Book picks similar to
Visual Alchemy: The Fine Art of Digital Montage by Catherine McIntyre


photography
drawing
graphic-design-photography
read-non-fiction

Film Isms...: Understanding Cinema


Ronald Bergan - 2011
    Following the success of Isms: Understanding Art and Isms: Understanding Architectural Styles, this guide sorts the great classic films and directors according to the significant movements that have shaped the development of cinema. Beginning with the early silent era, it spans the entire range of movie history up to the present wave of indie films and the growing fascination with international cinema. Each spread is devoted to a distinct movement and explains when it first emerged, the principal directors, themes, and representative films, and is illustrated with film stills, posters, and photos. Important international cinematic breakthroughs are also highlighted, as well as the careers of international auteurs like Kurosawa, Fellini, and Almodóvar. From prewar Expressionism to twenty-first-century Dystopianism, Film Isms… offers an engaging, new way of understanding movie history.

The Life Guide to Digital Photography: Everything You Need to Shoot Like the Pros


Joe McNally - 2010
    But photography has surely changed during these many decades. The rigs and gear of old have given way-first slowly, then all at once-to sleek miracle machines that process pixels and have made the darkroom obsolete. The casual photog puts eye to lens, sets everything on auto and captures a photograph that is . . . perfectly fine. One of LIFE's master shooters-in fact, the final in the long line of distinguished LIFE staff photographers-was Joe McNally, and he has always believed that with a little preparation and care, with a dash of enthusiasm and daring added to the equation, anyone can make a better photo-anyone can turn a "keeper" into a treasure. This was true in days of yore, and it's true in the digital age. Your marvelous new camera, fresh from its box, can indeed perform splendid feats. Joe explains in this book how to take best advantage of what it was designed to do, and also when it is wise to outthink your camera or push your camera-to go for the gold, to create that indelible family memory that you will have blown up as large as the technology will allow, and that will hang on the wall forevermore. As the storied LIFE photographer and photo editor John Loengard points out in his eloquent foreword to this volume, there are cameras and there are cameras, and they've always been able to do tricks. And then there is photography. Other guides may give you the one, two, three of producing a reasonably well exposed shot, but Joe McNally and the editors of LIFE can give you that, and then can show you how to make a picture. In a detailed, friendly, conversational, anecdotal, sometimes rollicking way, that's what they do in these pages. Prepare to click.

Days With My Father


Phillip Toledano - 2010
    Following the death of his mother, photographer Phillip Toledano was shocked to learn of the extent of his father's severe memory loss. He started a blog on which he posted photographs and accompanying reflections on his father's changing state. Through sometimes sad, often funny, and always loving observations, we follow Toledano as he learns to reconcile the elderly man living in a twilight of half memories with the ambitious and handsome young man he occasionally still glimpses. Days With My Father is an honest and moving reflection about coming to terms with an aging parent.

The Simple Secret to Better Painting


Greg Albert - 2003
    It's an insightful artistic philosophy that boils down the many technical principles of composition into a single master rule that's easy to remember and apply: Never make any two intervals the same.You can make every painting more interesting, dynamic and technically sound by varying intervals of distance, length and space, as well as intervals of value and color. The rule also applies to balance, shape and the location of your painting's focal point.Greg Albert illustrates these lessons with eye-opening examples from both beginning and professional artists, including Frank Webb, Tony Couch, Kevin Macpherson, Charles Reid, Tony Van Hasselt and more.You'll discover that the ONE RULE is the only rule of composition you need to immediately improve your work - the moment your brush touches the canvas.

