Pictures made by a lens are inextricably linked to the real world—the world the photographer not only sees but lives in and thinks about. The most ambitious photographs (in an earlier time one might confidently have said the greatest photographs) recognize that an understanding of the identities of things, and of their relationships, is as important as the harmonious combination of the shapes these things make when projected by a lens onto a flat surface. Starting from this premise, and in elegant and incisive prose, Jerry Thompson in Truth and Photography explores the many-leveled relationship between seeing and thinking. The book reproduces (in duotone) and the essays discuss some twenty photographs—some as well known as any the medium has produced, some more obscure, and some never before published. Mr. Thompson's discussions of pictures and picture-taking occasions are not strictly historical, nor are they concerned only with theoretical considerations. They do not rely exclusively on the author's thirty-year experience as a working photographer, nor are they confined to the medium of photography. Rather, Mr. Thompson employs multiple perspectives, usually in the same essay and often on a single picture. His examinations are penetrating, sustained, allusive, and frequently thrilling. They represent not settled explanations but living thought.
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Beautifully composed...unique in the entire literature on photography, at least as far as I am acquainted with it. (Hilton Kramer )
In this welcome book he uses his decades of practical knowledge to analyze what it means to engage the world through a camera. (Richard B. Woodward )
The graceful prose, exactness and rigor of observation, and many allusions to poetry, fiction, art, and philosophy makes this collection of essays very special in recent writing on photography. (Alan Trachtenberg )
Elegant and erudite personal essays—at times, lyric, at times, revelatory—written by one of the great, classical, American portrait photographers of this era. Move over Susan Sontag! (Michael Lesy )
A genuinely philosophic book. (Joe Sachs )
Here is picture taking and viewing connected to a long contemplative tradition: looking within as well as without, two aspects of our humanity. (Coles, Robert )
Thoughtful and important series of essays on photography. (Christine Sevilla Afterimage )
Thompson presents unique, compelling analysis that explores both our role as observers and photography's role in our contemporary world...
Thompson's essays are a lively, loving, and thought-provoking romp through wide-ranging critical references of poetry, fiction, art, and philosophy to get at the very nature of photography. Highly recommended. All levels. (Choice )
Jerry Thompson's Truth and Photography is as intellectually stimulation as any book of photographic criticism in years. It is a pleasure to read, it helps us see. (Michael More Camera Arts )
Thompson's portraits give dimension to vivacious, troubled people through a mysterious process — free of fanfare and artifice. His essay describes the experience fluently. Read it carefully. Then go back and look at the pictures again. (Michael More View Camera )
In this welcome book he uses his decades of practical knowledge to analyze what it means to engage the world through a camera. (Richard B. Woodward )
The graceful prose, exactness and rigor of observation, and many allusions to poetry, fiction, art, and philosophy makes this collection of essays very special in recent writing on photography. (Alan Trachtenberg )
Elegant and erudite personal essays—at times, lyric, at times, revelatory—written by one of the great, classical, American portrait photographers of this era. Move over Susan Sontag! (Michael Lesy )
A genuinely philosophic book. (Joe Sachs )
Here is picture taking and viewing connected to a long contemplative tradition: looking within as well as without, two aspects of our humanity. (Coles, Robert )
Thoughtful and important series of essays on photography. (Christine Sevilla Afterimage )
Thompson presents unique, compelling analysis that explores both our role as observers and photography's role in our contemporary world...
Thompson's essays are a lively, loving, and thought-provoking romp through wide-ranging critical references of poetry, fiction, art, and philosophy to get at the very nature of photography. Highly recommended. All levels. (Choice )
Jerry Thompson's Truth and Photography is as intellectually stimulation as any book of photographic criticism in years. It is a pleasure to read, it helps us see. (Michael More Camera Arts )
Thompson's portraits give dimension to vivacious, troubled people through a mysterious process — free of fanfare and artifice. His essay describes the experience fluently. Read it carefully. Then go back and look at the pictures again. (Michael More View Camera )
From the Publisher
In three elegant essays Mr. Thompson explores the many-leveled relationship between seeing and thinking. The book reproduces and the essays discuss some twenty-four photographs. Mr. Thompson’s examinations are penetrating, sustained, allusive, and frequently thrilling.
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4 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essays reflecting on working photography experiences,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Truth and Photography: Notes on Looking and Photographing (Hardcover)
Pictures via camera reflect not only what the photographer sees, but what he thinks about. The most successful reflect an understanding of things as much as their image, and Jerry Thompson's exploration of the relationship between seeing and thinking in Truth And Photography provides a set of fine duotone photos to illustrate essays reflecting on working photography experiences.
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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accurate verisimilitude, open window staring, plain seeing, plain version Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Eighth Street, Lake George, Walker Evans, New York, August Sander, Lincoln Kirstein, Ansel Adams, Henry Adams, Mark's Place, Alfred Stieglitz, American Photographs, Paul Caponigro, New Haven, Penny Picture Studio, Allie Mae Burroughs, Third Avenue Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
accurate verisimilitude, open window staring, plain seeing, plain version Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Eighth Street, Lake George, Walker Evans, New York, August Sander, Lincoln Kirstein, Ansel Adams, Henry Adams, Mark's Place, Alfred Stieglitz, American Photographs, Paul Caponigro, New Haven, Penny Picture Studio, Allie Mae Burroughs, Third Avenue Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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