Photography Books to Spur Your Creativity!
As we begin to spend more time indoors during the winter months, here are a few photography books for your reading list:
| Interaction of Color by Josef Albers
In 1963, Albers published Interaction of Color, which is a record of an experiential way of studying and teaching color. He asserted that color “is almost never seen as it really is” and that “color deceives continually”. He suggested that color is best studied via experience, underpinned by experimentation and observation. Interaction of Color remains an essential resource on color, as pioneering today as when Albers first created it. |
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Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson
Bryan Peterson’s most popular book has taught generations of photographers how to shoot the images they want by demystifying the complex concepts of exposure in photography. Peterson stresses the importance of metering the subject for a starting exposure, and then explains how to use various exposure meters and different kinds of lighting. |
| The Mind’s Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers by Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as capturing a decisive moment. His writings on photography and photographers have been published sporadically over the past 45 years. His essays—several of which have never before been translated into English—are collected in this book for the first time. Working as a photojournalist, he talked about the essence of reportage photography. Bresson said, “For me, the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity.” |
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Photography Changes Everything Edited by Marvin HeifermanBased on the Smithsonian Photography Initiative’s online project, the book provides a unique opportunity to better understand the history, practice, and power of photography. Using the visual assets of the Smithsonian Institution, the book includes over 200 images from museums, science centers and archives along with about 80 short essays written by experts, authors, inventors, public figures and everyday people which describe how photography does more than record the world – how it shapes and changes every aspect of our experience of and in the world. |
| The Visual Toolbox: 60 Lessons for Stronger Photographs by David Duchemin
Each of the 60 lessons builds on the previous one, and each one is a stepping stone to becoming a more proficient photographer, using the tools of the art of photography and developing the means to create deeper visual experiences with your images. There are lessons on technical aspects of photography as well as composition, the creative process and the principles for creating great photographs. |
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Washington Photo Safari’s Guide for Amateur Photographers by E. David Luria A “labor of love”, the eBook was written during the Pandemic by E. David Luria and the staff of WPS instructors. Beautifully illustrated and an easy read, it is designed for amateur photographers, not professionals – people who just love to take pictures for fun and want to learn how to improve their images. There are 29 different categories of photography, A to Z, from Abstracts to Zoos, from Architecture to Wildlife! Purchase your copy of the eBook. |