John F. Kennedy’s Women: The Story of a Sexual Obsession


Michael O'Brien - 2011
    Kennedy has been more carefully scrutinized. Michael O’Brien, who knows as much about Kennedy as any historian now writing, here takes a comprehensive look at the feature of Camelot that remained largely under the radar during the White House years: Kennedy’s womanizing. Indeed, O’Brien writes, Kennedy’s approach to women and sex was near pathological, beyond the farthest reaches of the media’s imagination at the time. The record makes for an astonishing piece of presidential history.---Michael O’Brien was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and studied at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he received a Ph.D. in history. He is the author of the widely praised John F. Kennedy: A Biography, a full-scale study based on eleven years’ research into letters, diaries, financial papers, medical records, manuscripts, and oral histories; and a concise analytical life of the president, Rethinking Kennedy. He is now emeritus professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, Fox Valley, and lives in Door County, Wisconsin.

Cape Light


Joel Meyerowitz - 1979
    Common scenes -- tiny figures on a beach, a porch railing against a storm-darkened sky, a blue raft against a summer cottage -- all are transformed by the poignant light of the Cape and the photographer's subtle and luminous vision. This exquisitely printed book captures every nuance of color and light in that unique juncture of sky, sea, and land that is Cape Cod.

The View From The Studio Door: How Artists Find Their Way In An Uncertain World


Ted Orland - 2006
    Now, in The View From The Studio Door, Orland turns his attention to broader issues that stand to either side of that artistic moment of truth.In a text marked by grace, brevity and humor, Orland argues that when it comes to art making, theory and practice are always intertwined. There are timeless philosophical questions (How do we make sense of the world?) that address the very nature of art making, as well as gritty real-world questions (Is there art after graduation?) that artists encounter the moment they’re off the starting blocks and producing work on a regular basis.Simply put, this is a book of practical philosophy. As a teacher and working artist himself, Orland brings authentic insight and encouragement to all those who face the challenge of making art in an uncertain world. The breadth of material covered is reflected in chapters that include Making Sense of the World, Art & Society, The Education of the Artist, Surviving Graduation, Making Art That Matters, The Artistic Community, and more.The View From The Studio Door is the perfect companion piece to Art & Fear, and will appeal to a similar (and already-established) audience of students, working artists, teachers and professionals. For students’ benefit, The View is also modestly priced, with wide page margins for easy note-taking and annotation.

The Metabolic Storm: The Science of Your Metabolism and Why It's Making You FAT and possibly INFERTILE


Emily Cooper - 2013
    It’s a book about the pure science behind why diets don’t work for the majority of people. Forget everything you have ever heard about dieting and being overweight! The Metabolic Storm addresses the science that obliterates those myths about diets and weight gain.As a doctor board certified in Obesity Medicine, Family Medicine, and Sports Medicine, Emily Cooper sees hundreds of patients who attempt every conceivable diet and spend a huge amount of time and effort exercising, yet find that their excess weight doesn’t stay off and their overall health doesn’t improve long-term. The Metabolic Storm is the result of Dr. Cooper’s 25 years of working with those patients and researching the existing science about metabolism. Cooper wants readers to understand that while everyone’s metabolism is slightly different, if you face weight issues, you might simply have been “dealt a bad hand” metabolically. It’s not your fault that you can’t lose weight or keep it off.The Metabolic Storm explains why weight and metabolic issues are not the result of laziness, lack of commitment, or absence of willpower. It introduces the breakthroughs and answers discovered, but never properly disseminated, through more than 100 years of scientific research. Once you understand the intricate systems of metabolism and hormones, you will never want to diet again. And from there begins the journey of letting go of the guilt and shame too often associated with weight issues.

The Luminous Portrait: Capture the Beauty of Natural Light for Glowing, Flattering Photographs


Elizabeth Messina - 2012
    Whether you’re photographing children, weddings, maternity and boudoir, or portraits of any kind, The Luminous Portrait will inspire you with Elizabeth’s personal approach and award-wining images, sharing the art to making flattering portraits that appear “lit from within.”

Gaga


Johnny Morgan - 2010
    This lavish volume examines the Lady's history and phenomenal rise, her music and videos, and her unique look and chameleon-like nature. Chock-full of photos that capture Gaga from childhood through stardom, it also includes images of those who have influenced her style and an appraisal of her place in the pantheon of performance artists.Gaga is a must-have for the millions who love this very special performer and celebrity.

