Recommended photography books

[aprotosimaki]

Not sure what level or type of book you are considering, art, composition, technique, lighting?

I am less interested in technique per se and more interested in composition. In particular, I want to explore the ideas informing high art photography and how the image works on the mind. I just picked up Stephen Shore's book which for me is expansive. Sontag on the other hand I find to be trite but perhaps she just annoys me and I am being unfair.

 

[tolusina]

If you're studying Szarkowski's The Photographer's Eye, you are already demonstrating more discernment than most.

The Nature of Photographs, by Stephen Shore, is almost a companion or sequel to Szarkowski. ....
..... Then, if you want to challenge yourself, pick up ....... Roland Barthe's Camera Lucida.......

.......

Thanks!!
Based on these comments, when my daughter asked for my Christmas list, I listed these three, all three arrived on Christmas Eve Day.

I've started with Barthes already, challenging is an understatement, deep and ephemeral all at once. While I'm finding some disagreement with some of his concepts, I am grasping those concepts and find my disagreement with them constitutes growth.
Unlike with many authors I find disagreement with and so discard them as a load of useless, I quite like how Barthes inspires by challenge.

My reaction to Barthes is quite unlike my reaction to Ansel (yes, I feel first name with a mentor), with A.A. I'm like 'Yes sir, this is how things should be done'.

 

[HoneyBadger]

I found Tony Northrup's How to shoot stunning digital pictures to be a great starter book. It puts into words and examples a lot of useful information that you may already know but arn't exactly sure about. For the kindle price of 10 bucks I consider it money well spent. If you are already an experience photographer then it might be useful for a quick look up of something you have forgotten. In any case, search inside of it on amazon and see what you think.

http://www.amazon.com/Tony-Northrups-DSLR-Book-Photography/dp/0988263408/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356555255&sr=8-1&keywords=stunning+digital

 

[paul13walnut5]

Magnum Revolution:

Won't teach you a thing technically, and these guys have composition in their blood, just soak it in and be inspired.

The genius of Photography (book and dvd):

Very interesting well assembled charting of the social impact and role of photography. Join some contemporary masters as work. Not a learning book, more an enjoying experience.

The Kodak Encyclopedias (junk or thrift shops, dated in terms of kit used, timeless in terms of technique and quality of illustration)

 

[jthomson]

See It: Photographic Composition Using Visual Intensity
by Ellen Anon

Got this after she spoke at our photography club and really enjoyed it.

 

[KacperP]

Everything that comes from Michael Freeman, and for composition basics - his "The Photographer's Eye"

When it comes to quality of lecture, that man is unbeatable.

 

[papa-razzi]

Ron Martinsen has reviewed many books and has a list of the ones he recommends.

http://www.ronmartblog.com/2008/05/which-books-should-i-read.html

 

[shining example]

The genius of Photography (book and dvd):

Very interesting well assembled charting of the social impact and role of photography. Join some contemporary masters as work. Not a learning book, more an enjoying experience.

I second this recommendation; the DVD is absolutely brilliant - informative and entertaining. (I have the book too, but haven't yet given it the attention it deserves.)

 

[Kumakun]

Bryan Petersen's Understanding Exposure and Understanding Flash Photography

+1 on Understanding Exposure. I haven't read his book on flash photography, but as someone with little formal training in photography I found Understanding Exposure and his "Field Guide" to be very helpful, easy to read, and interesting.

 

[Fotofanten]

My recommendation would be Joey L - Photographing shadow and light for the avid portraiture photographers out there.

 

[jondave]

+1 on Michael Freeman's books.

The meat of the matter you may want to study is how photographs are taken, critiqued and analyzed. This wholistic view is discussed by David Hurn & Bill Jay's 2 books: 1) On Being a Photographer, and 2) On looking at Photographs.

A good thing to note on these books is that it's not presented in your typical lecture-type format - what you actually read are them talking to each other on different topics per chapter, very much like an interview-type format with the 2 authors interviewing each other. I found the conversational nature of the presentation makes the book an easier reading considering the subject itself is heavy and typically hard to understand.