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52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book, October 25, 2005
This review is from: Photography and the Art of Seeing: A Visual Perception Workshop for Film and Digital Photography (Paperback)
This book is full of exercises targeted to open your mind to new ways to see and new ways to make a picture too. You have to have some spare time and patience to spend on some of these exercises, I have just made two of them with great results! This book is totally different to what you normally expect from a photo book as you don't only get some technical details but also the author's philosophy which reveals his passion for photography.
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