Portraits and Figures: Developing Style in Creative Photography [Paperback]

Terry Hope (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2000

No wonder black and white photography is more popular than ever, as photographers see its capacity for expressing personal style with simplicity and subtlety. Take your cues from 19 photographers recognized internationally for their b/w creations. They show and tell both their art and their technique, with galleries of their work accompanied by explanations of how they did it. You'll begin with how to master the rules, then how to bend them for particular effects. Then discover their many uses of lighting, composition, posing, and presentation, as well as their approaches to mood, style, and effect. Candid and posed portraits, figures, and group studies display a variety of faces and profiles of all ages, and full and partial figures in both closeups and landscapes offer a treasury of ideas, regardless of the equipment you use.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

These four "how-to" books pretty much cover the gamut in landscape photography and portraiture. Each is intended as an introductory manual for amateurs working primarily in the 35mm format. Hope's two books deal explicitly with black-and-white photography. The emphasis is more on style than technique, which is their strength. There are chapters on technique and other practical matters, but the discussions of tone and texture as well as mood will be most helpful to those who wish to make original photographs that reflect an artistic sensibility. The striking design of each book also accentuates a wonderful sense of atmosphere that is tender yet ever so slightly dark and brooding. The author of a number of first-rate books on photography, Hedgecoe concentrates on color photography in his two latest offerings. Both books are filled with many practical and useful tips for making better landscapes and portraits. Each bit of advice is accompanied by photographs that serve as excellent examples of the points he is making. Like Hope's books, Hedgecoe's works are written in a clear, accessible style. Hope's will appeal primarily to those interested in refining their black-and-white photography, while Hedgecoe's will be of greatest value to those who would like to take better photographs for pleasure or business. Recommended for all libraries.DRaymond Bial, Parkland Coll. Lib., Champaign, IL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Saunders/Silver Pixel (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883403693
• ISBN-13: 978-1883403690
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,488,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book! Highly inspiring and full of information, January 6, 2003

By 

Robert J. Fox (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Portraits and Figures: Developing Style in Creative Photography (Paperback)

This is probably my all-time favorite photography book, and I'll explain why:

1) The images are outstanding, both technically and creatively. I have never tired of looking at this book -- how many books can you say that about? If you love B&W, you simply must have this book. It has images from contemporary photographers like Eammon McCabe and Andreas Zacharatos, as well greats like Bert Hardy.

2) The book is beautifully printed. I love the square format and heavy stock pages - it will last a long time.

3) Each full-page image is accompanied by a paragraph or more description and statement by the actual photographer, explaining the intent, technique, difficulties, etc. These statements by the photographers are extremely interesting and educational. I have probably read these pages at least two dozen times for each image. The technical details of each image are one of the main reasons I first bought this book (includes type of camera, format, f-stop, exposure, and film).

4) All the images and text add to your understanding of how these images were made, and gives you new ideas and inspriation to try new techniques. I disagree with the other reviewer that the text is too small: it is small, but in my view the layout of this book is outstanding, and very effective.

5) This book has opened my eyes to see the potential and diversity of what is called "portrait" photography! You won't regret owning this book.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great images, tiny type, August 25, 2001

By 

Nicholas M. Sullivan (Hermitage, Tn United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Portraits and Figures: Developing Style in Creative Photography (Paperback)

This book by Terry Hope features the work 19 photographers, mostly British, with some very impressive credentials. There are some marvelous images here, and some not so great. The images are very heavily weighted toward low-key portraits, meaning many are very dark with heavy or black shadows. Portraiture here also is loosely interpreted as there are actually very few shots that one would consider formal studio portraits or posed shots. One would wish for more balance. There are very few images of women and several of those who do appear are given rather shabby treatment. I won't delve too much into this, except to say bar maids and ..., and that's almost it for women. Each photo is accompanied by text where the photographer's approach to the photo is explained and other information included. Hope does not seem to care too much whether you read this or not, because the type is so small the reader really has to struggle to read it. There is no reason for this as there is plenty of white space on the page to enlarge the type. Pity the poor reader. There is some very good information, here, however, if one can strain his eyes to read it. Larger type would have gotten this book four stars.

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting B+W Picture Book, April 15, 2005

By 

Terry Smith "http://terrysmith.net -- http:/... (Little Rock, AR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Portraits and Figures: Developing Style in Creative Photography (Paperback)

This is an interesting picture book for B+W photographers, particularly those interested in alternative development techniques and materials. Each picture has a paragraph or two from the photographer with, by my count, 19 photographers represented across roughly 51 photographs. Accompanying tiny print from the book's author provides technique tips and pointers. The stunning photographs run the gamut between grainy and non-grainy and different forms of toning. The book doesn't include any images created from digital capture. It's interesting and sometimes inspiring but you need to be specifically looking for examples based on different B+W papers and chemicals for development in order to get much out of it as far as technical know-how is concerned.