Four-Word Self-Help: Simple Wisdom for Complex Lives


Patti Digh - 2010
    Pithy, provocative, poignant advice on a variety of self-help topics—in four well-chosen words.

Ink: The Not-Just-Skin-Deep Guide to Getting a Tattoo


Terisa Green - 2005
    For anyone who's considered joining the tribe of the tattooed.This fun, fact-filled, fascinating guide includes information on choosing the perfect tattoo, finding a tattoo artist, staying health-conscious, long-term effects, and much more.

A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book: 95 Inspiring Ideas for Photographing Your Friends, Your World, and Yourself


Elsie Larson - 2013
    Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman, creators of the mega-popular DIY style blog A Beautiful Mess, are in love with photographing everyday life. Here, they share that love with 95 all-new tips and photo challenges that will inspire you to style and snap better photos and then transform them into simple yet stunning projects and gifts. You’ll learn how to:     • Take the most flattering self-portraits    • Be your own stylist to turn dull, cluttered photos into pretty lifestyle photography    • Capture adorable couple portraits    • Turn everyday moments, hobbies, and rituals into amazing photos    • Show off your favorite photos by turning them into handmade jewelry, home décor, and gifts   Packed with Elsie and Emma’s happy spirit and unique style, A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book will inspire you to capture your days, your friends, and your dreams in beautiful photos!

A Little History: Nick Cave & Cohorts, 1981-2013


Bleddyn Butcher - 2014
    And then enthralled. He set about trying to catch their lightning in his Nikon F2AS.That quixotic impulse became a lifelong quest. A little history got made on the way.Collected here for the first time are the fruits of his labour. A Little History is an extraordinary document, tracking Nick Cave's creative career from the apoplectic extravagance of The Birthday Party to the calmer disquiet of 2013's Push The Sky Away via snapshots, spotlit visions and sumptuous, theatrical portraits. It mixes the candid and uncanny, the spontaneous and the patiently staged, and includes eyeball encounters with Cave's baddest lieutenants, men for the most part who long since burned their own bridges down. Butcher's Nikonic eye defines moment after arresting moment in Cave's glorious, sprawling story: it's a splendid testament to two brilliant careers.

The Best Camera Is the One That's with You: iPhone Photography


Chase Jarvis - 2009
    In The Best Camera Is The One That's With You, Chase reimagines, examines, and redefines the intersection of art and popular culture through images shot with his iPhone. The pictures in the book, all taken with Chase's iPhone, make up a visual notebook-a photographic journal-from the past year of his life. The book is full of visually-rich iPhone photos and peppered with inspiring anecdotes. Two megapixels at a time, these images have been gathered and bound into a book that represents a stake in the ground. With it, Chase underscores the idea that an image can come from any camera, even a mobile phone. As Chase writes, Inherently, we all know that an image isn't measured by its resolution, dynamic range, or anything technical. It's measured by the simple-sometimes profound, other times absurd or humorous or whimsical-effect that it can have upon us. If you can see it, it can move you.This book is geared to inspire everyone, regardless of their level of photography knowledge, that you can capture moments and share them with our friends, families, loved ones, or the world at the press of a button. Readers of The Best Camera Is The One That's With You will also enjoy the iPhone application Chase Jarvis created in conjunction with this book, appropriately named Best Camera. Best Camera has a unique set of filters and effects that can be applied at the touch of a button. Stack them. Mix them. Remix them. Best Camera also allows you to share directly to a host of social marketing sites via www.thebestcamera.com, a new online community that allows you to contribution to a living, breathing gallery of the best iPhone photography from around the globe. Together, the book, app, and website, represent a first-of-its-kind ecosystem dedicated to encouraging creativity through picture taking with the camera that you already have. The Best Camera Is The One That's With You-shoot!