Front page of Josef Koudelka’s book Exiles. The front page image is probably the most famous of all Koudelka’s work.
Koudelka is right up there with some of the biggest photographers of all time like Henri Cartier-Bresson, so if you are interested in photography and you have not enjoyed the work of Koudelka, you have something to look forward to! In the book by David Gibson with 100 iconic images, of course there is one by Koudelka, actually exactly the same as covers the front page of this book: Exiles.
Be aware that the book has developed since the 1988 classic was published, and more images have been added, so if you want the full monty, make sure to get the latest version of the book (shopping link right here).
Simple and yet very powerful. That is my best way of describing many of Koudelka’s images. “Simple” is not a good word as it may give the wrong associations, but is the best I can come up with.
Cornell Capa is quoted on the cover sleeve to say that “Koudelka’s unsentimental, stark, brooding, intensely human imagery reflects his own spirit, the very essence of an exile who is at home wherever his wandering body finds haven in the night.” So you can really put some serious words and analysis to Koudelka’s work, and curators and others absolutely love to add some of the most complicated words available to praise Koudelka’s work. I have no ambition to compete with all that.
I’ll let the image speak for itself.
Rather, I would quote Leonardo da Vinci for saying something close to this: “Simplification is the ultimate sophistication”. I know wise men debate if it was actually Leonardo saying this and if these were the exact words, but the gist of it is what I want to get to, because it describes how I see Koudelka’s work. His images are so powerful and clear in their communication, and there is not a single distraction or any object in the images that do not aid the storytelling. The motto of photographer Joel Sartore is that if something in your frame is not working with you, it is actually working against you. It seems to me that Koudelka, who probably knows nothing of Joel’s motto, is the embodiment of working according to this rule.
You can analyse this image from a composition point of view until you drop dead. Or you can just enjoy the image of a master.
So Koudelka is a big inspiration for my aspirations as a photographer. And for that reason and of course I can recommend this book about Koudelka. There are a few interesting introduction pages, but otherwise the book simply present 75 of Koudelka’s images (+ index). And what images! In this blog I have shared 3 examples beyond the front page, and I hope they will inspire you to seek out more of Koudelka’s outstanding work.
Imagine a job add where you would ask for someone who is (1) a master mountain climber, (2) an outstanding and engaging author and (3) one of the best outdoor photographers with 40+ years of experience. And add to that that travel experience requirements is to have travelled all 7 continents and both poles! Do you think someone from HR would let you publish such an add? Nah. They would probably tell you such person does not exist. But such person actually did exist in the shape of Galen Rowell.
Asking a photographer what model of camera he uses is like asking a writer what type of typewriter he uses. Galen Rowell.
Galen Rowell’s Inner game of outdoor photography
Galen
According to wikipedia, Galen Rowell was born in 1940 and died in a plane crash in 2002. The inner game of outdoor photography was published in 2001. So Galen has probably written a some of the book quite late in his life. Other parts of the book is based upon essays previously published in the Outdoor Photographers Magazine.
Especially in the first of the 4 parts of the book, Galen strikes me as a very well read person who is not afraid of taking a big step back and looking at things from the outside in. My guess is that he has learned this from his father, being a philosopher, but it is of course a guess. The philosophical angle runs as a red thread throughout the book, and to me this is an additional dimension to the book that I really enjoy.
The medium may not be the message, but it sure can make a big difference. Galen Rowell.
Inner game of outdoor photography
The book contains 66 essays or small chapters, varying from 2-5 pages, and blended with the text comes more than 140 colour photographs that illustrates the essays. The 4 sections are:
Visions: creative and cognitive processes
Preparations: equipment, film and technique
Journeys: merging visions with realities and
Realisations: communicating your worldview through photography
You can tell that the book is 20+ years old today when Galen talks about pushing the ISO on the film or how to get the weight of his gear reduced as much as possible e.g. using the Nikon F65. Also, towards the end of the book he talks about scanning and enhancing the 35mm film digitally, which also shows that the book was published at the brink of the digital revolution. It is also interesting how some of the readers of the Outdoor Photographers Magazine have sent letters (!) as part of a debate about outdoor photography! I think today that would have been settled via social media.
An example page from Galen Rowell’s the inner game of outdoor photography – there are 140 colour photographs in the book!
But despite the book clearly being 20+ years old, the vast majority of the content is as relevant today as it was back when he wrote it.
The format is excellent – the chapters / essays are so short that you can read them rather quickly and independent of each other. Just like a step-calendar leading up to Christmas.
The best photographers know better than to try to lead others all the way down their inner path, because the act of following someone else’s, instead of discovering your own, will eventually be self defeating. Galen Rowell.
The first part of the book is the most abstract and philosophical talking about cognitive processes and the meaning of photography. The second part takes a big swing the other way and becomes very operational and hands-on and how-to use flash and push film and make your backpack as light as possible. Third part is enjoyable stories from all his travelling around the globe and the final part again zooms out and looks more at the photography industry and the relationship between man and nature. And every section of the book is really well written and a joy to read – provided of course that the outdoors and outdoor photography is close to your heart.
Conclusion
I am really happy that I got to read this book. And I think I will read especially part 1 several times. I feel this book has given me the privilege to look over the shoulder of an exceptional photographer, one that has travelled the world and seen things I will never get to see. And alone for that reason, I can highly recommend this book for any outdoor photographer. Despite some sections being dated obviously.
Consistently creative photography requires learning to bridge the chasm between and engineer’s technical mastery and a blind monkey’s unselfconscious intuition. Galen Rowell.
The book also leaves me a bit sad. Galen was killed in a plane accident, and I cannot help thinking how much experience and knowledge that was lost in that incident. How many of those funny little stories that this book is filled with did Galen have on stock that he just did not have an opportunity to tell? Today he would have been well into his 80ties and I envision an old man sitting by the campfire telling stories from his long life to his grandchildren and any young photographer that drops by. But obviously that vision will never materialise and this book is as close as we will ever get.
Many have made me aware that Thom Hogan in this blog post has described his relationship to Galen Rowell and what Galen meant to him as a mentor and a friend. I highly recommend that you read Thom’s blog if you want to learn more about Galen and his work and influence.
Practical note
I live in Europe and copies of this book does not come easy. I ordered a used copy via Amazon and it took a month (!) for it to arrive. I ordered a copy in UK, but apparently the supply chain started in US, which explains the long wait for it to arrive. So should you decide to buy a copy you may find that a bit of patience is required.
Photofile is a apparently a series of books that provides what they describe as “an accessible introduction” to some of the greatest photographers. And in this case it is Austrian / American photographer Ernst Haas.
The book is a relatively little paperback book (20 cm tall) with 67 photographs by Ernst Haas in colour and duotone. A far cry from some of the big and delicious coffee-table books you can find about photography, but so is the price, to be fair.
Ernst Haas by Photofile
The book gives a relatively short 9-10 pages well written introduction to the professional life of Ernst Haas by Virginie Chardin and then the rest of the book is simply a presentation of 67 pictures shot by Ernst Haas.
Ernst Haas by Photofile, example page.
Over at the homepage independent photo, Ernst Haas is quoted for saying: “Bored with obvious reality, I find my fascination in transforming it into a subjective point of view. Without touching my subject I want to come to the moment when, through pure concentration of seeing, the composed picture becomes more made than taken. Without a descriptive caption to justify its existence, it will speak for itself – less descriptive, more creative; less informative, more suggestive – less prose, more poetry.”
This book gives absolutely no information about the images other than the year and location, and as such it is very much in the spirit of Ernst Haas (“less descriptive, more creative”).
As I am a big fan of Ernst Haas’ work, I could have wished for more information about Ernst, more examples of his work, etc. But as such the format of the series Photofile aims for a lighter touch. So I find it to be a good introduction, but and introduction that wants me to see more of his amazing and pioneering work.
I like tapas. Small portions of delicious food where you taste a lot of different food and flavours. You won’t get full from the individual tapas, but ranging across a lot of different small dishes, you eventually will be full.
The almost square format (23x25cm) book contains 210 pages with 2 pages per photographer.
This books is a bit like tapas: 100 different street photographers. Hand picked by the author David Gibson. And for each photographer, one image and one page of accompanying text. Really well written, well researched and an interesting read. And I think he has picked some of the most interesting street photographers of all time (Saul Leiter, Vivian Maier and Diane Arbus just to mention a few).
An example page from the book – here with Ernst Haas.
If you want to get to know these photographers in depth, then this is not the book. It only scratches the surface for each photographer, but if you want a good overview and a light touch on the 100 greatest street photographers of all time, this book comes highly recommended.
In this book the authors Margit Erb and Michael Parillo have hand picked 76 images from Saul Leiters earlier work where he used slide film as the medium. The book presents the images on completely black pages, simulating that you sit in front of the projector and see Leiters work being cast onto the wall. It works really well, and IMO they have managed to capture the “feel” of slide film being projected to large scale format really well. The 160 pages book is a hardback and measures 22 cm across and 28 cm down.
The Unseen Saul Letier. Hardback. 160 pages approx.
Extraordinary
When Michael Parello writes that “Leiter was a keen observer as life unfolded before him, somehow finding a way to reliably pluck a sublime split-second out of a mundane moment”, it really resonated with me and how I see Leiters images. Leiter was truly able to make something extraordinary out of the ordinary. A talent that many of us that dream of travelling to the other side of the globe to capture something extraordinary (like a mountain or an iceberg) could benefit from being reminded of on a regular basis.
Further into the book Michael quotes Robert Benton for describing Leiters images: “[They] were like paintings in which the subject matter did not dominate the photograph but was only one element among swaths of color, abstract shapes and daring composition”. Again, this very precisely pinpoints another dimension to Leiters images that makes them stand out: the subject is not dominating, but serves (almost) as a prop in a bigger composition as one of many elements.
Framing, framing and framing.
These quotes very well describe why I find Leiters work so extraordinary, and to this I will add that his use of out of focus elements sprinkles a bit of mystery to the scene. You may think that out of focus is harder than in focus, but actually getting the right amount of out of focus is the key here – so that the subject is still visible and recognisable, but hiding the finer details and only leave a shadow or an outline. His use of misted windows serves the same purpose.
To the right: Out of focus. But just the right amount of out of focus.
Finally, his use of framing is simply mind blowing. Especially if you have just read a book about composition and all the classic compositional rules. Leiter breaks them all, and did so long before the text books were written! In some images the subject is only revealed as a small beam of light between solid objects completely dominating the frame. Or he shows 6 people in a frame where the heads of 4 of them are hidden. It makes me want to study the images even more!
Conclusion
If you like the work of Saul Leiter, I think you will enjoy this book. The hard back is solid quality and the images present themselves really well on the black pages. And each image has got the space and room it needs to work the best.
The book gives a little text about how the images have been collected and indexed, but the main focus of the book is to present Saul Leiters work. If you are after getting to know Saul Leiter better, then this may not be the book for you, but if you enjoy his work and want to see it as first hand as a book can offer, then this book comes highly recommended. But be warned that I am a Saul Leiter fan and my objectivity relative to reviewing this book is highly questionable.
When photographer Vivian Maier passed away April 2009, she left behind more than 140.000 images, many of which had not been developed. As soon as Vivians work was shared on the internet, both her work and her story drew lots of attention.
Front page of the book Vivian Maier by Christa Blümlinger, Ann Marks and Anne Morin
This books gives both her story and presents a lot of her work. As interesting as her story is, I enjoy her work the most. For that reason I was happy to find that 200 of the 250 pages in this book is dedicated to presenting her work.
This images shows an example from the approx 30 pages in the beginning of the book – another section like this at the end of the book.
Of course I was aware that Vivians work would centre around street photography, but I has impressed with other sides of her work showing architecture, landscapes, self portraits, still life and even some surrealistic work reminding me of work done by Henrik Cartier-Bresson.
Two examples from the work of Vivian Maier.
I am not aware of how large a share of her total body of work has been developed and used for this book, but even so I find Vivian to be a very complete photographer that uses composition, reflections, framing, etc in an effortless way that you – if you are into photography – can only admire. And in addition the street images portrait people in a way where the portraits are almost loving in the tender way they capture people sleeping, reading newspapers or just passing by.
So as you can probably guess, I can wholeheartedly recommend this book if you are into photography and want to study and seek inspiration from the work of one of the best photographers of all time. It really is a pleasure to study Vivians work.
When looking at the long list of hits that Beatles or Rolling Stones have produced and comparing that to what other successful bands have made, it dawns on you just how talented these bands were. It’s a different league, simply. This is exactly the feeling I get when browsing the 400 images of Ansel Adams – there are so many great images presented in one book. He was and is in a league of his own.
The book is 25cm by 20cm. Maybe not as big as the images deserve, but on the other hand the book is easier to handle than some of the massive coffee table sized books.
Another thing that strikes me is the consistency of the work. Of course the images have been carefully selected amongst many more, but the sheer consistency and super high quality of each and every image is truly impressive. Adams is known for his motto that “nothing is worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept”, and he lived his own motto: every concept in the 400 images presented is razor sharp.
The table of contents. Ansel Adams – 400 photographs.
The book gives a short introduction by Andrea G. Stillman, but other than that the book is simply presentation of 400 images, organised into different phases of Adam’s life. The book is relatively small (25cm by 20cm) and paperback quality, but the black and white images present themselves really well despite the format not being the largest.
An example image from the book.
And as an outdoor photographer, I especially enjoy the section from the national park and monuments, probably the images that Adams is the most famous for. And of course you will find the moonrise image from New Mexico and the golden gate before the bridge. But there are many, many more great images.
An example image from the book.
Can I recommend the book? Yes, if you are interested in landscape photography and want to study one of the greatest of all time, then this is a good place to start. When evaluating my own work, I often ask myself if I would hang my own work in my living room, and only a few images pass that test. But when it comes to Ansel Adams, I’d gladly put any of the images in this book on my wall.
To make a long story short: this is a super interesting book, and it comes highly recommended.
If you expect to have a book that talks about photography in terms of which aperture to shoot at or how to frame your images just right, then you will be disappointed. The scope is much broader as the sub-title suggests: The why and the how behind our human need to create.
My cat kept me company during the read. 320 pages in paperback format.
You may – like me – know Sean Tucker as a photographer and a YouTuber and follow him on both channels. But I did not know that he had been a musician and and waited tables to make ends meet financially. And it reminded me that he had also been a priest (and no, I did not run for the hills…).
On the homepage Sean writes that “This book contains personal stories interwoven with the psychological, philosophical and spiritual practices which help me stay a mentally healthy, inspired and motivated ‘maker of things.'” – that is in essence the content of this book. And it is relevant for anyone being creative of some sort.
Using small QR codes after selected chapters, you can see some of the images mentioned in the book.
The book impressed me in several ways and to illustrate, let me give some examples:
Envy. Envy is not something we often talk about. It is a forbidden feeling almost and one that most try to supress. But Sean instead moves forward and analyses the feeling and how to deal with it constructively. This part of the book I found refreshing and brave, because he uses himself and his own story as the example and not some “holding it in arm’s length and talking about it academically”-way.
Feedback and critics. I find it hard to ask for feedback, or I simply forget to do it. And even more seldom do I actually work with the feedback. Sean early in his life thought about this and apparently decided to use the feedback as an integral part of his way living and working, and that calls for respect. And he also early identified mentors and was early in life very clear about why he wanted mentors and how to make the best of them. Sean also gives several examples of feedback that was harsh or brutal at the time, but he managed to turn it into something constructive and useful every time.
Success. I must admit that to some extent I believe in the american dream. Maybe not in the way a true American would, but that hard work and a bit of talent or luck can take you a long way and almost is a guarantee for success. Sean punctures this belief effectively using van Gogh as example, but also from his life as musician. I am still processing that part of the book and it bites me. I know from my NLP training that we do not see the world as it is, but rather a model of the world and that we take in information that fits our model of the world mainly, and leave the rest be. Seans words about success does not fit my model of the world, and as such it to me is a mental blow. And as unpleasant as mental punches to the kidneys are short term, as beneficial they can be longer term. Sean also talks about the world being broken and this is another part of the book that challenges my belief system, so I’ve been plenty challenged reading the book!
The small stories. Without going too much into details because I think you should enjoy the story yourself, I will give this quote: “This artistic train wreck would win no awards, but it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen”. That little story really moved me.
I could go on. But I won’t, because I think you should read the book if you have any interest in creativity, self development or philosophy. Or how you can grow as an artist.
I bought the book here in Denmark from a local online store. It can also be downloaded in an electronic version. And I believe you can even read a larger sample from the book. So there are no excuses – start here.
Before Covid hit us all and we could travel freely, my dear wife bought me a copy of the magazine Outdoor Photography in a UK airport somewhere. This was back in 2019 and the copy was issue 249 with a great article by Lee Acaster: His guide to black and white photography. I have read that article at least 20 times, and thanked my wife that she introduced me to Outdoor Photography equally many times.
Ever since colleagues gave me a copy of the Landscape Photographer of the year, I have been convinced that British landscape and outdoor photographers are amongst the best in the world. Carrying a Danish passport and having no relationship to UK other than a holiday now and then, I think I can say that this assessment comes with some level of objectivity! And the Outdoor Photography magazine has continued to confirm that my assessment is not half bad.
Interesting and inspiring articles are at the heart of the Outdoor Photography magazine.
The table of content for the magazine has been pretty stable over the years:
Features and opinion
Learning zone
Location guide
Nature zone
Gear zone
Regulars (newsroom and books)
Your op (e.g. publishing readers work)
My favourite part is the Features and opinion, because you here get close to some of the really good photographers and their work. And there are lots of examples of images they have produced and the inspiration I have got from reading these articles and seeing their work is monumental.
Coming from little Denmark, the sheer amount of talented photographers that UK has is simply astonishing, but of course it has to do with the population of UK being 10-15 times Denmark. But even when factoring this in, I still think the UK on a global scale is in the top league, without having done any scientific assessment. Part of the answer probably also lies in the competition being so much more fierce in UK as you simply have to be good to make it, otherwise you will just disappear in the crowd of reasonably good photographers.
My subscription secures that a copy wrapped in plastic arrives in my physical mailbox on a monthly basis.
I have now subscribed to the magazine, and as such a copy wrapped in plastic arrives in my physical mailbox on a monthly basis. It is not cheap but I find that the value and the pleasure of seeing these great images and articles by far exceeds the costs. Of course, should my economy get worse than it already is, this would be one of the first items in my budget to cancel, but as long as I can afford it, this is little photography luxury that I really enjoy. And it is one of the very few items hitting my physical mailbox that I enjoy (although when the competition is bills and dunning letters, it is of course easy to shine in compare!).
So bottom line: if you are interested in outdoor photography (landscape, nature, adventure, wildlife), then this magazine comes will my highest recommendations.
The title of this book promises a “definitive” guide to composition. Googling the meaning of definitive, the first definition is “done or reached decisively and with authority” and one of the synonyms listed is “ultimate”. So this is the ultimate guide to composition. This author apparently does nothing to dim his shine!
Mastering composition – the definitive guide for photographers, by Richard Garvey-Williams
Comprehensive
This 175 page book is comprehensive, and covers all aspects of composition though 6 chapters. It is jam packed with illustrations – at least one per page and often 3-4 per page. As such the author walks the talk and shows how the theory presented can be applied in practice. The square format of the book works well to allow pictures and text to blend naturally.
The book covers so much more than the rule of thirds, e.g.: visual weight, framing, leading lines, dynamic tension, depth, color, tone, patterns and even a bit of gestalt theory! I find that it is one of the most comprehensive books I have found on the subject of composition. And then I really like that the author underlines that composition is a means to an end, and not an end in itself.
I did not find this book to be an easy read. At times, it felt like reading a dictionary, but I guess it is the flip side of being so comprehensive. So if you are searching for an entertaining book, you may need to look elsewhere – this one is serious about its subject and stays serious throughout.
Conclusion
If I was to recommend a book about composition for the notorious lonely island, it would be this one. It is not an easy read, and after the first read, I use it more and more to look up certain subjects, than reading it from start to finish all over. It works well also as a dictionary.
Some of the images have stuck with me in the back of my head and unconsciously influenced my photography and give inspiration for new aspirations. And as such, I have become a better photographer, processing and digesting the content of the book. And that is probably the highest praise I can give to any book about photography, and as such this book comes highly recommended.
